Halecium delicatulum Coughtrey, 1876

Galea, Horia R., 2007, Hydroids and hydromedusae (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the fjords region of southern Chile, Zootaxa 1597 (1), pp. 1-116 : 54-56

Halecium delicatulum Coughtrey, 1876

(fig. 12E–J, table 17)

Halecium delicatulum Coughtrey, 1876a: 299 ; 1876b: 26, pl. 3 figs 4–5; Hartlaub, 1905: 613: fig. L 3; Ralph, 1958: 334, figs 11E, H–N, 12A–P; Naumov & Stepanjants, 1962: 94, fig. 16; Vervoort, 1972a: 27, figs 4–5; Leloup, 1974: 10; Millard, 1975: 145, fig. 47F–L; 1977: 7, fig. 1C–D; Stepanjants, 1979: 105, pl. 20 fig. 4A–B; Hirohito, 1983: 11; Rees & Vervoort, 1987: 25, fig. 5; Ramil Blanco & Iglesias Dias, 1988: 72, fig. 2; Gili et al., 1989: 78, fig. 7B; El Beshbeeshy, 1991: 32, fig. 4A–B; Genzano & Zamponi, 1992: 40, fig. 17; Ramil & Vervoort, 1992: 82, fig. 20A–C; Hirohito, 1995 (English text): 20, fig. 5A–C, pl. 1 fig. C; Migotto, 1996: 30, fig 6D–E; Medel & Vervoort, 2000: 12; Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa, 2002: 63, fig. 12A–B; Vervoort & Watson, 2003: 88, figs 15I–L, 16A–E; Bouillon et al., 2004: 140, fig. 74A–D; Schuchert, 2005: 629 , fig. 12; Peña Cantero, 2006: 937, fig. 3C.

Halecium flexile Allman, 1888: 11 , pl. 5 figs 2, 2A; Hartlaub, 1905: 611, figs J 3 –K 3; Fraser, 1944: 192, pl. 35 fig. 169.

? Halecium antarcticum Billard, 1914: 7 , fig. 5. Material examined. Stn. CHL 02 —04.iii.2005, 13– 20 m, S80: several sterile colonies, up to 5 mm high, epizoic on Symplectoscyphus filiformis (MHNG INVE 53282). Stn. COM 02 —22.i. 2006, 15 m, S155: several small colonies, about 1 cm high, some bearing female gonophores; on polychaete tube (MHNG INVE 53479). Stn. COM 03 —25.ii.2005, 15– 25 m, S22: a small colony, about 1.5 cm high, with numerous male gonothecae, epizoic on stems of Hybocodon chilensis , 2 slides (MHNG INVE 53175). Stn. MEL 01 —08.iii.2005, 10– 15 m, S19: a small, sterile colony, epizoic on Halecium beanii (MHNG INVE 53172). Stn. CCA — 12.iii. 2006, 28 m, S87h: several small, sterile colonies and fragments, up to 1 cm high, epizoic on Lafoea dumosa (MHNG INVE 53314). Stn. ICA — 13.iii. 2006, 20 m, S137: a small colony composed of several stems up to 7 mm high, one immature female gonotheca present, epizoic on Halopteris schucherti (MHNG INVE 53421). Stn. CVI — 06.iii.2006, S169 (15 m): one large, polysiphonic colony, about 9 cm high, without gonothecae (MHNG INVE 53496); S129 (25 m): several sterile colonies, about 1 cm high, on brachiopod (MHNG INVE 53398); S142 (15–25 m): several polysiphonic colonies up to 4 cm high, all sterile; epizoic on Lafoea dumosa and Sertularella fuegonensis .

Type locality. Upper Harbour , Dunedin, New Zealand .

Remarks. For a recent redescription of this species, see Schuchert (2005). The variability and the synonymy of H. delicatulum were documented and discussed by Ralph (1958). Additional synonymy is available in Medel & Vervoort (2000).

Despite the lack of gonophores in several samples, the presence of a pseudodiaphragm, the everted hydrothecal rim and the quite long hydrophore, make it possible to assign the present material unambiguously to H. delicatulum . However, a pseudodiaphragm is variably present among the different samples examined; it is usually thicker on adcauline side. The present material occured generally as monosiphonic colonies; one polysiphonic specimen was found in sample S169. Male gonophores were abundant in sample S22, while several immature female gonophores were found in sample S155. The number of renovations of the hydrothecal rim is variable, between two (sample S22) and four (sample S19).

Hydroid epibionts. Filellum serratum ( Clarke, 1879) ; Clytia linearis ( Thornely, 1900) .

World distribution. Circumglobal in tropical, subtropical, boreal waters ( Peña Cantero, 2006).

Records from Chile. This species was previously reported from the Strait of Magellan, Punta Arenas, Puerto del Hambre ( Hartlaub 1905), Tocopilla, and north of the Golfo de Ancud ( Leloup 1974). The present material was collected between 43°10' S and 52°10' S.