Notes on some sertulariid hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa) from the tropical western Pacific, with descriptions of nine new species

• Main Author: Horia R. Galea
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Consortium of European Natural History Museums 2016-08-01
• Series: European Journal of Taxonomy
• Subjects: Deep water; new species; thecate hydroids; Sertulariidae
• Online Access: http://www.europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/view/343

Forty-three species of sertulariid hydroids (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Sertulariidae), collected from the tropical western Pacific (Taiwan, Philippines, New Caledonia, French Polynesia, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands) during various expeditions of the French Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos program, are discussed. Of these, nine are new to science: <em>Gonaxia nova</em> sp. nov., <em>G. plumularioides</em> sp. nov., <em>Sertularella folliformis</em> sp. nov., <em>Se. plicata</em> sp. nov., <em>Se. pseudocatena</em> sp. nov., <em>Se. splendida</em> sp. nov., <em>Se. tronconica</em> sp. nov., <em>Se. tubulosa</em> sp. nov., and <em>Symplectoscyphus paucicatillus</em> sp. nov. The subspecies <em>Symplectoscyphus johnstoni</em> (Gray, 1843) <em>tropicus</em> Vervoort, 1993 is raised to species but, in order to avoid the secondary homonymy with <em>Sy. tropicus</em> (Hartlaub, 1901), the replacement name, <em>Sy. fasciculatus</em> nom. nov., is introduced. The male and female gonothecae of <em>Diphasia cristata</em> Billard, 1920, the male gonothecae of <em>Gonaxia elegans</em> Vervoort, 1993, as well as the female gonothecae of <em>Salacia macer</em> Vervoort &amp; Watson, 2003, are described for the first time. Additional notes on the morphology of several other species are provided. All taxa are illustrated, in most cases using figures drawn at the same scale, so as to highlight the differences between related species.