Thyroscyphus ramosus Allman, 1877

Calder, Dale R., 2013, Some shallow-water hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the central east coast of Florida, USA, Zootaxa 3648 (1), pp. 1-72 : 24

Thyroscyphus ramosus Allman, 1877

Fig. 7e, f

Thyroscyphus ramosus Allman, 1877: 11 , pl. 6, figs. 5, 6.— Winston, 1982: 116; 2010: 231.

Type locality. USA: Florida, south of Sand Key , 10 fathoms (18 m) ( Allman 1877) .

Voucher material. Off Fort Pierce , 27°29.6’N, 80°17.0’W, 7–8 m, SCUBA, one fragmentary colony, 4 cm high, without gonophores, coll. F. Stanton, ROMIZ B1133 .— Fort Pierce Inlet , north jetty, 13.iii.1975, collected manually, one colony, 14 cm high, without gonophores, coll. J.E. Winston, ROMIZ B1926 .

Remarks. Thyroscyphus ramosus Allman, 1877 is widely reported in the Caribbean region ( Vervoort 1968; Calder & Kirkendale 2005; Galea 2008; Castellanos Iglesias et al. 2011). Shimabukuro & Marques (2006) provided a detailed account of its morphology based on material from Brazil.

According to Winston (1982), Thyroscyphus ramosus is abundant year-round on the North Beach breakwater at Fort Pierce, Florida, within the study area, although colonies she observed there were dormant during January. A large hydroid extending bathymetrically into the intertidal zone, it was an important substrate for bryozoans in the area. In turn, it grows on a variety of substrates, both animate (e.g., algae, sponges) and inanimate (e.g., artificial reefs, rocks, sand, pilings) (Oliveira et al. submitted). Although usually recorded from relatively shallow waters, Nutting (1915) reported T. ramosus from 100–250 fathoms (183–457 m) off Morro Castle, Cuba.

Reported distribution. Atlantic coast of Florida. Indian River area ( Winston 1982, 2010).

Western Atlantic. Sebastian Inlet, Florida ( Winston 1982: 116) to Brazil (Oliveira et al. submitted), and including the Gulf of Mexico ( Calder & Cairns 2009) and the Caribbean Sea ( Galea 2008).

Elsewhere. Eastern Atlantic ( Vervoort 1959);?Indian Ocean ( Leloup 1932).

Figures

FIGURE 7. a, Symmetroscyphus intermedius: part of erect colony, ROMIZ B1117, scale equals 0.5 mm. b, Symmetroscyphus intermedius: part of colony with two hydrothecae, ROMIZ B1117, scale equals 0.25 mm. c, Thyroscyphus marginatus: part of hydrocaulus with three hydrothecae, ROMIZ B3963, scale equals 0.5 mm. d, Thyroscyphus marginatus: pedicel and hydrotheca, ROMIZ B3963, scale equals 0.25 mm. e, Thyroscyphus ramosus: part of hydrocaulus with four hydrothecae, ROMIZ B1133, scale equals 0.5 mm. f, Thyroscyphus ramosus: pedicel and hydrotheca, ROMIZ B1133, scale equals 0.25 mm.