Coryne pintneri Schneider, 1898

Gravili, Cinzia, Vito, Doris De, Camillo, Cristina Gioia Di, Martell, Luis, Piraino, Stefano & Boero, Ferdinando, 2015, The non-Siphonophoran Hydrozoa (Cnidaria) of Salento, Italy with notes on their life-cycles: an illustrated guide, Zootaxa 3908 (1), pp. 1-187 : 52-53

Coryne pintneri Schneider, 1898

Fig. 35 A, B

See Schuchert (2001b) for a complete synonymy.

Material examined. HCUS-S 0 40 (Hydrozoa Collection, University of Salento—fauna of the Salento Peninsula).

Description (based on our own observations; Brinckmann-Voss 1970; Schuchert 2001b, 2010, 2012):

Hydroid. Hydrorhiza stolonal; colonies mostly stolonal, occasionally sparingly branched with 2 hydranths, rarely with up to 5 side branches, up to 2 cm in height; perisarc not thick, feebly annulated to smooth, frequently 2–3 annulations separated by smooth intervals; hydranths with 15–21 capitate tentacles either scattered or in 4–5 whorls, below them a whorl of 2–6 short filiform tentacles, which are often absent, but always present in regenerating hydranths. Gonophores as fixed sporosacs spherical, borne in 2 whorls in upper axil of tentacles in middle of hydranth body, without radial or circular canals, females with numerous eggs. Colours: colourless to reddish-rose.

Cnidome. Stenoteles of two size classes.

Habitat type. Shaded places in caves and also on rocks (depth range: 0–40 m) ( Brinckmann-Voss 1970; Boero & Fresi 1986; Schuchert 2001b).

Substrate. On several substrates and organisms such as Peyssonnelia sp., Balanus shells, leaves and roots of Posidonia beds, Myriapora truncata .

Seasonality. March–May ( Brinckmann-Voss 1970) in the Tyrrhenian Sea; November ( Boero & Fresi 1986) in the Ligurian Sea; from February to March, and October in Salento waters (Gravili 2006; Gravili et al. 2008a).

Reproductive period. In the Tyrrhenian Sea, fertile colonies occur from March to May ( Brinckmann-Voss 1970).

Distribution. Mediterranean ( Gravili et al. 2008a), coasts of Brittany ( France), and Scotland (see Schuchert 2001b).

Records in Salento. Rare at Otranto (Gravili 2006; Gravili et al. 2008a).

Remarks. The filiform tentacles are usually missing in colonies from agitated waters ( Brinckmann-Voss 1970; Edwards & Harvey 1983). The Mediterranean records of this species are also discussed in the remarks on Coryne pusilla (for more details see Schuchert 2005a, 2010).

References. Schneider (1898), Motz-Kossowska (1905), Stechow (1923), Brinckmann-Voss (1970), Boero (1981a, b), Boero et al. (1985), Boero & Fresi (1986), Piraino et al. (1999), Schuchert (2001b, 2010, 2012), Bouillon et al. (2004), Gravili (2006), Gravili et al. (2008a).

Figures

FIGURE 35. Coryne pintneri: A, hydranths; B, nematocysts (drawn by F. Boero). Scale bars: A, 0.25 mm; C, 0.01 mm.