On a collection of hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa, Hydroidolina) from the west coast of Sweden, with a checklist of species from the region 3171
Author
Calder, Dale R.
text
Zootaxa
2012
2012-01-24
3171
1
1
77
https://biotaxa.org/Zootaxa/article/view/zootaxa.3171.1.1
journal article
10.11646/zootaxa.3171.1.1
11755334
5247704
Cuspidella grandis
Hincks, 1868
Fig. 25
Cuspidella grandis
Hincks, 1868: 210
, pl. 40, fig. 4.—
Lönnberg, 1898: 53
.—
Kramp, 1935b: 134
.—
Jägerskiöld, 1971: 61
.
Type
locality.
British Isles
:
Connemara
(
Ireland
),
Shetland
(Scotland) (
Hincks 1868: 210
)
.
Museum material.
Kosterhavet,
58°53.030’N
,
11°05.567’E
, 140–
100 m
,
10.ix.2010
, biological dredge,
R
/
V
Nereus
, two colony fragments, about 1.5 mm high, on
Ascidia mentula
, without gonophores,
ROMIZ
B3921.
Remarks.
These specimens correspond with descriptions and illustrations of
Cuspidella grandis
Hincks, 1868
, originally described from the British Isles. Hincks distinguished the species from
C. humilis
Hincks,
1866
in its larger size and in the relative slenderness of its hydrothecae in relation to height. Some hydrothecae examined here were even more elongate than those portrayed by Hincks. Taxonomic affinities of this morphotype remain uncertain because medusae assigned to several different genera and families are known to have
Cuspidella
-like hydroids
FIGURE 25.
Cuspidella grandis
: one hydrotheca with renovated margins, ROMIZ B3921. Scale equals 0.5 mm.
FIGURE 26.
Filellum serpens
: part of stolon with one hydrotheca, ROMIZ B3905. Scale equals 0.5 mm.
(e.g.,
Brinckmann 1965
;
Calder 1970
;
Cornelius 1995a
;
Bouillon
et al
. 2006
). Medusae raised from a hydroid resembling
C. grandis
by
Rees (1941)
were identified by him as
Cosmetira pilosella
(
Forbes, 1848
)
, but he was reluctant to formally combine the two (
Cornelius 1995a
). Hydroids reared from medusae of
Mitrocomella polydiademata
(
Romanes, 1876
)
by
Edwards (1973b)
likewise resemble
C. grandis
. Medusae of both
C. pilosella
and
M. polydiademata
occur in the Skagerrak and Kattegat (
Cornelius 1995a
). Given continuing uncertainty surrounding the identity of hydroids examined here, they are simply assigned to
C. grandis
.
Hydroids of this morphotype have been reported from a number of locations across southwestern Scandinavia (e.g.,
Kramp 1935b
;
Jägerskiöld 1971
;
Christiansen 1972
, as
Cosmetira pilosella
).
Reported distribution.
West coast of
Sweden
.—From Säcken area (
Jägerskiöld 1971
) to Öresund (
Lönnberg 1898
).
Elsewhere.—North Atlantic from northern seas of the
Russian Federation
to the Bay of Biscay (
Christiansen 1972
, as
Cosmetira pilosella
) in the east, and from Hudson Bay and Labrador to the Gulf of St. Lawrence (
Fraser 1944
) in the west.