Lafoea gracillima ( Alder, 1856 )

Gil, Marta & Ramil, Fran, 2025, Hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) from Guinea Bissau, Zootaxa 5577 (1), pp. 1-89 : 23-24

Lafoea gracillima ( Alder, 1856)

( Fig. 3D )

Campanularia gracillima Alder, 1856: 361 , Pl. XIV figs 5, 6.

Lafoea gracillima : Jäderholm, 1909: 74, Pl. VII figs 6, 7.— Calder, 2012: 29–30 , fig. 28.— Gil et al., 2020: 425–426 .

Material examined. BISSAU-0810, stn BS132, 11º31'33"N, 17º14'07"W, depth unknown, 23-X-2008:three colonies without coppiniae, up to 3 mm high, of which one growing on a polychaete tube and another on Desmophyllum pertusum .

BISSAU-0810, stn BS152, 10º31'12"– 10º30'19"N, 17º12'34"– 17º12'32"W, 300–305 m, 27-X-2008: 51 colonies without coppiniae, 6–58 mm high, of which 14 growing on Diphasia margareta , nine on Lytocarpia myriophyllum , three on Aglaophenia lophocarpa , three on Aglaophenia tubulifera , one on Diphasia sp. , two on polychaete tubes and two on bryozoans.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS177, 10º10'16"– 10º11'00"N, 17º07'21"– 17º07'54"W, 382–387 m, 31-X-2008: one colony without coppiniae, 18 mm high.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS191, 10º18'25"– 10º19'20"N, 16º08'47"– 16º08'47"W, 24–25 m, 3-XI-2008: one colony without coppiniae.

Remarks. The taxonomic status of L. gracillima has recently been discussed by Calder (2012) and Gil et al. (2020). Our material is consistent with that described by Gil et al. (2020) from the coral mounds off Mauritania. This is the first record of this species for Guinea-Bissau.

Biology. This species has been found growing on different types of bottoms ( Jäderholm 1909), on Tubularia indivisa Linnaeus, 1758 ( Calder 2012), on M. oculata and the bivalve A. excavata ( Gil et al. 2020) .

In our material, colonies were found growing on hydroids, worm tubes, bryozoans and D. pertusum . Coppiniae where not observed.

Distribution. Lafoea gracillima is considered as an amphi-Atlantic species ( Calder 2012; Gil et al. 2020). In West Africa, it has been recorded from Morocco to the Cape Verde Archipelago ( Gil et al. 2020). Its bathymetric distribution ranges from 20–30 m ( Calder 2012) to 640 m depth ( Gil et al. 2020).

Our material was collected at depths between 24–387 m.

Figures

FIGURE 3. A. Lovenella corrugata Thornely, 1908 (stn BS191), portion of colony with hydrothecae and a gonotheca. B. Plicatoteca anitae Calder & Vervoort, 1986 (stn BS152), portion of colony. C. Acryptolaria conferta (Allman, 1877) (stn BS131), portion of hydrocladium. D. Lafoea gracillima (Alder, 1856) (stn BS152), portion of colony with hydrothecae. Scales: a–d, 0.5 mm.