Modeeria rotunda ( Quoy & Gaimard, 1827 )

Gil, Marta & Ramil, Fran, 2025, Hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from Guinea Bissau, Zootaxa 5577 (1), pp. 1-89 : 17

Modeeria rotunda ( Quoy & Gaimard, 1827)

Dianaea rotunda Quoy & Gaimard, 1827: 181–182 , pl. 6 figs 1–2.

Modeeria rotunda : García Carrascosa, 1981: 99–102, Pl. I fig. g, pl. 30 fig. B.— Gili et al., 1989: 74.— Ramil & Vervoort, 1992a: 29–32, fig. 4A–B.— Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa, 2002: 52–53, fig. 10G–H.— Vervoort, 2006: 219–220.

Stegopoma fastigiatum : Stechow, 1925: 440.— Vervoort, 1959: 234, fig. 10.— Patriti, 1970: 31, fig. 37.

Stegopoma fastigiata : Millard, 1958: 175.

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

BISSAU-0810, stn BS152, 10º31'12"– 10º30'19"N, 17º12'34"– 17º12'32"W, 300–305 m, 27-X-2008: 116 colonies, 2–35 mm high, all without gonothecae, of which 36 growing on Diphasia margareta , 32 on Lytocarpia myriophyllum , seven on Sertularella gayi , six on Lafoea gracillima , five on Earleria panicula , three on Aglaophenia lophocarpa , three on Aglaophenia tubulifera , one on Eudendrium sp. , one on Nemertesia ventriculiformis , one on Diphasia sp. , and four on worm tubes.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS157, 10º19'36"– 10º18'44"N, 17º10'29"– 17º10'12"W, 304–308 m, 28-X-2008: one colony without gonothecae, growing on Sertularella gayi .

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

Remarks. Modeeria rotunda is a well-known species and does not require a further discussion.

Biology. This species is usually found on other hydroids, but also on ascidians, anthozoans and bio-concretions ( Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa 2002). In the northern hemisphere, fertile material has been found from April to June, and in September, November and December ( Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa 2002; Vervoort 2006; Gil & Ramil 2017a).

In our material, most of the colonies were growing on different species of hydroids, as well as on worm tubes. No fertile material was collected.

Distribution. Modeeria rotunda is a cosmopolitan species ( Ramil & Vervoort 1992a; Vervoort 2006). In West Africa, it has been collected from Morocco ( Patriti 1970; Ramil & Vervoort 1992a), Mauritania ( Vervoort 2006; Gil & Ramil 2017a), the Cape Verde ( Stechow 1925; Vervoort 2006), Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Ghana, Nigeria, Namibia ( Buchanan 1957; Vervoort 1959, as Stegopoma fastigiatum ; Gili et al. 1989) and the Vema Seamount ( Gil & Ramil 2021b). Its bathymetric distribution extends from 0.5 ( García Carrascosa 1981) to 1554 m ( Gil & Ramil 2017a).

Our material was collected at depths between 300–393 m.

Genus Stegopoma Levinsen, 1893