Cordylophora caspia ( Pallas, 1771 )

Galea, Horia R., 2007, Hydroids and hydromedusae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the fjords region of southern Chile, Zootaxa 1597 (1), pp. 1-116 : 21

Cordylophora caspia ( Pallas, 1771)

(fig. 6A–C)

Tubularia caspia Pallas 1771: 479 .

Cordylophora lacustris: Hincks, 1868: 16 , pl. 3 fig. 2; Hargitt, 1908: 99; Stechow, 1919: 11; Fraser, 1944: 34, pl. 1 fig. 2.

Cordylophora caspia: Naumov, 1969: 196 , fig. 66; Calder, 1971: 30, pl. 1I; Morri, 1981: 45, fig. 13, pl. 1 fig. 3, pl. 2 fig. 3; Schuchert, 1996: 15, fig. 3A–E; 2004: 346, fig. 10; Bouillon et al., 2004: 51, fig. 30E–G.

Cordylophora neapolitana: Morri, 1981: 47 , fig. 14, pl. 1 fig. 4.

Material examined. Stn. COM 03 —21.i.2006, 17– 21 m, S165: one fertile colony, about 1 cm high, on mussel shell ( MHNG INVE 53490 ) .

Type locality. Caspian Sea (no exact locality).

Remarks. For recent descriptions of this species, see Schuchert (1996 and 2004). Though absent from fully marine environments, C. caspia can tolerate such conditions for a short period of exposure. The peculiar hydrographic conditions of the south-Chilean fjords, manifested by the presence of brackish water in the superficial layers (see “Biogeographic considerations”) are a favorable element that enable the development of this species. Cnidome:

a) microbasic euryteles, undischarged (10.2–11.3) x (4.2–4.9) µm, discharged (8.1–8.4) x (3.5–3.9) µm;

b) desmonemes, undischarged (5.3–5.6) x (2.8–3.2) µm.

World distribution. Circumglobal in temperate and subtropical regions ( Schuchert 2004).

Records from Chile. This species was collected only one time from fjord Comau. This is the first record for Chile.