Monostaechas quadridens ( McCrady, 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 : 44-45

Monostaechas quadridens ( McCrady, 1859)

Fig. 13e

Plumularia quadridens McCrady, 1859: 199 .

Monostaechas quadridens .— Leloup, 1937: 108, figs 10A, B.— Schuchert, 1997: 130, fig. 47b–e. Type locality. USA: South Carolina, Charleston Harbor area, “floating in the water” ( McCrady 1859: 199).

Voucher material. Off St. Lucie Inlet, 27°10.8’N, 80°00.8’W, 44 m, 21.vi.1977, Johnson-Sea-Link, diver lockout, JSL 2230-c, two colony fragments, 1.5 and 2 cm high, one with gonothecae, ROMIZ B1102 .

Remarks. Originally described from South Carolina, Monostaechas quadridens McCrady, 1859 is ubiquitous in coastal waters off the southeastern United States (e.g., Fraser 1912b, 1943, 1944; Leloup 1937; Cain 1972; Wenner et al. 1983, 1984; Wendt et al. 1989; Schuchert 1997). Wenner et al. reported it as frequent in dredge (47%) and trawl (35%) samples from nine hard bottom sites on inner (17–22 m), middle (23–38 m), and outer (47– 67 m) continental shelf areas of South Carolina and Georgia. In estuaries within the region, however, it has been found only as detached colonies ( McCrady 1859; Calder 1983).

Detailed taxonomic accounts of Monostaechas quadridens include those of Schuchert (1997), whose material included the specimens from off St. Lucie Inlet examined here (ROMIZ B1102), and Ansín Agís et al. (2001), whose material came from the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde Islands.

Reported distribution. Atlantic coast of Florida. Off Miami and Jacksonville ( Leloup 1937).—Off St. Lucie Inlet ( Schuchert 1997).

Western Atlantic. Massachusetts ( Nutting 1900, 1901) to Argentina (Oliveira et al. submitted), including Bermuda ( Calder 2000), the Gulf of Mexico ( Calder & Cairns 2009), and the Caribbean Sea ( Galea 2010).

Elsewhere. Circumglobal, tropical and temperate waters ( Schuchert 1997).

Figures

FIGURE 13. a, Halopteris clarkei: part of hydrocaulus with two hydrocladia and three hydrothecae, ROMIZ B1096, scale equals 0.25 mm. b, Halopteris diaphana: part of hydrocaulus with a hydrocladium and a hydrotheca, ROMIZ B3975, scale equals 0.20 mm. c, Halopteris diaphana: part of a hydrocladium with a hydrotheca and nematothecae, ROMIZ B3975, scale equals 0.10 mm. d, Halopteris diaphana: part of hydrocaulus with a hydrotheca and female gonotheca, ROMIZ B3975, scale equals 0.10 mm. e, Monostaechas quadridens: part of a hydrocladium with two hydrothecae and a female gonotheca, ROMIZ B1102, scale equals 0.25 mm. f, Ventromma halecioides: part of hydrocaulus with a hydrocladium and two hydrothecae, ROMIZ B1108, scale equals 0.20 mm.