Acryptolaria bulbosa
Creators: name: Peña Cantero, Álvaro L.
name: Vervoort, Willem
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2010
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Cnidaria
Hydrozoa
Leptothecata
Lafoeidae
Acryptolaria
Acryptolaria bulbosa

description: Acryptolaria bulbosa (Stechow, 1932) (Figs 3; 30; 31C; Table 4)
Cryptolaria bulbosa Stechow, 1932: 87.
Acryptolaria bulbosa – Yamada 1959: 49. — Peña Cantero et al. 2007: 237-240, fig. 3, tab. III.
Acryptolaria rectangularis – Schuchert 2003: 154, 155, fig. 13.
MATERIAL EXAMINED. — Philippines. MUSORSTOM 3, stn DR 117, 12°31.2’- 12°31.3’N, 120°39.3’- 120°39.5’E, 92-97 m, 3. VI.1985, 4 fragments up to 40 mm long (MNHN-Hy.2009-0183). Loyalty Islands. BIOCAL 1, stn DW 08, 20°34.351’- 20°35.092’S, 166°53.904’- 166°54.051’E, 435 m, 12.VIII.1985, 1 stem c. 7 mm high (RMNH-Coel. no. 31500). MUSORSTOM 6, stn DW 397, 20°47.35’S, 167°05.17’E, 380 m, 13.II.1989, many tangled stems up to 25 mm high (MNCN 2.03 /410). — Stn DW 406, 20°40.65’S, 167°06.80’E, 373 m, 15.II.1989, 4 stems up to 12 mm high on bryozoans, with coppinia (MNHN-Hy.2009- 0184). — CP 419, 20°41.65’S, 167°03.70’E, 283 m, 16.II.1989, many stems up to 25 mm high on tube of benthic organism, with coppinia (MNHN-Hy.2009- 0185); 1 stem c. 15 mm high and a fragment c. 7 mm long in 2 slides (MNHN-Hy.2009-0148 and RMNH-Coel. no. 35166, slide 733). Norfolk Ridge. CHALCAL 2, stn DW 76, 23°40.50’S, 167°45.20’E, 470 m, 30.X.1986, 1 stem c. 24 mm high, with coppinia (RMNH-Coel. no. 31501). SMIB 3, stn DW 18, 23°41.50’S, 167°59.40’E, 338 m, 23.V.1987, a few stems up to 7 mm high on coral (MNHN-Hy.2009-0186); 1 stem c. 10 mm high in slide (MNHN-Hy.2009-0149). SMIB 4, stn DW 51, 23°41.3’- 23°40.5’S, 168°00.6’- 168°00.7’E, 245-260 m, 9.III.1989, 1 fragment c. 10 mm long (MNCN 2.03/411). — Stn DW 53, 23°40.1’- 23°39.5’S, 167°59.9’- 168°00.3’E, 250-270 m, 9.III.1989, 1 fragment c. 13 mm long (MNHN-Hy.2009-0187). SMIB 5, stn DW 70, 23°40.6’S, 168°01.1’E, 270 m, 7.IX.1989, 5 stems and fragments up to 6 mm long (MNCN 2.03/412). — Stn DW 72, 23°42.0’S, 168°00.8’E, 400 m, 7.IX.1989, 2 fragments up to 7 mm long (RMNH Coel. no. 31502), plus 1 fragment c. 4 mm long (RMNH-Coel. no. 25934, slide 978B). — Stn DW 78, 23°40.8’S, 168°00.2’E, 245 m, 7.IX.1989, a few stems up to 16 mm high, MNHN-Hy.2009-0188.
ECOLOGY AND DISTRIBUTION. — Acryptolaria bulbosa apparently has an Indo-Pacific pattern of distribution. It is definitely known from Sagami Bay (Stechow 1932) and the Kei Islands, Indonesia (Schuchert 2003), but it is probably also present in the western part of the Indian Ocean (cf. Millard 1967, 1968; Gravier-Bonnet 1979). Our material was found epibiotic on bryozoans, corals and tubes of benthic organisms at depths between 92 and 470 m at the Loyalty Islands and the Norfolk Ridge, in the New Caledonian area, and in the Philippines. Coppiniae were found in February and October.
DESCRIPTION
Polysiphonic stems up to 25 mm high (Fig. 31C). Branching frequent, irregular, but usually in one plane, sometimes with anastomoses. Branches straight or with an almost unperceptible zigzag (Fig. 3A).
