Some shallow-water hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the central east coast of Florida, USA Author Calder, Dale R. text Zootaxa 2013 2013-05-14 3648 1 1 72 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3648.1.1 journal article 10.11646/zootaxa.3648.1.1 1175-5326 5264362 22089255-436A-4DBB-BD93-1D3C8CF281FE Aglaophenia dubia Nutting, 1900 Fig. 14a Aglaophenia gracilis Allman, 1877: 42 , pl. 25, figs. 1–4 [invalid junior primary homonym of Aglaophenia gracilis Lamouroux, 1816 ]. Aglaophenia dubia Nutting, 1900: 92 , pl. 18, fig. 5 [replacement name for Aglaophenia gracilis Allman, 1877 ]. Aglaophenia elongata .— Bogle, 1975: 101 , fig. 7.— Jones 2002: 218 [not Aglaophenia elongata Meneghini, 1845 ]. Type locality. USA : Florida , off Carysfort Reef ( Allman 1877: 43 , as Aglaophenia gracilis ) . Voucher material. Off St. Lucie Inlet , 27°11.8’N , 80°00.6’W , 137 feet ( 42 m ), 17.v.1976 , Johnson-Sea-Link , JSL 2047, three cormoids, up to 8.8 cm high, without gonophores, coll. G. Melton , ROMIZ B1125 .— Of Jupiter Inlet , 26°57.6’N , 79°59.4’W , 48 m , 17.i.1974 , R/ V Gosnold Station 216/128, 20-foot otter trawl, two cormoids, up to 4.8 cm high, without gonophores, ROMIZ B3976 .— Off St. Lucie Inlet , 27°10.8’N , 80°00.8’W , 44 m , 03.ii.1977 , Johnson-Sea-Link , JSL 2161, one cormoid, 1.6 cm high, without gonophores, coll. F. Stanton , ROMIZ B3977 . Remarks . This species was originally described from southeastern Florida as Aglaophenia gracilis by Allman (1877) . That name is a permanently invalid junior primary homonym of Aglaophenia gracilis Lamouroux, 1816 (ICZN Art. 57.2). Nutting (1900) recognized the homonymy and proposed Aglaophenia dubia as a replacement name for Allman’s species. Aglaophenia dubia was referred to the synonymy of A. elongata Meneghini, 1845 , a Mediterranean species, by Bedot (1921) . Some subsequent authors who studied the species adopted that proposed synonymy ( Leloup 1937 ; Van Gemerden-Hoogeveen 1965 ; Bogle 1975 ; Wedler 1975 ; Wenner et al . 1984 ; Jones 2002 ), while others did not ( Fraser 1944 ; Deevey 1954 ; Rees & Thursfield 1965 ; Vervoort 1968 ). Bogle (1975) noted several differences between her material from the Straits of Florida and the original account of A. elongata by Meneghini (1845) , but with considerable reservation retained that name for the western Atlantic species. Hydroids of the same morphotype from Bermuda were compared by me ( Calder 1997 ) with accounts of the Mediterranean species by Svoboda & Cornelius (1991) , as well as with material of A. elongata from Capo d’Enfola, Elba, Italy (ROMIZ B1231). A number of differences in the two were noted, particularly in corbula morphology. Corbulae of hydroids from Bermuda were elongate rather than egg-shaped, there were 6–14 instead of 4–6 pairs of nematocladia, free ribs were frequent instead of being absent, and peduncles bore 1–3 hydrothecae instead of just one. I therefore concluded that A. dubia was valid. Moreover, Svoboda and Cornelius noted that records of A. elongata outside the Mediterranean seemed erroneous. Aglaophenia dubia and A. flowersi Nutting, 1900 , the latter originally described from near Sand Key, Florida , have been considered identical ( Leloup 1937 ; Bogle 1975 ; Calder 1997 ), and as such are simultaneous synonyms. Precedence was assigned to the name A. dubia following the First Reviser Principle (ICZN Art. 24.2) in nomenclature ( Calder 1997 ). Additional taxonomic remarks on A. dubia are given in Bogle (1975 , as A. elongata ) and Calder (1997) . This species is usually found at intermediate depths in the warm western Atlantic. Its known bathymetric range is 11–274 m ( Bogle 1975 , as A. elongata ). Reported distribution. Atlantic coast of Florida . Off Carysfort Reef ( Allman 1877 , as Aglaophenia gracilis ).—Straits of Florida ( Bogle 1975 , as A. elongata ).—Biscayne Bay ( Jones 2002 , as A. elongata ). Western Atlantic. South Carolina/Georgia continental shelf ( Wenner et al . 1984 , as A. elongata ) to Brazil (Oliveira et al . submitted), including Bermuda ( Calder 1997 ), the Gulf of Mexico ( Calder & Cairns 2009 ), and the Caribbean Sea ( Bogle 1975 , as A. elongata ). Elsewhere. Questionably reported from the Galápagos Islands ( Fraser 1938b ).