Obelia geniculata ( Linnaeus, 1758 )

Obelia geniculata ( Linnaeus, 1758) View in CoL View at ENA

(fig. 21K–L, table 40)

Sertularia geniculata Linnaeus 1758: 812 View Cited Treatment .

Obelia geniculata: Hincks, 1868: 149 View in CoL , pl. 25 figs 1, 1A; Hartlaub, 1901: 362; Hartlaub, 1905: 581, fig. D 2; Nutting, 1915: 73, pl. 18 figs 1–5; Stechow, 1919: 50; 1923: 114; Fraser, 1944: 158, pl. 28 fig. 130; Russell, 1953: 302, fig. 185A; Ralph, 1957: 831, fig. 4I; Naumov, 1969: 282, figs 147–148; Calder, 1970: 1522, pl. 4 fig. 7; 1971: 55, pl. 4C; 1975: 303, fig. 4E–F; Cornelius, 1975: 272, figs 1, 5; Millard, 1975: 229, fig. 75A–B; Stepanjants, 1979: 36, pl. 5 fig. 7; Morri, 1981: 69, fig. 22; Cornelius, 1982: 119; Hirohito, 1983: 17; Gili et al., 1989: 108, fig. 32C; El Beshbeeshy, 1991: 114, fig. 26; Cornelius, 1995b: 301, fig. 70; Hirohito, 1995 (English text): 76, fig. 22A–B; Migotto, 1996: 90, fig. 16E; Ramil et al., 1998a: 200; Medel & Vervoort, 2000: 54; Schuchert, 2001b: 155, fig. 135; Peña Cantero & García Carrascosa, 2002: 162, fig. 31D; Vervoort & Watson, 2003: 427, fig. 104F–H; Bouillon et al., 2004: 200, figs 114H–I, 115A–E; Watson, 2005: 583.

Obelia geniculata var. subsessilis Jäderholm, 1904a: 2 View in CoL , fig. 2.

Laomedea geniculata: Leloup, 1974: 19 View in CoL , fig. 16.

Material examined. Stn. CHL 02 – 04.iii.2005, 13– 20 m, S44: one sterile colony, about 1 cm high, on Macrocystis pyrifera ( MHNG INVE 53210). Stn. COM 08 —03.v.2005, 5– 8 m, S39: one fertile colony, 1–2 cm high, on Macrocystis pyrifera ( MHNG INVE 53202). Stn. COM 09 —04.v.2005, 5– 8 m, S31: one fertile colony, 1–2 cm high, on Macrocystis pyrifera , 1 slide ( MHNG INVE 53188). Stn. COM 13 —25.i.2006, 25– 32 m, S99: several fertile colonies up to 1.5 cm high, on Macrocystis pyrifera ( MHNG INVE 53353). Stn. COF — 16.iii.2006, S138 ( 3 m): a fertile colony, on Macrocystis pyrifera ( MHNG INVE 53424); S119 ( 4 m): a fertile colony, on Macrocystis pyrifera ( MHNG INVE 53375).

Type locality. Dover , Kent, United Kingdom .

Remarks. For descriptions of this species, see Cornelius (1982, 1995b). An extensive synonymy is provided by Cornelius (1975) and Medel & Vervoort (2000).

The present material is characterized by being occasionally branched and having moderate thickening of the perisarc ( 63–130 µm on thickened side, and 13–27 µm on opposite side of internodes).

World distribution. Near-cosmopolitan, penetrating at high latitudes in the northern hemisphere and into sub-Antarctic waters in the southern hemisphere ( Medel & Vervoort, 2000).

Records from Chile. This species was previously reported from Canal Beagle ( Hartlaub 1904), Corral ( Jäderholm 1904a), Valparaíso, Talcahuano, Canal Smyth, Strait of Magellan, Islas Navarino and Lennox ( Hartlaub 1905), Tocopilla, Archipelago de los Chonos ( Leloup 1974). The present records are roughly from 43°10' S to 48°10' S.