Gonaxia compacta Vervoort, 1993

Figs 2C, 3 E–F

Gonaxia compacta Vervoort, 1993: 135, figs 8c, 14a–b, 15a.

Material examined

BATHUS 4: Stn. DW923, a single, 6 cm high colony bearing an abortive gonotheca, as well as a row of incipient gonothecae, highly obscured by the accessory tubes of the stem (MNHN-IK- 2012 -16523).

Remarks

As already stated by Vervoort (1993), the hydrothecae of this species bear an obvious resemblance to those of G. amphorifera, G. ampullacea, and G. sinuosa, but it could be readily distinguished from them on the account of the absence of a pit formed by the free adaxial wall with the internode (Fig. 3E). Only an abortive gonotheca, arising from within the first hydrotheca of a cladium (Fig. 3F), was found. Several successive, elongate masses among the accessory tubes of the stem suggest the imminent formation of normal gonothecae.

Geographical distribution

New Caledonia (Vervoort 1993; present study).