The non-Siphonophoran Hydrozoa (Cnidaria) of Salento, Italy with notes on their life-cycles: an illustrated guide Author Gravili, Cinzia Author Vito, Doris De Author Camillo, Cristina Gioia Di Author Martell, Luis Author Piraino, Stefano Author Boero, Ferdinando text Zootaxa 2015 3908 1 1 187 journal article 42365 10.11646/zootaxa.3908.1.1 6f1d1977-6b97-4789-828c-76ed250cf1ae 1175-5326 242729 D6AD2B49-170B-4D9C-84AA-DBE0FEEAD8BE Scandia gigas ( Pieper, 1884 ) Fig. 76 A–C See Boero et al. (1997a) for a complete synonymy. Material examined. HCUS-S 0 83 (Hydrozoa Collection, University of Salento—fauna of the Salento Peninsula). Description (based on our own observations; Boero et al. 1997a ): Hydroid. Colonies stolonal; hydrocauli as erect pedicels scarcely, dichotomously or irregularly branched and ended in hydrothecae, perisarc undulated or twisted throughout; hydrothecae tubular, elongated, walls sometimes asymmetrical, narrowing gradually towards the base, with a hydrothecal diaphragm, margin everted, rim even. Gonothecae: female gonothecae spherical, male ones sac-shaped and elongated. Cnidome. Microbasic mastigophores. Habitat type . Littoral and shelf species that has been found from the tidal level to about 90 m depth in the Mediterranean Sea ( Boero & Fresi 1986 ; Roca 1986 ). Substrate. Hydroids, algae, Posidonia , other organisms such as bryozoans, sponges, anthozoans, polychaete tubes, bivalve and gastropod shells, cirripedes, ascidians, and non-living substrata. Seasonality: July–April ( Boero & Fresi 1986 ) in the Ligurian Sea; January, April–June, August, September, November (for a review see Bouillon et al . 2004); January–December (De Vito 2006; this study) in Salento waters. Reproductive period. April (Gili 1986); July ( Broch 1933 ); July–August ( Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa 2002 ); August–September ( Boero & Fresi 1986 ) in the Mediterranean Sea. FIGURE 76. Scandia gigas : A , hydrotheca; B , female gonotheca; C , male gonotheca (A, B, C same scale bar) (modified after Boero 1981a). Scale bar: 0.5 mm. Distribution. Temperate waters Atlantic and Pacific, Mediterranean ( Stechow 1919 ; Broch 1933 ; Fraser 1946 ; Patriti 1970 ; Marinopoulos 1979 ; Isasi 1985 ; Altuna 1994; Medel & López-González 1996 ; Boero et al. 1997a ; Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa 2002 ; Bouillon et al. 2004; Galea 2008 ; Gravili et al. 2008a ; Puce et al. 2009; Soto Ãngel & Peña Cantero 2013 ). Records in Salento. Moderately frequent in the following localities: Grotta del Ciolo ( Moscatello & Belmonte 2007 ); Il Chiapparo, Otranto (De Vito 2006; Gravili 2006; Gravili et al. 2008a ; this study). Remarks. In the Mediterranean area many authors used the name Scandia pocillum for Lafoea gigas Pieper, 1884 . Boero (1981a) reintroduced the name S. gigas since Cornelius (1975) showed that L. pocillum is conspecific with L. dumosa . Gonothecae and medusae not seen in the present study. References. Stechow (1919 as Hebella gigas , 1923 as Croatella gigas ), Broch (1933) as Hebellopsis gigas , Leloup (1934) , Picard (1958a) , Riedl (1959 , 1966 ), Rossi (1961 , 1971 as Scandia pocillum ), Sarà et al. (1978) , García Corrales et al. (1979) as S. pocillum , Boero (1981a , b ), García Carrascosa (1981) as S. pocillum , Gili (1982 , 1986 ), Isasi (1985) as S. pocillum , Boero & Fresi (1986) , Llobet et al. (1986 , 1991 ), Roca (1986) as Scandia parvula , Roca et al. (1991) , Medel (1996), Medel & López-González (1996) , Boero et al. (1997a) , Piraino et al. (1999) , Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa (2002) , Bouillon et al. (2004), De Vito (2006), Gravili (2006), Galea (2007) , Moscatello & Belmonte (2007) , Gravili et al. (2008a) , Puce et al. (2009).