Turritopsis cf. nutricula McCrady, 1857

Galea, Horia R., 2008, On a collection of shallow-water hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from Guadeloupe and Les Saintes, French Lesser Antilles, Zootaxa 1878, pp. 1-54 : 9

Turritopsis cf. nutricula McCrady, 1857

(fig. 2I –J)

Turritopsis nutricula McCrady, 1857: 55 , pls 4–5.— Calder, 1988b: 8, figs 5–6.— Migotto, 1996: 11, fig. 3A–C. Turritopsis cf. nutricula — Schuchert, 2003: 143, fig. 4.

Material examined. Stn. 3: 26.01.2008 —three polyps, no gonophores, on alga.

Type locality. Charleston Harbor, South Carolina, United States.

Description. Small colony, composed of three stems arising from creeping hydrorhiza. Perisarc doublelayered, slightly undulated with occasional wrinkles, covered with detritus particles. Hydranths, though contracted, fusiform, with 15–17 filiform tentacles scattered over distal 2/3–3/4 of body; hypostome domeshaped. Gonophores not seen. Nematocysts (undischarged): microbasic euryteles (5.7–6.3) × (2.7–2.9); desmonemes (3.9–4.1) × (2.4–2.6) µm.

Remarks. Though scarce and sterile, the present specimens are provisionally assigned to McCrady’s (1857) species, pending the discovery of more abundant, fertile material.

For descriptions of the hydroid stage of T. nutricula , see Calder (1988b) and Migotto (1996).

Distribution. Realiable records are from the western Atlantic ( Calder 1988b, Migotto 1996). They are also supported by recent molecular analyses ( Miglietta et al. 2006). The Caribbean records are summarized by Calder & Kirkendale (2005).