Aglaophenia digitulus Vervoort & Watson, 2003

Galea, Horia R. & Maggioni, Davide, 2020, Plumularioid hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from off New Caledonia collected during KANACONO and KANADEEP expeditions of the French Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos Program, European Journal of Taxonomy 708, pp. 1-58 : 3-5

Aglaophenia digitulus Vervoort & Watson, 2003

Figs 1 , 2 A–H

Aglaophenia digitulus Vervoort & Watson, 2003: 271 , fig. 64a–e.

Material examined

PACIFIC OCEAN • 1 ca 30 cm high, sterile colony; off New Caledonia, stn DW4703; 22°46′ S, 167°19′ E; 350– 348 m; 17 Aug. 2016; KANACONO leg.; barcode identifier MT655144 ; MNHN- IK-2015-569 • a fully fertile colony ca 31 cm high; off New Caledonia, stn CP4739; 22°41′ S, 167°41′ E; 393– 358 m; 22 Aug. 2016; KANACONO leg.; barcode identifier MT655146 ; MNHN-IK-2015-578 • two sterile colonies, 18 and 23 cm high, the former without hydrorhiza; off New Caledonia, stn CP4676; 22°51′ S, 167°30′ E; 383– 383 m; 13 Aug. 2016; KANACONO leg.; barcode identifier MT655147 ; MNHN-IK-2015-579 .

Remarks

The specimens at hand conform strictly to the original description by Vervoort & Watson (2003). However, no mention was made by these authors as to the occurrence of pseudophylactocarps, as noted in the present specimens ( Fig. 2 F–H). These ca 5 mm long, curled structures replace some hydrocladia either on the proximal parts of side branches or on the main stem before it branches; like the cladia, the pseudophylactocarps are borne on the same apophyses, and are composed of a succession of short internodes that possibly represent vestigial hydrothecae, together with their corresponding mesial nematothecae.

Distribution

Kermandec Islands ( Vervoort & Watson 2003), New Caledonia (present study).

Figures

Fig. 1. Aglaophenia digitulus Vervoort & Watson, 2003, colony from sample MNHN-IK-2015-569. Scale bar: 2 cm.

Fig. 2. A–H. Aglaophenia digitulus Vervoort & Watson, 2003, stem internode from monosiphonic part (A); hydrotheca in lateral (B), frontal (C) and apical (D) views; modified, distal part of a cladium with corbula (E); pseudophylactocarp (F) and details in lateral (G) and frontal (H) aspects; A, E–H from sample MNHN-IK-2015-578; B–D from sample MNHN-IK-2015-569. — I. Taxella gracilicaulis (Jäderholm, 1903), three cormidia from sample MNHN-IK-2015-571. Scale bars: A = 500 µm; B–C, F = 300 µm; D, G–I = 200 µm; E = 1 mm.