Actinernus robustus ( Hertwig, 1882 )

Actinernus robustus ( Hertwig, 1882) View in CoL

Fig. 2B View Fig .

Porponia robusta Hertwig, 1882:113 View in CoL ; Carlgren,1914: 54; 1949: 21.

Actinernus robustus View in CoL : Uchida, 2007: 20 (and synonymy).

MATERIAL. LV-75-22, 55.5100ºN 167.3240ºE – 55.5040ºN 167.3196ºE, depth 3561– 3485 m, one specimen collected (sample 8) and ten specimens photographed.

LV-82-5, 55.2696ºN 167.2994ºE, depth 3526 m, sample 5, one specimen collected; LV-82-6, 55.6946ºN 167.1238ºE – 55.6825ºN 167.1075ºE, depth 3906– 3393 m, four specimens collected (sample 3) and four specimens photographed.

REMARKS. Twenty specimens were photographically documented in the abyssal zone off northern and southern slopes of the Vulcanologov Massif, six of them were collected. The records of this unusual large (up to 20 cm in the diameter of the tentacular crown) anemone are very rare, in the Bering Sea it is reported for the first time. This is most northern and most deep-water (3393–3906 m) record of this species. Previously Actinernus robustus was known from Pacific coasts of Japan: originally it was described from the material collected off Japan by Challenger Expedition (3429 m, Hertwig, 1882; Carlgren, 1949) and then reported by Uchida (2007) from the same region from 1008–1200 m.