Hippurella annulata Allman 1877

Hippurella annulata Allman, 1877

Fig. A2

Hippurella annulata Allman, 1877: 36, pl. 21 figs 7, 8.

Antennopsis annulata— Nutting, 1900: 75, pl. 12 figs 7–9.—Fraser, 1944: 318, pl. 66 fig. 303.

Antennopsis ramosa Fewkes, 1881: 133, pl. 3 fig. 3.—Stephens & Calder, 2010: 271.

Description. Colonies up to 15 cm high, arising from a dense bundle of tubular filaments; stem fascicled throughout, giving rise to monosiphonic, (sub)opposite to alternate side branches, pinnately-set proximally, irregularly arranged distally around the stem; branches divided into rather long internodes, each bearing a nematotheca proximally, and a latero-distal cladial apophysis; axil with conical mamelon and a pair of axillar nematothecae; cladia alternate on the side branches; set in one plane proximally, but surrounding the branches on all sides distally and, there, either scattered or regularly verticillate; heteromerously divided into alternating long, hydrothecate and short, ahydrothecate internodes; two intranodal septa, one proximal, the other distal; hydrothecate internodes with a hydrotheca and its complement of 3 nematothecae, one mesial and a pair of laterals; hydrothecae deep, thimble-shaped, with slightly everted margin, rim even; ahydrothecate internodes with single nematothecae; gonothecae arising singly from the axils of hydrocladia, fusiform, with a somewhat bottle-shaped neck.

Remarks. Type material was destitute of a gonosome, but Nutting (1900) found a fertile specimen “among the Albatross material from the West Indies”.

Distribution. Off Pacific Reef, Florida (ca. 25°22’ N, 80°08’ W, 517 m); off Charleston, South Carolina (32°7’ N, 78°37’ W, 419 m); off Beaufort, North Carolina (34°39’ N, 75°33’ W, 195 m) [summarized by Nutting (1900)]. FIGURE A2. Hippurella annulata Allman, 1877. A. Whole colony. B. Portion of stem with proximal parts of two consecutive hydrocladia. C. Cladial apophysis. D. Portion of cladium. E. Detail of a hydrotheca. F. Distal part of a branch with gonothecae. Modified after Allman (1877) (A, B), Fewkes (1881, as Antennopsis ramosa) (C), and Nutting (1900, as Antennopsis annulata) (D–F).