Egmundella gracilis Stechow, 1921

Galea, Horia R., 2007, Hydroids and hydromedusae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the fjords region of southern Chile, Zootaxa 1597 (1), pp. 1-116 : 35-36

Egmundella gracilis Stechow, 1921

(fig. 8J–L, table 3)

Egmundella gracilis Stechow, 1921: 226 ; 1923: 124, fig. Q. Material examined. Stn. IVM — 28.iii. 2005, 20 m, S26: a small, sterile colony, epizoic on Bougainvillia pyramidata (MHNG INVE 53183).

Type locality. Vancouver , Canada .

Description. Colony stolonal, minute, about 0.8 mm high; stolon giving rise at irregular intervals to hydrothecae atop a pedicel. Pedicels varied in length but always exceeding height of hydrotheca; basally with 3–4 annuli, smooth or with scattered wrinkles elsewhere, merging almost imperceptibly with hydrothecal base. Hydrotheca tubular, deep, slightly widening towards aperture, narrowing basally, with no demarcation from pedicel. Operculum a cone-shaped lid consisting of a folded continuation of hydrothecal wall, not distinctly demarcated from rim, comprising several triangular flaps meeting centrally. Nematophores dispersed along stolon, between hydrothecae, or in clusters of 2–3 on hydrothecal pedicels; globular to oval, borne on short pedicels, containing several long, closely-packed, banana-shaped nematocysts; with terminal, small, rounded aperture.

Remarks. Stechow (1923) observed up to 4 nematophores in a circle around the hydrothecal pedicel, just below the hydrotheca; also on stolon where they were thought to function in defending the damaged colony. Some hydrocauli in Stechow’s material range between 2–4 mm high, but smaller pedicels are also visible in his figure R. Like Stechow’s material, the present specimens are sterile and the gonotheca of this species still remains to be described.

World distribution. Pacific coast of Canada ( Stechow 1923).

Records from Chile. The present material was found at only one station, Isla van der Meulen. This is the first record for Chile and also for the south-eastern Pacific.