Nellia tenella Lamarck 1816

Nellia tenella (Lamarck, 1816)

(Figs. 24–26)

Cellaria tenella Lamarck, 1816: 135.

Nellia oculata Busk, 1852: 18, pl. 64, fig. 6; pl. 65, fig. 4; Winston et al. 2014: 161, fig. 3 (cum syn.); Almeida et al. 2015b: 3; Taylor & Tan 2015: 14, fig. 7B–E.

Material examined. UFBA 1602, UFBA 2354, Camamu Bay, 13°53’S, 38°59’W, 18–20 m, coll. October 2012 (on sponge Mycale angulosa); UFBA 1616, UFBA 1666, UFBA 2355, Camamu Bay, 13°53’S, 38°59’W, 18–20 m, coll. October 2012 (on Bubaris sp.).

Comparative material. MNHN IB-2008-4546, Cellaria tenella, syntype, Lamarck det., Mers Australes?.

Remarks. The taxonomic assignment of this species was recently discussed by Winston et al. (2014), who argued in favour of the usage of the name N. oculata instead of Nellia tenella (Lamarck, 1816) to specimens from Brazil, pending on the revision of type specimens of Cellaria tenella Lamarck. However, the examination of Lamarck’s Cellaria tenella (MNHN 4546; Fig. 26) shows that the main morphological characters are shared between both species, including the subquandrangular zooids, opesia occupying about three-quarters of surface, gymnocyst widest proximally, cryptocyst at proximal end of opesia, pores visible at the basal wall, a pair of very small oval avicularia placed proximolaterally on each zooid (Figs. 24 and 25) and ovicells endozooidal. Accordingly, as already notice by some authors (e.g., Cheetham 1966, Winston 2005) and following the principle of priority of ICZN (1999, Art. 23), Nellia oculata Busk must be considered junior synonym of Nellia tenella (Lamarck).

Nellia tenella has a wide tropical and subtropical distribution (Taylor & Tan 2015) and is found in a broad range of marine environments (Winston et al. 2014). It was already found associated to unidentified sponges on the Brazilian coast (Vieira et al. 2012).

Distribution. Circumtropical. Brazil: Rocas Atoll, Pernambuco, Bahia and Rio de Janeiro (Winston et al. 2014).