Crypthelia Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849

Cairns, Stephen D. & Lindner, Alberto, 2011, A Revision of the Stylasteridae (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa, Filifera) from Alaska and Adjacent Waters, ZooKeys 158, pp. 1-88 : 58

Genus Crypthelia Milne Edwards & Haime, 1849

Diagnosis.

Colonies usually uniplanar and quite delicate. Coenosteum linear-imbricate and white; nematopores common. Gastro- and dactylopores arranged in cyclosystems that are arranged unifacially on colony, only rarely on both faces; cyclosystems covered all or in part by a fixed lid. Gastropore tube double-chambered, lacking gastro- and dactylostyles. Ampullae usually superficial with a variety of locations of efferent pores.

Discussion.

Crypthelia is the second-most species-rich genus in the family, currently boasting 31 Recent and one fossil species ( Appeltans et al. 2011: www.marinespecies.org). They are easily recognized by the prominent fixed lid that covers each cyclosystem. They are more characteristic of deep water environment and hold the record for the deepest stylasterid species.

Type species.

Crypthelia pudica Milne Edwards and Haime, 1849, by monotypy.

Distribution.

Eocene to Recent: cosmopolitan, but not off continental Antarctica, 183-2789 m.