Discovery and redescription of type material of Nausithoe simplex (Kirkpatrick, 1890), comb. nov. (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa: Coronatae: Nausithoidae) from the North Atlantic
Author
Morandini, André C.
Author
Jarms, Gerhard
text
Zootaxa
2012
3320
61
68
journal article
10.5281/zenodo.215253
2e88141b-a6e0-41a7-becf-12be4965c31c
1175-5326
215253
Nausithoe simplex
(
Kirkpatrick, 1890
)
,
comb. nov.
(
Figs 1–4
)
Stephanoscyphus simplex
Kirkpatrick 1890
: 14
(description), Pl. III, fig. 2 (tube), fig. 2a (cusps) [the species was attributed to G.J. Allman, but no published description or manuscript is available].
Tubularia cornucopia
:
Broch 1916
: 29
[not
Tubularia cornucopia
(
Bonnevie, 1898
)
] [specimens not seen].
Stephanoscyphistoma simplex
:
Jarms 1990
: 11
[mention as a collective group].
History.—
As
mentioned by
Kirkpatrick (1890: 14, footnote)
, his “bottle” of specimens was labelled with a species name (
Stephanoscyphus simplex
) that he attributed to G.J. Allman. Kirkpatrick noted, however, that he “...had not seen a published description of that species”. While studying the cnidarian collection at the NHM we found a small vial (NHM 1878.3.26.11) containing four stephanoscyphistomae. The vial was promptly recognized as taxonomically important because data on the label could be linked to the above account of Kirkpatrick. Based on that evidence, but given our inability to distinguish which of the
syntypes
was the specimen figured by
Kirkpatrick (1890, Pl. III figs 2, 2a)
(
Fig. 1
), we selected one of the better specimens from the series and designated it as the
lectotype
(ICZN 1999, Article 74).
Material examined.—
Syntypes
(NHM 1878.3.26.11) collected in the North Atlantic (south of
Greenland
,
56º11’N
,
37º41’W
) by H.M.S.
Valorous
, probably in 1875, depth 1450 fathoms (~
2650 m
).
Description of
lectotype
.—NHM 1878.3.26.11a (
Fig. 2
). Solitary polyp (4.18 mm long), with light-brown periderm tube, small basal disc for attachment (0.46 mm diameter) and
Formquotient
0.138. D/L
2mm
0.16, and at the aperture 0,58 (Table 1). Tube surface with a pattern of transverse rings (4-5 rings/0.4 mm) with longitudinal striations, characteristic of
Nausithoidae
. The tube has only one whorl of internal cusps, arranged as two larger and two smaller perradial cusps. The internal cusps are rectangular.
Description of species.—Solitary polyps (4.18–4.56 mm long, n = 3), with light-brown periderm tube, small basal disc for attachment (0.4–0.46 mm diameter, n = 2) and
Formquotient
at
2 mm
height (D/L
2mm
) 0.16–0.2 (n = 3), and at aperture 0.138–0.150 (n = 3) (see Table 1). Tube surface with pattern of transverse rings (4–5 rings/0.4 mm), with longitudinal striations, characteristic of
Nausithoidae
(
Fig. 3
). All tubes observed (n = 3) with a unique whorl of 4 internal cusps (two larger and two smaller perradial ones formed in the same horizontal plane). SEM preparations of the internal whorl of cusps show that the two larger cusps are rectangular in shape and with a smooth surface (
Fig. 4
). The outline of the internal cusps is higher than broad. All the measurements of the tubes are shown in Table 1.
TABLE
1.
Measurements of specimens of
Nausithoe simplex
(
Kirkpatrick, 1890
)
,
comb. nov.
(NHM 1878.3.26.11a, b, d). Symbols: - = no measurement; Dbd = diameter of the basal disc (in mm); Db = diameter just above the basal disc (in mm); Do = diameter of the distal aperture (in mm); Ltot = total length (in mm); D/L
2mm
= diameter at
2 mm
divided by 2; Nwt = total number of whorls of cusps; cusps/whorl = number of cusps per whorl; A-
Formquotient
= actual ratio between the diameter of the distal aperture (Do) and the total length (Ltot); E-
Formquotient
= expected ratio between the diameter of the distal aperture (Do) and length equal to
5 mm
.
Specimen Ltot |
Dbd |
Db |
Do |
D/L2mm A-
Formquotient
|
E-
Formquotient
|
Nwt |
cusps/whorl |
NHM 1878.3.26.11a (Lectotype) 4.18 |
0.46 |
0.12 |
0.58 |
0.16 0.138 |
0.116 |
1 |
4 |
NHM 1878.3.26.11b 4.4 |
0.4 |
0.18 |
0.7 |
0.2 0.159 |
0.140 |
1 |
4 |
NHM 1878.3.26.11d (SEM) 4.56 |
- |
0.1 |
0.64 |
0.2 0.140 |
0.128 |
1 |
4 |
Type
locality.—North Atlantic (south of
Greenland
,
56º11’N
,
37º41’W
), depth 1450 fathoms (~
2650 m
).
