Sertularella gayi ( Lamouroux, 1821 )

Gil, Marta & Ramil, Fran, 2025, Hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from Guinea Bissau, Zootaxa 5577 (1), pp. 1-89 : 45-46

Sertularella gayi ( Lamouroux, 1821)

Sertularella gayi Lamouroux, 1821: 12–13 , pl. 66 figs 8–9.— Billard, 1906a: 73.— Billard, 1906b: 184–185, fig. 9.— Billard, 1931b: 675.— Buchanan, 1957:366.— Vervoort, 1959: 273–275, figs 33B–C, 34B.— Redier, 1965: 373.— Rees &Thursfield, 1965: 134.— Vervoort, 1966: 127–128, fig. 30.— Patriti, 1970: 37–38, fig. 48.— Gili et al., 1989: 102–103, fig. 27.

Sertularella gayi gayi : Ramil & Vervoort, 1992a: 219–222, fig. 61a–e.— Medel & Vervoort, 1998: 40–45, fig. 10–11.— Vervoort, 2006: 267.

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

BISSAU-0810, stn BS142, 11º14'17"– 11º13'22"N, 17º13'07"– 17º13'12"W, 335–393 m, 25-X-2008: one colony 56 mm high, without gonothecae, substrate unknown.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS152, 10º31'12"– 10º30'19"N, 17º12'34"– 17º12'32"W, 300–305 m, 27-X-2008: 16 colonies without gonothecae, 7–50 mm high, of which two growing on Lytocarpia myriophyllum .

BISSAU-0810, stn BS157, 10º19'36"– 10º18'44"N, 17º10'29"– 17º10'12"W, 304–308 m, 28-X-2008: 11 colonies 10–25 mm high, without gonothecae, of which three growing on worm tube.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS173, 10º04'52"– 10º04'17"N, 16º34'12"– 16º33'30"W, 277–278 m, 31-X-2008: one colony 30 mm high, without gonothecae, growing on Nemertesia ventriculiformis .

BISSAU-0810, stn BS200, 10º18'55"N, 16º25'07"W, 79 m, 4-XI-2008: one colony 140 mm high, with gonothecae; substrate unknown.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS216, 10º30'53"– 10º31'39"N, 16º31'33"– 16º32'02"W, 56–58 m, 7-XI-2008: six colonies 55–111 mm high, without gonothecae; substrate unknown.

CCLME-1110, stn BT54, 11º35'33"– 11º34'02"N, 17º18'01"– 17º17'50"W, 109–110 m, 30-X-2011: one colony 30 mm high, with gonothecae; substrate unknown.

Remarks. Sertularella gayi is a well-known species and no further discussion is necessary.

Biology. This species has been found growing on a great variety of invertebrates and other substrates ( Gil et al. 2020). In the northern hemisphere, colonies with gonothecae have been reported in March, April and between June– December ( Teissier 1965; Ramil & Vervoort 1992a; Ramil et al. 1992; Medel & Vervoort 1998; Gil et al. 2020).

Some of our colonies were found growing on L. myriphyllum , N. ventriculiformis and worm tubes. Gonothecae were observed in October and November.

Distribution. This is an Atlantic-Mediterranean species [Ramil & Vervoort 1992, as Sertularella gayi gayi (Lamourux, 1821) ]. Its distribution in West Africa has been recently revised by Gil et al. (2020). Its bathymetrical distribution ranges from 9 (Ramil et al. 1992) to 1200 m ( Ramil & Vervoort 1992a, as S. gayi gayi ).

Our material was collected at depths between 56–737 m.