Aglaophenia lophocarpa Allman, 1877

Gil, Marta & Ramil, Fran, 2025, Hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from Guinea Bissau, Zootaxa 5577 (1), pp. 1-89 : 56

Aglaophenia lophocarpa Allman, 1877

Aglaophenia lophocarpa Allman, 1877: 41 , pl. 24 figs 1–4.— Svoboda, 1979: 82–86, figs 12E, 13E, 15E, 16E.— Svoboda & Cornelius, 1991: 22–23, fig. 5.— Ramil & Vervoort, 1992a: 93–94, fig. 23B–C.— Ansín Agís et al., 2001: 40–48, figs 22–25.— Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa, 2002: 88–89, fig. 17D.

Material examined. BISSAU-0810, stn BS132, 11º31'33"N, 17º14'07"W, depth unknown, 23-X-2008: four colonies without corbulae, 23–48 mm, substrate unknown.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS133, 11º29'17"– 11º28'26"N, 17º15'14"– 17º15'14"W, 733–737 m, 23-X-2008: two colonies without corbulae growing on worm tubes.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS147, 11º08'35"– 11º08'27"N, 17º11'31"– 17º10'37"W, 186–306 m, 26-X-2008: six colonies with corbulae, 59–82 mm high, of which one growing on a worm tube.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS152, 10º31'12"– 10º30'19"N, 17º12'34"– 17º12'32"W, 300–305 m, 27-X-2008: 101 colonies (two with corbulae), 24–153 mm high, most of them detached from the substrate, but three of them growing on Diphasia digitalis , three on Lytocarpia myriophyllum and one on a worm tube.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS157, 10º19'36"– 10º18'44"N, 17º10'29"– 17º10'12"W, 304–308 m, 28-X-2008: 20 colonies (five with corbulae), 15–83 mm high, of which two growing on worm tubes, one on Diphasia margareta and one on Aglaophenia tubulifera .

Remarks. Aglaophenia lophocarpa is a well-known species in Northwest Africa and needs no further comment.

Biology. This species has been found growing on a wide variety of substrates ( Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa 2002; Vervoort 2006; Gil et al. 2020). In the northern hemisphere, gonothecae have been found throughout the year ( Ansín Agís et al. 2001; Gil & Ramil 2017a).

Our colonies were found growing on worm tubes and other hydroid species. Corbulae were observed in October.

Distribution. Aglaophenia lophocarpa is a species with an amphi-Atlantic distribution ( Ansín Agís et al. 2001) and a wide bathimetric distribution, from 0–2700 m depth ( Ansín Agís et al. 2001; Vervoort 2006). In West Africa, it has been collected from Morocco ( Ramil & Vervoort 1992a) to Gabon ( Gil & Ramil 2021a).

Our material was collected at depths between 23–737 m.