Hebellopsis communis 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 : 19

Hebellopsis communis Calder, 1991a

Fig. 5c

Hebellopsis communis Calder, 1991a: 42 , Figs. 26 a, b.

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

Voucher material. Bethel Shoal off Vero Beach, 27°42.6’N, 80°06.8’W, 24 m, on Thyroscyphus marginatus , 18.ii.1976, Johnson-Sea-Link, JSL 328, diver lockout, one colony, without gonothecae, coll. S. Nelson, ROMIZ B1100 .

Remarks. Hebellopsis communis Calder, 1991a resembles H. scandens ( Bale, 1888) , but differs in having: (1) hydrothecae that are deeper (>500 µm vs. <500 µm) and deeply campanulate rather than cylindrical and often markedly curved, (2) hydrothecal pedicels that are spirally annulated and of varied length (up to 400 µm long) rather than smooth and short (up to 130 µm long), and (3) hydrothecal orifices with larger openings (diameter 256– 280 µm vs. 160–191 µm). Hydrothecae resemble those of Hebella furax Millard, 1957 but lack a rounded annular ring basally. Hebellopsis gigas ( Pieper, 1884) is also similar, but it has longer pedicels and hydrothecae with a more pronounced distal flare.

This species, usually epizoic on other hydroids (especially Thyroscyphus marginatus Allman, 1877 ), is known only from the warm western Atlantic ( Calder 1991a, 2000; Castellanos Iglesias et al. 2011; Oliveira et al. submitted). Its gonophores have yet to be described.

Reported distribution. Atlantic coast of Florida. First record.

Western Atlantic. Bermuda ( Calder 1991a) to Brazil (Oliveira et al. submitted).

Figures

FIGURE 5. a, Hebella venusta: pedicel and hydrotheca, ROMIZ B1097, scale equals 0.20 mm. b, Hebella sp.: pedicel and hydrotheca, ROMIZ B1132, scale equals 0.25 mm. c, Hebellopsis communis: pedicel and hydrotheca, ROMIZ B1100, scale equals 0.10 mm. d, Hebellopsis gigas: pedicel and hydrotheca, ROMIZ B1082, scale equals 0.25 mm. e, Hebellopsis scandens: pedicel and hydrotheca, ROMIZ B1091, scale equals 0.10 mm. f, Cryptolaria pectinata: distal part of a hydrocladium, ROMIZ B1120, scale equals 0.25 mm.