Antennella siliquosa ( Hincks, 1877 )

Antennella siliquosa ( Hincks, 1877) View in CoL

Plumularia siliquosa Hincks, 1877: 148–149 , pl. 12 figs 2–6.

Antennella siliquosa View in CoL : Redier, 1965: 378.— Patriti, 1970: 58, fig. 82.— Schuchert, 1997: 19–22, fig. 5.— Ansín Agís et al. 2001: 145–149, fig. 64.— Vervoort, 2006: 256.

Antennella diaphana View in CoL f. siliquosa View in CoL : Vervoort, 1959: 286–289, fig. 43.

Halopteris diaphana View in CoL f. siliquosa View in CoL : Ramil & Vervoort, 1992a: 148–149, fig. 38A.

Material examined. BISSAU-0810, stn BS131, 11º34'07"– 11º33'13"N, 17º11'25"– 17º11'31"W, 102–103 m, 23-X-2008: one colony without gonothecae, growing on a crustacean.

BISSAU-0810, stn BS191, 10º18'25"– 10º19'20"N, 16º08'47"– 16º08'47"W, 24–25 m, 3-XI-2008: three colonies without gonothecae, 17 mm high, of which two growing on Idiellana pristis and one on a bryozoan.

Remarks. The morphology of the lateral nematothecae and the absence of an axillary nematotheca distinguish A. siliquosa from A. secundaria ( Schuchert 1997; Ansín Agís et al. 2001).

Biology. This species has been collected growing on rocks, algae, other hydroids, and a wide variety of invertebrates, such as sponges, gorgonians, bryozoans, worm tubes, cirripedes and ascidians ( Gravili et al. 2015). In the northern hemisphere, fertile material has been found in March and from May to November ( Ansín Agís et al. 2001; Gil & Ramil 2017a).

In our material, colonies were found growing on the hydroid I. pristis , crustaceans and bryozoans. Gonothecae were not observed.

Distribution. Antennella siliquosa is considered as an Atlantic-Mediterranean species ( Boero & Bouillon 1993; Schuchert 1997). In West Africa, it has been recorded from Morocco ( Patriti 1970; Ramil & Vervoort 1992a, as H. diaphana f. siliquosa ; Ansín Agís et al. 2001), Mauritania ( Ansín Agís et al. 2001; Gil & Ramil 2017a), the Cape Verde Islands ( Ansín Agís et al. 2001; Vervoort 2006), Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, the Republic of Guinea, Liberia ( Vervoort 1959, as A. diaphana f. siliquosa ), the Ivory Coast ( Vervoort 1959, as A. diaphana f. siliquosa ; Redier 1965) and Ghana ( Buchanan 1957). Its bathymetric distribution ranges from the intertidal to 1387 m ( Gravili et al. 2012; Gil & Ramil 2017a).

Our colonies were collected at depths between 24–103 m.

Genus Halopteris Allman, 1877