Schizotricha falcata Peña Cantero, 1998

ÁLVARO L. PEÑA CANTERO, 2017, Benthic hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from the Ross Sea (Antarctica) collected by the New Zealand Antarctic expedition BioRoss 2004 with RV Tangaroa, Zootaxa 4293 (1), pp. 1-65 : 56

Schizotricha falcata Peña Cantero, 1998

Schizotricha falcata Peña Cantero, 1998: 78 –79, fig. 1; 2008: 456; 2013: 129; Peña Cantero & Vervoort, 1999: 361 –362 (synonymy); 2005: 803.

Material examined. Stn 13, stem 170 mm high on pebbles (MNCN 2.03/664); Stn 15, stem 410 mm high, with female gonothecae (NIWA 117325).

Ecology and distribution. Shelf species ( Peña Cantero & Vervoort 2005), found at depths between 73 ( Peña Cantero & Vervoort 2005) and 248 m ( Peña Cantero 2008); present material between 466 and 535 m, notably extending its lower bathymetric limit. Hydrorhizal stolons attached to gravel and pebbles ( Peña Cantero 2008; present material). Used as substratum by other hydroids ( Peña Cantero 2008, 2013). Gonothecae in January (Peña Cantero 1998, 2008) and February (Peña Cantero 2013; present material).

Considered endemic to West Antarctica ( Peña Cantero & Vervoort 1999), being known off Low Island ( Blanco 1984; Peña Cantero 2013), King George Island (Peña Cantero 1998), and Deception Island ( Peña Cantero 2008), in the South Shetland Islands area, off Astrolabe Island, Antarctic Peninsula, and off Anvers Island, Palmer Archipelago ( Peña Cantero & Vervoort 2005). Present material is the first record from the Ross Sea and from East Antarctica , collected off Possession Islands, suggesting a circum-Antarctic distribution.