Heterocoryne caribbensis Wedler & Larson 1986
Creators: name: Maggioni, Davide
name: Schuchert, Peter
name: Arrigoni, Roberto
name: Hoeksema, Bert W.
name: Huang, Danwei
name: Strona, Giovanni
name: Seveso, Davide
name: Berumen, Michael L.
name: Montalbetti, Enrico
name: Collins, Richard
name: Galli, Paolo
name: Montano, Simone
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2021
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Cnidaria
Hydrozoa
Anthoathecata
Sphaerocorynidae
Heterocoryne
Heterocoryne caribbensis

description: Heterocoryne caribbensis Wedler & Larson, 1986
Heterocoryne caribbensis Wedler & Larson, 1986: 75, figs. 2 a-e; pl. 1 figs. 4–6; Galea, 2013: 9, pl. 1, figs. G-I; fig. 2m; Maggioni et al. 2017: 737.
Examined material: Sample STE001, Sint Eustatius, 07/06/2015, polyps in ethanol. – Sample STE002, Sint Eustatius, 08/06/2015, polyps in ethanol. – Sample STE003, Sint Eustatius, 09/06/2015, polyps in ethanol. – Sample STE011, Sint Eustatius, 12/06/2015, polyps in ethanol and formalin. –Sample STE014, Sint Eustatius, 13/06/2015, polyps in ethanol and formalin. – Sample STE018, Sint Eustatius, 13/06/2015, polyps in ethanol. – Sample STE028, Sint Eustatius, 15/06/2015, polyps in ethanol and formalin. – Sample STE043, Sint Eustatius, 19/06/2015, polyps in ethanol and formalin. – Sample STE046, Sint Eustatius, 20/06/2015, polyps in ethanol. – Sample MHNG-INVE-0069670, Guadeloupe, 03/12/2009, polyps in ethanol.
Description: Polyp. Colonies monomorphic, living in association with sponges (figs. 6 A-C). Hydrorhiza tubular, branched, covered by perisarc and growing within sponge host. Pedicels unbranched, covered by a thin perisarc and by the sponge, the latter forming a cone-shaped cover around the base of the polyp (fig. 6C). Hydranth pyriform, up to 3.5 mm long, with variable diameter (160–630 Μm). Hypostome proboscis-like. One whorl of up to eight capitate tentacles below the hypostome and one whorl of up to 12 aboral capitate tentacles, each one provided with two or three partially-fused capitate tentacles on the proximal side (figs. 6D, E). Each tentacle with a terminal, nematocyst-rich capitulum (diameter: 95–130 Μm), with a central inclusion (lost in fixed material). Tentacles up to 1 mm long. One fixed gonophore (eumedusoid) per polyp, among oral tentacles. Living hydranths with white hypostome, and a reddish gastric cavity (figs. 6 A-C). Desmonemes, small and large stenoteles (fig. 6F) occurring in the capitula, and rarely scattered in the hydrorhiza and in the hydranth.
Polyp cnidome. i) Desmonemes (undischarged: 8–9 × 4–5 Μm; discharged capsule: 7 × 4–5 Μm). ii) Large stenoteles (undischarged: 16–19 × 11–13 Μm; discharged capsule: 13–16 × 10–11 Μm). iii) Small stenoteles (undischarged: 10–12 × 6–7 Μm; discharged capsule: 8–9 × 5 Μm).
Distribution: Presumably endemic to the Caribbean Sea (currently only known from Guadeloupe, Martinique, Puerto Rico, Sint Eustatius, US Virgin Islands).
Remarks: The analysed colonies fully agree with the specimens analysed by previous authors, both in general morphology and cnidome composition (Wedler & Larson, 1986; Galea, 2013). A minor difference is the presence, in some polyps, of four instead of three tentacles in the aboral whorl.
description: Published as part of Maggioni, Davide, Schuchert, Peter, Arrigoni, Roberto, Hoeksema, Bert W., Huang, Danwei, Strona, Giovanni, Seveso, Davide, Berumen, Michael L., Montalbetti, Enrico, Collins, Richard, Galli, Paolo & Montano, Simone, 2021, Integrative systematics illuminates the relationships in two sponge-associated hydrozoan families (Capitata: Sphaerocorynidae and Zancleopsidae), pp. 487-525 in Contributions to Zoology 90 on page 508, DOI: 10.1163/18759866-BJA10023, http://zenodo.org/record/8343324