| Sertulariidae () |
| 32 cm H (male/unsexed) |
|
sessile; marine; depth range 74 - 700 m |
| Antarctic Atlantic: Western Antarctica and South Georgia. |
|
Stems up to 32 cm high, polysiphonic over a great extension. Main stem distinct, deprived of branches basally. When branching becomes frequent, main stem becoming indistinct. Branching scarce, irregular and in several planes. Hydrothecae present over entire colony, though inconspicuous in polysiphonic parts. Hydrothecae arranged in verticils of three to five hydrothecae forming 6 to 10 longitudinal rows. Hydrothecae immersed into the branches for approximately half of their volume and adnate for almost full adcauline length; free adcauline wall inconspicuous. In lateral view hydrotheca cylindrical and slightly abcaudally directed; abcauline wall slightly concave. In frontal view maximum diameter at hydrothecal base, slightly decreasing upwards. Hydrothecal aperture circular and tilted downwards, forming an acute angle with long axis of stem; rim even and sometimes with renovations. Hydrothecal diaphragm mushroom-shaped, though sometimes abcauline projections absent. Male and female gonothecae present, both originating at the hydrothecal base. Female gonotheca oval, provided with a distal, laterally depressed aperture due to the presence of one adcauline cusp and one, better developed, abcauline cusp. Male gonotheca fusiform, with a small, circular aperture at the end of an inconspicuous neck. Both male and female gonothecae with abcauline keel. |
| Length based on stem height. A shelf species found at depths of 74 to 700 m on rocks, gravel and mud. It is used as a substratum by other hydroids (Ref. 7414). |
|
Not Evaluated (N.E.) Ref. 123251)
|
| harmless |
|
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