Symplectoscyphus sp. 2

(fig. 7J)

Material examined. Stn. AMI — 26.v.2010, S07 (5 m): a 3 mm high basal fragment of a colony with one mutilated gonotheca.

Description. Perisarc at origin from stolon with a couple of twists; divided into oblique nodes above; perisarc dark brown and very thick. Internodes, three in number, short, each bearing a sub-terminal hydrotheca. Hydrothecae tubular, curved outwards and upwards, ab- and adcauline walls convex, surface smooth; aperture provided with three blunt-rounded cusps separated by moderately-deep, semi-circular embayments. Stolonization occurs from within the basalmost hydrotheca. An incipient gonotheca is given off from the same hydrotheca, and a second, huge, distally-mutilated gonotheca arises from within the second hydrotheca.

Remarks. This species superficially resembles Symplectoscyphus sp. 1 described above, but appears comparatively smaller, and its perisarc is of a conspicuous dark brown tinge. Additional, ideally fertile, material is required to provide a complete description of this species. The peculiar morphology of its truncated gonotheca suggests that it may be an undescribed species.

Distribution in Chile. Found near Corral.