Stauridiosarsia cliffordi

Stauridiosarsia cliffordi (Brinckmann-Voss, 1989) (Fig. 2D) Sarsia cliffordi Brinckmann-Voss, 1989: 686, fig. 1. Coryne cliffordi .— Schuchert, 2001b: 756, fig. 4a–b. Type locality . Canada: Sooke Harbour, Vancouver Island, BC (Brinckmann-Voss 1989: 686, as Sarsia ). Material . IHAK60, one colony, with medusa bud (BHAK 2511), RBCM 026-00041-006.—EHAK62, colony epizoic on Zostera marina , with gonophores (BHAK 6006), RBCM 026-00019-002, GenBank accession PV366393 (COI). Description . Colony up to 1cm high; hydrorhiza loose, stolons tangled but not anastomosed, transition between stolon and caulus indistinct. Large cauli sparingly and irregularly branched. Perisarc of stolons and stems clear or slightly horn-coloured, often undulated or wrinkled, infrequently with slight annulations; perisarc of moderate thickness, thinning towards the base of hydranth. The latter fusiform, although central sections of some longer hydranths have a slightly tubular appearance, 1.4–1.6 mm high, with an oral whorl of about 5 capitate tentacles, ~ 0.2 mm long, lower tentacles up to 4 whorls, ~0.4 um high, whorls sometimes indistinct, giving a scattered appearance. Tentacle stalks slightly tapered, oral tentacles generally shorter than lower ones. Lowest 1/4 to 1/2 of hydranth tentacle-free. Filiform tentacles absent. Gonophores ovate or semi-globular, borne on short pedicels, in clusters at the same level, slightly above, or slightly below level of lowest tentacles. Remarks . The present samples correspond morphologically to the species previously described from Sooke, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada by Brinckmann-Voss (1989) as Sarsia cliffordi (RBCM 988-300). COI data from this study (RBCM 026-00019-002, GenBank accession PV366393) shows a 99.85% correspondence to Coryne cliffordi from Sointula, off Vancouver Island, BC (GenBank accession KT981906, unpublished). Brinckmann-Voss (1989) recognized the difficulties of placement of the species in a genus, due to the lack of clarity regarding the limits of the family Corynidae (Schuchert 2001b) and revisions of generic limits within Capitata (e.g., Petersen 1979, 1990; Bouillon 1985). Notably, its inclusion in Sarsia was problematic, given Petersen’s definition of the genus which included adult medusae with manubrium extending beyond the umbrella margin, and it was subsequently included in Coryne (Schuchert 2001b), but later removed to Stauridiosarsia Mayer, 1910 [sensu Nawrocki et al. (2010), which molecular phylogeny provided support for this clade, despite the difficulty of diagnosis based on morphology of the medusae]. Reported distribution . Pacific coast of Canada (Brinckmann-Voss 1989).

Source: Zenodo (CERN open repository) PDF: N/A Original Link: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.23914449