Proboscidactyla stellata ( Forbes, 1846 )

Galea, Horia R., 2007, Hydroids and hydromedusae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the fjords region of southern Chile, Zootaxa 1597 (1), pp. 1-116 : 29

Proboscidactyla stellata ( Forbes, 1846)

(pl. 1J)

Willsia stellata Forbes, 1846: 268 ; Mayer, 1910: 193; Russell, 1938: 154, fig. 45.

Proboscidactyla stellata: Russell, 1953: 386 , figs 250–256, pl. 23 figs 3–4; Kramp, 1959: 178, fig. 256; 1961: 236; 1968: 109, fig. 294; Rees & Rowe, 1969: 11; Pagès et al., 1992: 37, fig. 41; Buecher et al., 2005: 44 .

Lar sabellarum Gosse, 1857: 113 , pl. 1; Hincks, 1872: 313.

Material examined. Plankton — off the Huinay Scientific Field Station , 07.ii.2006, 50–0 m, one medusa ( MHNG INVE 53567 ) .

Type locality. Bay of Oban , Scotland .

Remarks. Medusae of this species were collected on several occasions from the plankton but, despite an intensive search, the polyp stage was not found on tubes of sabellid polychaetes. For recent redescriptions of the medusa stage, see Pagès et al. (1992) and Buecher et al. (2005). The developmental stages of the medusa are discussed in Russell (1953) and data on their nematocyst complement are available in Russell (1938). In the present material, the medusae are up to 1.9 mm in height and 2.1 mm in width.

World distribution. Widespread in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, with some records from the west Indian Ocean, the species probably being cosmopolitan ( Pagès et al. 1992, Buecher et al. 2005).

Records from Chile. Medusae were found here in fjord Comau. Additional records are those of Palma et al. (2007) from the southern channels (between the Gulf of Corcovado and Pulluche-Chacabuco channels).