Turritopsis fascicularis Fraser, 1943

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

Turritopsis fascicularis Fraser, 1943

Fig. 1f

Turritopsis fascicularis Fraser, 1943: 76 , pl. 15, figs. 1a, b.

Type locality. USA: Florida, off Alligator Reef , 24°41’45”N, 80°27’45”W, 118 fathoms (216 m) ( Fraser 1943: 76) .

Voucher material. Off Vero Beach , 27°41.2’N, 80°14.5’W, 17 m, 13.ii.1974, small biological dredge, R/ V Gosnold Station 220/226, one erect and fascicled colony, in poor condition, 1.9 cm high, without gonophores, ROMIZ B1075 .— Off St. Lucie Inlet, 27°10.8’N, 80°00.8’W, 44 m, 19.iv.1977, Johnson-Sea-Link, JSL 2187, diver lockout, one colony, up to 1.1 cm high, with medusa buds, coll. L. Edmiston, ROMIZ B1106 .

Remarks. Earlier, I regarded Turritopsis fascicularis Fraser, 1943 as conspecific with T. dohrnii ( Weismann, 1883) from Europe ( Calder 1988: 10). In the absence of information on life histories and relationships between European and American populations, however, they are maintained here as distinct species. Unlike T. nutricula McCrady, 1857 , colonies of both nominal species are erect, polysiphonic, and branched.

Colonies identified as Turritopsis fascicularis from deep waters off Bermuda ( Calder 1998: 10) have fixed gonophores rather than free medusae, as originally described in this species by Fraser (1943), and may represent an undescribed species.

Fraser’s (1943) type material of Turritopsis fascicularis from the Florida Keys was collected within the Gulf of Mexico, as defined above .

Reported distribution. Atlantic coast of Florida. First record.

Western Atlantic. South Atlantic Bight ( Wendt et al. 1989) to the Caribbean Sea ( Calder 1991b).

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.