Hebella scandens ( Bale, 1888 )

Gil, Marta & Ramil, Fran, 2025, Hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from Guinea Bissau, Zootaxa 5577 (1), pp. 1-89 : 26-27

Hebella scandens ( Bale, 1888)

( Fig. 4B–D )

Lafoea scandens Bale, 1888: 758–759 , pl. 13 figs 16–19.

Hebella scandens : Vervoort, 1959: 237–238, fig. 12.—Millard, 1975: 185–184, fig. 60 F–G.— Migotto, 1996: 26–27, fig. 6A– B.— Boero et al., 1997: 8–11, fig. 2.— Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa, 2002: 58–59, fig. 11C–D.— Galea, 2013: 15 , figs 3L, U–Y; 4F.

Hebellopsis scandens : Calder, 1991: 43–45, fig. 27.

Hebella michaelseni : Broch, 1914: 32, fig. 2.

Hebella calcarata : Leloup, 1937: 96–97.— Vervoort, 1946: 304–305.

Hebella scandends var. michaelseni : Vervoort, 1959: 238–239, fig. 13.— Gili et al., 1989: 72–73, fig. 3A.

Material examined. BISSAU-0810, stn BS143, 11º15'35"– 11º16'30"N, 17º09'49"– 17º09'49"W, 95–96 m, 25-X-2008: one colony growing on Sertularelloides cylindritheca , without gonothecae.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS191, 10º18'25"– 10º19'20"N, 16º08'47"– 16º08'47"W, 24–25 m, 3-XI-2008: 35 colonies (7 with gonothecae), of which 22 growing on Idiellana pristis , four on unidentified hydroids, one on Eudendrium capillare , one on Bimeria vestita , one on Halecium marocanum , one on Tridentata loculosa and one on Tridentata marginata .

BISSAU-0810, stn BS192, 10º19'30"– 10º20'15"N, 16º10'27"– 16º10'59"W, 24 m, 3-XI-2008: three colonies (one colony with gonothecae), of which one growing on an unidentified hydroid, one on Diphasia digitalis and one on Idiellana pristis .

BISSAU-0810, stn BS200, 10º18'55"N, 16º25'07"W, 79 m, 4-XI-2008: two colonies without gonothecae, both growing on Sertularelloides cylindritheca .

BISSAU-0810, stn BS216, 10º30'53"– 10º31'39"N, 16º31'33"– 16º32'02"W, 56–58 m, 7-XI-2008: one colony without gonothecae, growing on an unidentified hydroid.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS226, 11º22'11"– 11º21'55"N, 17º02'30"– 17º01'54"W, 35–37 m, 9-XI-2008: 44 colonies without gonothecae, all growing on Sertularelloides cylindritheca .

Remarks. Most of the colonies found in the Bissau-0811 material occurred on several species of sertulariids, a situation also documented by Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa (2002).

Biology. As in our material, this species has been usually found as an epibiont of other hydroids, but it has also been found growing on algae, sponges and bryozoans ( Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa 2002). In the northern hemisphere, fertile material has been found in July, August and December ( Vervoort 1959; Altuna 1994b; Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa 2002), while in the southern hemisphere, gonothecae were found in January, February, April, August to October ( Millard 1957; Millard & Bouillon 1973; Migotto 1996).

In our material, some colonies were colonizing different species of hydroids. Gonothecae were found in November.

Distribution. Hebella scandens is a circumglobal species ( Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa 2002; Galea 2013). In West Africa, it has been recorded from Western Sahara ( Leloup 1937; Vervoort 1946, both as Hebella calcarata ), Mauritania ( Billard 1931b; Vervoort 1946, both as H. calcarata ), Guinea-Bissau ( Gili et al. 1989), the Republic of Guinea, the Ivory Coast ( Vervoort 1959), Ghana ( Buchanan 1957, as H. calcarata ; Vervoort 1959). Gabon ( Vervoort 1959) and Angola ( Broch 1914; Bouillon et al. 1995, as H. michaelseni ). Its bathymetric distribution ranges from 0 to 164 m (Millard 1975).

Our material was collected at depths between 24–96 m.

Figures

FIGURE 4. A. Hebella ritchiei Vervoort, 1959 (stn BS195), colony with gonotheca growing on an unidentified hydroid. B–D. Hebella scandens (Bale, 1888) (stn BS191): hydrothecae (B–C); gonotheca (D). E–G. Hebella sp. (stn BS191); hydrothecae (E–F); nematocysts (G). Scales: a, 0.2 mm; b–f, 0.5 mm; g, 20 µm.