Comments.—Measurements of specimens NHM 1878.3.26.11a, b and d are presented in Table 1.
Formquotient
is the relation between total length and diameter of the aperture (
cf
.
Jarms 1990
). The data presented in Table 1 as A-
Formquotient
represent the actual relation. If we assume that the total length (Ltot) was almost equal to
5 mm
, then the expected
Formquotient
would be slightly different,
i.e
., E-
Formquotient
in Table 1 (note that this value is an extrapolation of the actual opening diameter of the tube divided by
5 mm
).
References to the species.—Below we present a chronological list of papers that report occurrences of
Stephanoscyphistoma simplex
(as
Stephanoscyphus simplex
). Figure numbers given here refer to those of the cited papers.
–
Kirkpatrick (1890: 14)
provided a footnote mentioning that ‘the specific name
simplex
is on the bottle containing the specimen’. In Plate III there is only a small figure of the polyp attached to the substrate (his
Fig. 2
) and one with details of the tube with the outer structure, but the drawings of two of the four cusps are only schematic (his
Fig. 2
a). Recorded from the North Atlantic (
56º11’N
,
37º41’W
).
Unfortunately, accounts in all of the following references do not include mention of the number of internal cusps (except
Kramp 1959
), and we were not able to locate relevant specimens. Thus, these records of
Nausithoe simplex
,
comb. nov.
, must be considered questionable.
–
Leloup (1937: 60–61)
considered
S. simplex
to be a synonym of
Nausithoe punctata
Kölliker, 1853
(=
Stephanoscyphus mirabilis
).
–
Kramp (1951)
described polyps from the north coast of
Brazil
(
02º26’N
,
39º26’W
) and from two stations between the West Indies and the
Bermudas
(
24º12’N
,
63º23’W
and
28º25’N
,
61º05’W
), but
Figs 4
and
5 in
his work provide no information about structure of the cusps.
–
Kramp (1959)
provided rather good information about the tube structures of specimens that he attributed wrongly to
Stephanoscyphus simplex
in
Figs 1–3
. Nevertheless, his
Figs 2
a and 2b resemble the cusp structures of known species of
Atorella
. That his specimens of
Stephanoscyphus simplex
can be referred to
Atorella
is supported by Fig. 6, plate 1. That illustration shows internal cusps attached to the tube wall with horizontal oval outlines, characteristic of
Atorellidae
. Parts of his material were ascribed by
Morandini & Jarms (2005)
to
Nausithoe striata
(
Vanhöffen, 1910
)
and
Atorella sibogae
(
Leloup, 1937
)
. The numerous stations where these specimens were collected are shown on the map in Fig. 9.
–
Wolff (1961: 139)
provided no figure, but reported the occurrence of a single polyp growing over the bivalve
Limopsis
in the East Pacific, collected by the
Galathea Expedition
(Station 716, at
3570 m
).
–
Brahm & Mohr (1962)
provided no figure. The collection sites are in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas, Arctic Ocean:
71º45’N
,
144º55’W
(
1540 m
) and
74º54’N
,
165º48’W
(
471 m
).
–
Brahm & Geiger (1966)
also provided no figure. Their material was collected at 15 stations from
110 to 1440 m
in the Arctic Ocean, and from the
Peru
and
Chile
trench to the
Antarctic
Ocean (
957–6006 m
) (Map,
Fig. 1
).
–
Gili (1986, unpublished thesis)
described specimens identified as
Stephanoscyphus simplex
from the Spanish coast (Medas and Cadaqués islands), collected at shallow depths (
5–20 m
). The author described the presence of 8 cusps per whorl.
–
Petersen (1990: 177)
and later
Schuchert (2001
: 42, 2010: 375) stated that the athecate hydrozoan
Tubularia cornucopia
Bonnevie, 1898
, after
Broch (1916: 29)
, was actually
Stephanoscyphus simplex
.
–
Altuna
Prados (1994a
: 45–46, unpublished thesis) superficially described as
Stephanoscyphus simplex
material from the Basque coast (Bay of Biscay), at depths between
60–1000 m
. The species was not illustrated, and internal cusps of the tubes were not inspected. The records were also cited as
S. simplex
in a species list published by
Altuna
Prados (1994b
: 43, 54). Some of these polyps were later described as a new species,
Nausithoe sorbei
, by Jarms, Tiemann & Altuna
Prados (2003)
.
–
Burch & Burch (1995)
reported specimens from Hawaii.