Corydendrium parasiticum ( Linnaeus, 1767 )

Calder, Dale R., 2019, On a collection of hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from the southwest coast of Florida, USA, Zootaxa 4689 (1), pp. 1-141 : 11

Corydendrium parasiticum ( Linnaeus, 1767)

Fig. 1b

Sertularia parasitica Linnaeus, 1767: 1315 .

Type locality. “Habitat in Oceano, saepe in Corallina rubente ” ( Mediterranean Sea ) ( Linnaeus 1767: 1315) .

Material examined. Southwest Florida Shelf, outer shelf NW of the Dry Tortugas, 25°16.83’N, 83°57.35’W, 127 m, 03 August 1981, triangle dredge, two colony fragments, 13 mm and 6 mm high, without gonophores, coll. Continental Shelf Associates, ROMIZ B449.

Remarks. Although not reported before from southwest Florida, Corydendrium parasiticum is widely distributed in tropical and subtropical waters of the western Atlantic Ocean ( Calder & Kirkendale 2005; Galea 2013; Oliveira et al. 2016). Specimens examined here were collected at the deep end of its known bathymetric range (1–127 m). An overview of the species is given in Schuchert (2004).

Reported distribution. Gulf coast of Florida. First record.

Elsewhere in western North Atlantic. Colombia ( Wedler 1975: 333; Flórez González 1983: 118; Bandel & Wedler 1987: 39).— Belize ( Spracklin 1982: 240).— Puerto Rico ( Wedler & Larson 1986: 82).— USA: Louisiana, on coastal petroleum platforms, 12–18 m ( Lewbel et al. 1987: 219).— Bermuda: Flatts Inlet, 3 m, under flat rock + 2 km SE of Castle Roads, 60-90 m, on rubble + Harrington Sound, near Flatts Inlet bridge, 1.5 m, on ledge ( Calder 1988: 6).— USA: North Carolina, Wrightsville Beach ( Lindquist & Hay 1996: 448; Stachowicz & Lindquist 2000: 282; Lindquist et al. 2000: 1291).— Panama: Colón + Bocas del Toro ( Calder & Kirkendale 2005: 477).— Cuba: Ciudad de La Habana, Miramar, 12 m ( Varela et al. 2005: 177).—French Lesser Antilles: Martinique ( Galea 2013: 6).—French Lesser Antilles: Guadeloupe ( Galea 2013: 6).—Caribbean Sea ( Wedler 2017b: 41, figs. 33–35).— Mexico: Alacranes Reef, on sponges, corals, molluscs, ascidians, artificial reefs ( Mendoza-Becerril et al. 2018b: 129).— Cuba: Havana, coral reef system west of the city (Castellanos et al. 2018: Supplementary Table S2).

Figures

FIGURE 1. a, Pennaria disticha: part of branch, with pedicel and hydranth, Fort Myers Beach, ROMIZ B4347. Scale equals 0.5 mm. b, Corydendrium parasiticum: part of colony with a reduced hydranth, Southwest Florida Shelf, ROMIZ B449. Scale equals 0.5 mm. c, Rhizogeton sterreri: hydranth and stolon, Fort Myers Beach, ROMIZ B4326. Scale equals 0.2 mm. d, Rhizogeton sterreri: male gonophore and stolon, Fort Myers Beach, ROMIZ B4326. Scale equals 0.2 mm. e, Turritopsis nutricula: colony with two hydranths, Fort Myers Beach, ROMIZ B4327. Scale equals 0.2 mm. f, Cordylophora caspia: part of colony with hydranth and female gonophore, Caloosahatchee River at Fort Myers, ROMIZ B4329. Scale equals 0.2 mm.