Three new species of Anthomedusae (Hydrozoa: Hydroidomedusa) from the Guangdong coastal water, China

Hydromedusae observed during night dives in the Gulf Stream

“…The medusae are perhaps referable to Leuckartiara fujianensis Huang, Xu, Lin & Qiu, 2008 or Leuckartiara neustona Xu & Huang, 2004. The medusa shown in Van der Spoel & Bleeker (1988: fig.…”

First record of Cnidocodon leopoldi Bouillon, 1978 (Cnidaria: Anthoathecata) in the Atlantic Ocean

“…Cnidocodon xiamensis (Zhang & Wu, 1981) was later described (as Ramus xiamenensis Zhang & Wu, 1981) without scattered nematocysts and with more branches on tentacles (5-8) but its validity has been questioned and currently is considered a junior synonym of C. leopoldi (Huang et al, 2008;Schuchert, 2021). Other species, Cnidocodon ocellata Huang, Xu, Lin & Qiu, 2008 has 6-9 capitate branches of different sizes and an abaxial ocellus on each bulb (Huang et al, 2008). Since the present specimens do not have any ocelli and have only 4-5 branches on each tentacle, its traits match with the diagnosis of C. leopoldi.…”

“…We acknowledge the French oceanographic fleet for funding the survey ABRAÇOS 2 and the officers, crew (Santhakumari, 1986), 8 = (Santhakumari, 1993), 9 = (Santhakumari, 1996), 10 = (Santhakumari, 1997a), 11 = (Santhakumari, 1997b), 12 = (Zhang & Wu, 1981), 13 = (Huang et al, 2008) and 14 = (Larson, 1982). Shaded area and line indicate the 250 m isobath, roughly corresponding to the shelf break.…”

“…The genus can be distinguished from other anthomedusae by the presence of four marginal perradial bulbs having an adaxial nematocyst cushion and branched capitate tentacles, an umbrella with scattered nematocysts, and gonads around a cylindrical manubrium shorter than the umbrella. Specimens were assigned to C. leopoldi due the tentacles with 4-5 branches and the absence of ocelli on tentacle bulbs differing from the congeneric Cnidocodon ocellata Huang, Xu, Lin & Qiu, 2008. This study represents the first record of the species in the Atlantic Ocean.…”

“…Global distribution of Cnidocodon species based on this study and literature records. 1 = this study, 2 = (Bouillon, 1978), 3 = (Buecher et al, 2005), 4 = (Du et al, 2012), 5 = (Nagale et al, 2012), 6 = (Santhakumari & Nair, 1999), 7 =(Santhakumari, 1986), 8 =(Santhakumari, 1993), 9 =(Santhakumari, 1996), 10 =(Santhakumari, 1997a), 11 =(Santhakumari, 1997b), 12 =(Zhang & Wu, 1981), 13 =(Huang et al, 2008) and 14 =(Larson, 1982). Shaded area and line indicate the 250 m isobath, roughly corresponding to the shelf break.…”