Earleria panicula (G.O. Sars, 1874 )

Gil, Marta & Ramil, Fran, 2025, Hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from Guinea Bissau, Zootaxa 5577 (1), pp. 1-89 : 20-22

Earleria panicula (G.O. Sars, 1874)

Earleria panicula : Gil et al. 2020: 422 (synonymy).

Material examined. BISSAU-0810, stn BS142, 11º14'17"– 11º13'22"N, 17º13'07"– 17º13'12"W, 335–393 m, 25-X-2008: two colonies, without gonothecae.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS152, 10º31'12"– 10º30'19"N, 17º12'34"– 17º12'32"W, 300–305 m, 27-X-2008: 79 colonies, 3–30 mm high, without gonothecae, of which seven growing on Diphasia margareta , 51 on Lytocarpia myriophyllum , four on Nemertesia irregularis , one on Turritopsis sp. , four on Aglaophenia tubulifera , one on Nemertesia ventriculiformis , two on a rope, one on a polychaete tube.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS177, 10º10'16"– 10º11'00"N, 17º07'21"– 17º07'54"W, 382–387 m, 31-X-2008: one colony growing on Lytocarpia myriophyllum , without gonothecae.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS182, 10º14'14"– 10º13'22"N, 16º32'49"– 16º32'44"W, 211–224 m, 1-XI-2008: one colony growing on L. myriophyllum , without gonothecae.

Remarks. Our material agrees with that described by Gil et al. (2020) from Mauritanian coral mounds, and it represents the first record of this species for Guinea-Bissau. No further discussion is necessary.

Biology. This species has been found growing on a great variety of invertebrates ( Cornelius 1995a, as Campanulina panicula ; Calder 2012, as Racemoramus panicula ). In the northern hemisphere, fertile material has been found in April, June, November and December ( Ramil & Vervoort 1992a, as Opercularella panicula ; Cornelius 1995a, as C. panicula ; Gil & Ramil 2017a, as R. panicula ), while in the southern hemisphere, gonothecae were found in August ( Gili et al. 1989, as O. denticulata ).

In our material, colonies were found growing on other hydroid species, a worm tube and artificial substrates, such as a rope. Gonothecae were not observed.

Distribution. Earleria panicula is considered as an Eastern Atlantic species ( Calder 2012, as R. panicula ; Gil et al. 2020), with a bathymetric distribution ranging from 30 to 2100 m ( Christiansen 1972, as O. panicula ; Ramil & Vervoort 1992a, as R. panicula ). In West Africa, it has been recorded from Morocco, Mauritania and Namibia ( Gili et al. 1989, as O. denticulata ; Gil et al. 2020).

Our material was collected at depths between 460–462 m.

Genus Cyclocanna Bigelow, 1918