Sertularella fuegonensis El Beshbeeshy, 2011

Sertularella fuegonensis El Beshbeeshy, 2011

Fig. 8 View Fig. 8 C-I; Table 8 View Table 8

Sertularella fuegonensis El Beshbeeshy, 2011: 131 , fig. 41. – (?) Vervoort & Watson, 2003: 161, fig. 37A-B. – Galea, 2007: 60, fig. 14D-F. – Galea et al., 2007c: 312, fig. 4A. Sertularella picta . – Vervoort, 1972: 114, fig. 35A-B [non Ser- tularella picta ( Meyen, 1834) ].

non Sertularella picta . – Vervoort, 1972: 113, figs 34, 35C [= Sertularella implexa ( Allman, 1888) ].

Material examined: ZMH C11884; FRV Walther Herwig, Stn. 280, Argentine Shelf, off Provincia de Santa Cruz, -51.50000° -68.50000°; 11.02.1971; a few infertile stems, up to 2 cm high, with remains of coenosarc. – MHNG-INVE-53441; Chile, Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena, Canal Vicuña, -52.16222° -73.27617°, 15-25 m, coll. HSFS, HF3, lot #142; 06.03.2006; several sterile colony fragments, up to 6 cm high. – MHNG-INVE-53447; Chile, Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena, Canal Vicuña, -52.16222° -73.27617°, 15 m, coll. HSFS, HF3, lot #143; 06.03.2006; a colony, ca. 6 cm high, and smaller fragments, all sterile.

Description: Colonies much branched, with no definite main stems, arising from rhizoid stolon. Both stems and branches divided into moderately-long, geniculate internodes by means of weak, oblique constrictions of the perisarc, sloping in alternate directions; each internode with a distally-placed hydrotheca, or a hydrotheca and a lateral apophysis immediately below its basis; apophyses given off irregularly every 1-10 hydrothecae; side branches, up to the 3rd order, generally alternate and coplanar. Hydrothecae biseriate, alternate, either coplanar or imperceptibly shifted on to one side of the stem; flask-shaped, adnate for 2/5th their adaxial length, constricted below aperture; free adaxial wall slightly sigmoid, surface either smooth or with 2-5 shallow wrinkles; 4 triangular, marginal cusps of unequal development (abaxial one the longest, adaxial one the shortest, and the two laterals of intermediate length), separated by rather deep, rounded embayments; occasionally 3 internal, submarginal cusps (2 lateroadaxial, 1 abaxial); renovations of the margin occur; 4 triangular opercular flaps. Gonothecae unknown.

Dimensions: See Table 8 View Table 8 .

Remarks: The colony structure is illustrated by Galea (2007, fig. 14D). The free adaxial wall may be either smooth (Chilean material) or wrinkled ( El Beshbeeshy, 2011), though colonies with hydrothecae exhibiting both situations may occur ( e.g. Vervoort, 1972, fig. 35A, as S. picta ). Intrathecal cusps occur variably among the hydrothecae of the same colony, with the abaxial one generally more conspicuous than the two latero-adaxial ones.

Distribution: Chile – Región de Magallanes y de la Antártica Chilena – Canal Vicuña ( Galea, 2007). Argentina – scattered records from the Argentine Shelf between 41°-53° S ( El Beshbeeshy, 2011); Provincia de Tierra del Fuego, Antártida e Islas del Atlántico Sur [off the northern coast of the tip of Península Mitre ( Vervoort, 1972, as S. picta )]. (?) New Zealand ( Vervoort & Watson, 2003).