Bimeria vestita Wright, 1859

Calder, Dale R., 2013, Some shallow-water hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the central east coast of Florida, USA, Zootaxa 3648 (1), pp. 1-72 : 12

Bimeria vestita Wright, 1859

Fig. 1h

Bimeria vestita Wright, 1859:109 , pl. 8, fig. 4.

Type locality. UK: Scotland, Firth of Forth , North Queensferry and Inch Garvie (Inchgarvie) ( Wright 1859) .

Voucher material. Fort Pierce Inlet , north jetty, north side, 27°28’24.2”N, 80°17’20.3”W, low water, 15.ii.1991, 20° C, collected manually, four colonies, up to 8 mm high, without gonophores, coll. D.R. Calder, ROMIZ B1116 . Fort Pierce Inlet , north jetty, north side, 27°28’24.2”N, 80°17’20.3”W, 0.1 m, on Pennaria disticha , 15.ii.1991, 20° C, collected manually, one colony, 4 mm high, without gonophores, coll. D.R. Calder, ROMIZ B1118 .

Remarks. Bimeria humilis Allman, 1877 (type locality: Tortugas, Florida) has been regarded as conspecific with B. vestita Wright, 1859 from Scotland ( Calder 1988; Marques et al. 2000; Schuchert 2007). Synonymy of the two names needs to be confirmed given the widely-separated provenances of the populations they denote and the significant hydrographic differences between them. Recent accounts of hydroids attributed to the species have been given by Genzano & Zamponi (1999), Marques et al. (2000), Schuchert (2007), and Calder (2010).

Reported distribution. Atlantic coast of Florida. First record.

Western Atlantic. Continental shelf of South Carolina and Georgia ( Wenner et al. 1984, as Bimeria humilis ) to Argentina ( Genzano & Zamponi 1999), including Bermuda ( Calder 1988), the Gulf of Mexico ( Calder & Cairns 2009, as B. humilis ), and the Caribbean Sea ( Calder & Kirkendale, 2005).

Elsewhere. Considered essentially circumglobal in tropical and temperate waters ( Calder 2010).

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.