Halopteris catharina ( Johnston, 1833 )

Gil, Marta & Ramil, Fran, 2025, Hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from Guinea Bissau, Zootaxa 5577 (1), pp. 1-89 : 62-63

Halopteris catharina ( Johnston, 1833)

( Fig. 10E )

Plumularia catharina Johnston, 1833: 497 , figs 61–62.

Halopteris catharina : Ramil & Vervoort, 1992a: 145–148, fig. 37E–G.— Cornelius, 1995b: 126–128, fig. 29.— Schuchert, 1997: 107–110, fig. 38.— Ansín Agís et al., 2001: 159–163, fig. 68.— Gil et al., 2020: 433–435 , fig. 3F.

Material examined. BISSAU-0810, stn BS134, 11º28'17"– 11º29'11"N, 17º13'12"– 17º13'22"W, 374–385 m, 23-X-2008: one colony without gonothecae, growing on Diphasia margareta .

Remarks. The material is morphologically in agreement with that of Gil et al. (2020) from Mauritania. This species is widespread in Northwest Africa and does not require further discussion.

Our finding represents the first record of H. catharina for Guinea-Bissau.

Biology. This species has been found growing mostly on other hydroids, as well as on a wide variety of invertebrates and algae ( Ramil & Vervoort 1992a; Ansín Agís et al. 2001; Gravili et al. 2013; Gil et al. 2020). In the northern hemisphere, colonies with gonothecae have been found in February and from April to September ( Ansín Agís et al. 2001).

The colony studied by us was found growing on Diphasia margareta . Gonothecae were not observed.

Distribution. Halopteris catharina is a species with an amphi-Atlantic distribution ( Ramil & Vervoort 1992a; Ansín Agís et al. 2001). In West Africa, it has been recorded from Morocco ( Ramil & Vervoort 1992a), Mauritania ( Gil & Ramil 2017a) and the Cape Verde Archipelago ( Ansín Agís et al. 2001; Vervoort 2006). Its bathymetric distribution ranges from 1 to 642 m ( Ansín Agís et al. 2001; Gil et al. 2020).

Our material was collected at depths between 374–385 m.

Figures

FIGURE 10. A–B. Aglaophenia tubulifera (Hincks, 1861) (stn BS157); portion of hydrocladium (A); corbula (B). C. Lytocarpia tridentata (Versluys, 1899) (stn BS191), portion of hydrocladium. D. Macrorhynchia philippina Kirchenpauer, 1872 (stn BS191), portion of hydrocladium. E. Halopteris catharina (Johnston, 1833) (stn BS134), portion of hydrocladium. Scales: a–e, 0.5 mm.