Stegopoma bathyale Vervoort, 1966

Gil, Marta & Ramil, Fran, 2025, Hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from Guinea Bissau, Zootaxa 5577 (1), pp. 1-89 : 17-18

Stegopoma bathyale Vervoort, 1966

Stegopoma bathyale Vervoort, 1966: 112–114 , fig. 13.— Ramil & Vervoort, 1992a: 34–36, fig. 5A–D.— Vervoort, 2006: 221– 222.

Material examined. BISSAU-0810, stn BS152, 10º31'12"– 10º30'19"N, 17º12'34"– 17º12'32"W, 300–305 m, 27-X-2008: one colony, 105 mm high, with gonothecae.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS157, 10º19'36"– 10º18'44"N, 17º10'29"– 17º10'12"W, 304–308 m, 28-X-2008: five colonies, 21–105 mm high, without gonothecae, substrate unknown.

Remarks. Our material is indistinguishable from that described earlier by Ramil & Vervoort (1992a). We recorded fertile colonies for the first time in October, and our finding represents also the first record of S. bathyale for Guinea-Bissau.

Biology. In the northern hemisphere, colonies with gonothecae have been found in June ( Ramil & Vervoort 1992a).

In our material, one colony with gonothecae was found in October.

Distribution. Stegopoma bathyale has been found in the Gulf of Bengal (type locality) and several deep-water Atlantic localities ( Gil & Ramil 2017a). In West Africa, it is known from Morocco ( Ramil & Vervoort 1992a) and Mauritania ( Vervoort 2006; Gil & Ramil 2017a). Its bathymetric distribution extends from 394 to 1592 m ( Ramil & Vervoort 1992a).

Colonies studied herein were collected from Guinea-Bissau, at depths between 300–308 m.