Nausithoe simplex Kirkpatrick 1890, comb. nov.
Creators: name: Morandini, André C.
name: Jarms, Gerhard
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2012
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Cnidaria
Scyphozoa
Coronatae
Nausithoidae
Nausithoe
Nausithoe simplex

description: 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.
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.
description: Published as part of Morandini, André C. & Jarms, Gerhard, 2012, Discovery and redescription of type material of Nausithoe simplex (Kirkpatrick, 1890), comb. nov. (Cnidaria: Scyphozoa: Coronatae: Nausithoidae) from the North Atlantic, pp. 61-68 in Zootaxa 3320 on pages 62-64, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.215253