Sertularella unituba Calder, 1991a

Calder, Dale R., 2013, Some shallow-water hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the central east coast of Florida, USA, Zootaxa 3648 (1), pp. 1-72 : 30

Sertularella unituba Calder, 1991a

Fig. 9a, b

Sertularella gayi unituba Calder, 1991a: 103 , fig. 54.

Type locality. Bermuda: 2 km southeast of Castle Roads ( Calder 1991a) .

Voucher material. Off St. Lucie Inlet, 27°11.6’N, 80°00.7’W, 41 m, 18.v.1976, Johnson-Sea-Link, JSL 2048, two colony fragments, up to 2.3 cm high, without gonophores, coll. J. Reed, ROMIZ B1093 .— Bethel Shoal off Vero Beach , 27°42.6’N, 80°06.8’W, 24 m, 18.ii.1976, Johnson-Sea-Link, JSL 328, diver lockout, five colonies and colony fragments, up to 4 cm high, two with gonothecae, coll. S. Nelson, ROMIZ B1099 .

Remarks. Originally described as Sertularella gayi unituba by Calder (1991a), the subspecific name was elevated to specific rank by Medel & Vervoort (1998). Their taxonomic judgment was followed by Vervoort (2006) and is accepted here. Its recognition as a species distinct from S. gayi Lamouroux, 1821 is supported by the molecular studies of Moura et al. (2011).

Sertularella unituba has been regarded as likely conspecific with hydroids that Allman (1888) initially described under the name Sertularia exigua (not Sertularia exigua Allman, 1877 ; not Sertularella exigua Thompson, 1879 ), and on discovering the homonymy renamed in a plate caption as Sertularia laxa (not Sertularia laxa Lamarck, 1816 ) (see Medel & Vervoort 1998; Vervoort 2006). Inasmuch as both S. laxa and S. exigua are invalid junior primary homonyms, they do not threaten the name Sertularella unituba .

As noted above in remarks on Sertularella conica Allman, 1877 , questions remain over the identity of that species, and whether it and S. unituba may be conspecific.

Reported distribution. Atlantic coast of Florida. First record.

Western Atlantic. Bermuda ( Calder 1991a) to the Dry Tortugas (Van Gemerdeen-Hoogeveen 1965, as Sertularella conica ).

Elsewhere. Eastern Atlantic ( Allman 1888, as Sertularella exigua ; Medel & Vervoort 1998; Vervoort 2006).

Figures

FIGURE 9. a, Sertularella unituba: part of hydrocaulus with two hydrothecae, ROMIZ B1099, scale equals 0.25 mm. b, Sertularella unituba: gonotheca, ROMIZ B1099, scale equals 0.25 mm. c, Tridentata distans: part of hydrocaulus with four hydrothecal pairs, ROMIZ B3968, scale equals 0.20 mm. d, Tridentata loculosa: part of hydrocaulus with two hydrothecal pairs, ROMIZ B1078, scale equals 0.20 mm. e, Tridentata marginata: part of hydrocaulus with two hydrothecal pairs, ROMIZ B3969, scale equals 0.35 mm.; f, Tridentata marginata: gonotheca, ROMIZ B3969, scale equals 0.25 mm. g, Tridentata turbinata: part of hydrocaulus with two hydrothecal pairs, ROMIZ B3970, scale equals 0.25 mm. h, Hincksella brevitheca: part of hydrocladium with hydrothecae, ROMIZ B1079, scale equals 0.25 mm. i, Synthecium tubithecum: part of hydrocladium with two hydrothecal pairs, ROMIZ B1074, scale equals 0.25 mm.