Ralpharia gorgoniae Petersen, 1990

Galea, Horia R., 2013, New additions to the shallow-water hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) of the French Lesser Antilles: Martinique, Zootaxa 3686 (1), pp. 1-50 : 10

Ralpharia gorgoniae Petersen, 1990

(Pl. 1L– O; Fig. 2R)

Ralpharia gorgoniae Petersen, 1990: 189 , fig. 35.― Calder & Kirkendale, 2005: 480.― Castellanos Iglesias et al., 2011: 14. Tubularia parasitica ― Wedler & Larson, 1986: 72, fig. 1B (not Tubularia parasitica Korotneff, 1887 ). Pachycordyle sp. A― Larson, 1982: 255.

Material examined. Stn. 7, 24.i.2012, 6– 8 m, M044: two fertile polyps (MHNG-INVE-82915). Additional material for comparison: Guadeloupe, Stn4. 18, 04.xii.2009, 10– 15 m, five polyps with and without gonophores (MHNG-INVE-82916).

Remarks. For a thorough description of this species, see Petersen (1990). The gonophore is well illustrated by Wedler & Larson (1986). In addition to these, it is worth mentioning that the oral and aboral tentacles are pseudofiliform, with cnidocytes concentrated on both ad- and aboral sides, except for the distalmost parts where the capsules cover uniformly all the surface of these tentacles. Cnidome (previously unreported): 1) small stenoteles, (8.5–8.9)×(6.2–6.9) µm, in both oral and aboral tentacles; 2) large stenoteles, (11.5–11.9)×(9.9–10.1) µm, in the oral tentacles; 3) desmonemes, (6.9–7.8)×(4.8–5.5) µm, in both oral and aboral tentacles; 4) microbasic mastigophores, (13.1–13.8)×(4.8–5.3) µm, in the aboral tentacles; 5) heterotrichous anisorhizas, (11.7– 12.4)×(10.8–11.2) µm, in the nematophores. No cnidocysts occur in the gonophores.

Some polyps bear, with little doubt, male gonophores (a homogenous, compact mass of tissue invests the subumbrellar cavity), while others are probably female. No oocytes could be seen, but possibly developing larvae (Pl. 1 O), resembling those figured earlier by myself ( Galea 2008, fig. 3H) for Zyzzyzus warreni Calder, 1988 . Similar larvae are also visible in some gonophores illustrated by Petersen (1990, Fig. 35).

Geographical distribution. Belize ( Larson 1982, planktonic medusoids, as Pachycordyle sp. A), Colombia (Flórez González 1983, as Tubularia parasitica ), Puerto Rico ( Wedler & Larson 1986, as T. parasitica ), Caribbean coast of Panama ( Calder & Kirkendale 2005), Cuba ( Castellanos Iglesias et al. 2011), Guadeloupe (Galea, unpublished results), Martinique (present study).