Abstract
Thirty-six species of various thecate hydroids occur in two recent, deep-water collections from off New Caledonia. Of these, nine are new, namely Solenoscyphus subtilis Galea, sp. nov., Hincksella immersa Galea, sp. nov., Synthecium rectangulatum Galea, sp. nov., Diphasia alternata Galea, sp. nov., Dynamena opposita Galea, sp. nov., Hydrallmania clavaformis Galea, sp. nov., Symplectoscyphus acutustriatus Galea, sp. nov., Symplectoscyphus elongatulus Galea, sp. nov. and Zygophylax niger Galea, sp. nov. The male and female gonothecae of Caledoniana decussata Galea, 2015, the female gonothecae of Caledoniana microgona Galea, 2015, as well as the gonothecae of both sexes of Solenoscyphus striatus Galea, 2015 are described for the first time. The systematic position of the genera Solenoscyphus Galea, 2015 and Caledoniana Galea, 2015 is discussed on both morphological and molecular grounds, and both are confidently placed within the family Staurothecidae Maronna et al., 2016. In light of the molecular data, the genera Billardia Totton, 1930 and Dictyocladium Allman, 1888 are assigned to the families Syntheciidae Marktanner-Turneretscher, 1890 and Symplectoscyphidae Maronna et al. , 2016, respectively. The previously undescribed gonothecae of Hincksella neocaledonica Galea, 2015, and the male gonothecae of Sertularella tronconica Galea, 2016, were found. Thyroscyphus scorpioides Vervoort, 1993, a peculiar hydroid with putative stem nematothecae, is redescribed and assigned to the new genus Tuberocaulus Galea, gen. nov. Noteworthy new records from the study area are: Tasmanaria edentula (Bale, 1924), Hincksella sibogae Billard, 1918, Dictyocladium reticulatum (Kirchenpauer, 1884), Salacia sinuosa (Bale, 1888) and Billardia hyalina Vervoort & Watson, 2003. Most species are illustrated to facilitate their identification, and the morphology of the new ones is compared to that of their related congeners.
Highlights
The hydroid fauna of New Caledonia has received increasing attention over the last three decades, owing greatly to the rich materials collected in the frame of the French Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos Program (Bouchet et al 2008)
A part of the hydroids gathered during these expeditions is treated here, and concerns various families of Leptothecata Cornelius, 1992, among which the Staurothecidae Maronna et al, 2016, Syntheciidae Marktanner-Turneretscher, 1890, Sertulariidae Lamouroux, 1812, Sertularellidae Maronna et al, 2016, Symplectoscyphidae Maronna et al, 2016 and, only superficially, Zygophylacidae Quelch, 1885
The residual perisarc, mounted as permanent microscopic slides, is deposited as voucher specimens in the collections of the Muséum d’histoire naturelle of Geneva (MHNG), Switzerland; catalogue numbers, in this case, are indicated as MHNG-INVE- followed by 6-digit numbers, while the DNA isolates are identified by the prefix DNA followed by 4-digit numbers
Summary
The hydroid fauna of New Caledonia has received increasing attention over the last three decades, owing greatly to the rich materials collected in the frame of the French Tropical Deep-Sea Benthos Program (Bouchet et al 2008). Occasionally including specimens from additional areas of the tropical western Pacific, have been published to date, namely Vervoort (1993), Ansín Agis et al (2009, 2014, 2016), Peña Cantero & Vervoort (2010) and Galea (2015a, 2016). A number of species from the area has been dealt with by Vervoort (1993) and Galea (2015a, 2016), additional records (including new species) are provided, along with supplementing data on morphology
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