Solanderia gracilis Duchassaing & Michelin, 1846

Calder, Dale R., 2013, Some shallow-water hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the central east coast of Florida, USA, Zootaxa 3648 (1), pp. 1-72 : 11

Solanderia gracilis Duchassaing & Michelin, 1846

Fig. 1e

Solanderia gracilis Duchassaing & Michelin, 1846: 219 .

Type locality. Caribbean Sea : Guadeloupe ( Duchassaing & Michelin 1846) .

Voucher material. Off Jupiter Inlet, 26°57.1’N, 79°59.6’W, 56 m, 06.v.1976, Johnson-Sea-Link, JSL 2043, diver lockout, one young colony, 1.5 cm high, without gonophores, coll. D. Girardin, ROMIZ B3962 .

Remarks. Records of Solanderia gracilis Duchassaing & Michelin, 1846 , endemic to the western Atlantic Ocean and the only species of the genus known to occur in the region ( Bouillon et al. 1992), have been summarized in Larson (1987). Most accounts of this warm-water hydroid have been from the Caribbean Sea, although it has also been found off North Carolina. The latter record was based on a specimen collected from the continental shelf off Cape Fear (33°31’N, 77°25’W, 29 m, 18° C, ROMIZ B489), an area influenced by the warm Gulf Stream.

The hydroid from Florida examined here constitutes the second record of this shallow-water species from the east coast of the United States, and extends its known depth range to 56 m. Now preserved in 70% ethanol, the colony is small, very young, and straw-coloured rather than purplish to brownish-red as in larger, older colonies .

A detailed account of Solanderia gracilis , based largely on material from St. John in the Virgin Islands, was given by Vervoort (1962). Absence of Solanderia gracilis from mainland areas and larger islands in the Caribbean Sea was attributed by Larson (1987) to sedimentation, a factor he considered important in limiting its distribution.

Reported distribution. Atlantic coast of Florida. First record.

Elsewhere. North Carolina ( Larson 1987) to Bahia, Brazil ( Bouillon et al. 1992), including the Caribbean Sea ( Larson 1987).

SUBORDER FILIFERA Kühn, 1913

Figures

FIGURE 1. a, Pennaria disticha: part of hydrocaulus with annulated pedicel and juvenile hydranth, ROMIZ B1118; scale equals 0.5 mm. b, Cladocoryne floccosa: stem and hydranth, ROMIZ B1114, scale equals 0.5 mm. c, Velella velella: juvenile, left-sailing form, ROMIZ B1113, scale equals 1 mm. d, Zanclea alba: pedicel and hydranth, ROMIZ B3961, scale equals 0.25 mm. e, Solanderia gracilis: tip of branch with three hydranths, ROMIZ B3962, scale equals 0.25 mm. f, Turritopsis fascicularis: pedicel and hydranth with medusa bud, ROMIZ B1106, scale equals 0.25 mm. g, Parawrightia robusta: part of pedicel and hydranth, ROMIZ B1110, scale equals 0.25 mm. h, Bimeria vestita: pedicel and hydranth, ROMIZ B1116, scale equals 0.25 mm. i, Eudendrium carneum: part of hydrocaulus with pedicel and hydranth, ROMIZ B3960, scale equals 0.25 mm.