Hydrothecae alternately arranged in one plane (Fig. 3A, B). Hydrotheca broadly cylindrical, basal part clearly decreasing in diameter (Fig. 3 A-D); curved twice: strongly outwards at distal part of adnate portion, that part becoming more or less perpendicular to adnate portion, and slightly (Fig. 3B) or strongly upwards (Fig. 3A, C), usually some distance after adnate wall becomes free. Abcauline wall with a distinct inflexion point at about half its length; in some colonies forming a deep embayment at that point (Fig. 3 B-D), sometimes followed by a sort of hump (Fig. 3A, B, D). Embayment frequently collapsed, with the two parts of abcauline wall fused (Fig. 3A, B). Basal part of abcauline wall slightly convex; distal part also slightly convex. Adcauline wall adnate for over half its length (adnate/ free ratio 1.5), convex at adnate part and concave, or straight distally, at free portion. Hydrothecal aperture circular, oblique and strongly upwardly directed (35-40°). Rim even, sometimes with short renovations.
Large nematocysts relatively large and banana shaped (Fig. 30).
Gonothecae set closely together into a coppinia (Fig. 3 E-G) provided with branched defensive tubes that form a protective canopy (Fig. 3F), bottleshaped, with a distal neck with circular aperture (Fig. 3 E-G).
REMARKS
As in other species of the genus (e.g., A. angulata), there is a considerable variability in the size of the hydrothecae, but it seems to be intraspecific variation because there are intermediate states between the extremes and there is no difference in the size of the nematocysts.
The development of the hydrothecal abcauline embayment is variable, as also occurs in other species of this genus (e.g., A. angulata and A. inversa n. sp.). It is possible to find, even on the same stem (Fig. 3A, B), hydrothecae with a slight embayment, others with a deep one and, finally, others with fusion of the two sides.
Peña Cantero et al. (2007) discussed the relationship of this species with its allies A. angulata and A. rectangularis. According to these authors the three species are valid and we agree, though the situation with regards to A. rectangularis is confused because the type material could not be found and it was poorly described with no information about the cnidome.
As also indicated by Peña Cantero et al. (2007), Hirohito’s (1995) material of A. angulata does not belong to Bale’s species, being almost certainly conspecific with A. bulbosa. However, lack of knowledge of the nematocysts prevents us from considering them conspecific, since Hirohito’s material could also represent A. intermedia n. sp.
The material described by Gravier-Bonnet (1979) as A. rectangularis could actually belong to A. bulbosa, with which it agrees both in shape and size of the hydrothecae. However, without information about the cnidome we cannot be certain, because it is also similar to A. intermedia n. sp. in the shape of the hydrothecae, though in the latter the hydrothecae are slightly smaller and have a characteristic internal abcauline cusp (see the description of this species below).
We agree with Peña Cantero et al. (2007) that the material assigned to A. rectangularis by Millard (1967) probably includes two species. One could be A. rectangularis (stn ABD 15P, figure 2B, left), but the other (stn AFR 1251D, figure 2B, right) could be either A. bulbosa or A. intermedia n. sp. The material from stn AFR 1251D coincides with these two species in the shape of the hydrothecae, though it apparently lacks the internal abcauline cusp of A. intermedia n. sp. However, it is closer to this species in the size of the hydrotheca (compare Millard’s measurements with those of Table 31). The same holds for the material assigned to A. rectangularis by Millard (1968), which agrees with Stechow’s species in both shape and size of the hydrothecae so it could possibly be conspecific with A. bulbosa. However, without information on the nematocysts it is risky to do so since Millard’s material also agrees with A. intermedia n. sp. in the shape of the hydrothecae, although in this case the size of the hydrothecae is closer to A. bulbosa.
Part of the material assigned to A. angulata by Vervoort & Watson (2003) could actually belong to A. bulbosa, in particular the material from NZOI stn K855 which closely resembles part of our material of that species (see figure 3C, E in Vervoort & Watson 2003: 42). However, it is necessary to check the cnidome to confirm this record.
Schuchert’s (2003) material of A. rectangularis belongs to A. bulbosa with which it agrees in shape and size of the hydrothecae, as well as in the size of the nematocysts (23 × 7 µm).
description: Published as part of Peña Cantero, Álvaro L. & Vervoort, Willem, 2010, Species of Acryptolaria Norman, 1875 (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa, Lafoeidae) collected in the Western Pacific by various French expeditions, with the description of nineteen new species, pp. 267-332 in Zoosystema 32 (2) on pages 276-279, DOI: 10.5252/z2010n2a5, http://zenodo.org/record/4521008