Halecium interpolatum Ritchie 1907

Halecium interpolatum Ritchie, 1907

(Fig. 13h)

Material examined. ANT XV/3: 48-5, few stems, up to 2 mm high, on sponge; 48-27, few stems, up to 2 mm high, on Sy. glacialis; 48-31, few stems, up to 5 mm high, on O. terranovae; 48-33, few stems, up to 10 mm high, on O. terranovae; 48-34, few stems, up to 8 mm high, on O. terranovae; 48-36, several stems, up to 25 mm high, on O. terranovae, with male gonothecae; 48-77, some stems, up to 15 mm high, on St. polarsterni; 48-150, few stems, up to 10 mm high, on E. scotti and St. polarsterni; 48-220, numerous stems, up to 60 mm high, on Sc. nana, Sy. anae, Sy. exochus, Sy. naumovi, with gonothecae; 48-222, few stems, up to 2 mm high, on Sc. nana; 48-276, some stems, up to 10 mm high, on Sc. nana; ANT XVII/3: 111-5, several stems, up to 30 mm high, on O. terranovae and polychaete tube, with gonothecae; 111-7, several stems, up to 20 mm high, on O. terranovae; 111-9, numerous stems, up to 40 mm high, on polychaete tube, H. arboreum, O. terranovae and T. longstaffi, with gonothecae; 111- 18, several stems, up to 20 mm high, on O. terranovae and Sc. nana, with gonothecae; 111-19, several stems, up to 20 mm high, on Sy. weddelli and Tubularia sp.1, with gonothecae; ANT XXI/2: PS65/39, several stems, up to 30 mm high, on C. hicksoni, Sc. nana, Sy. exochus and Sy. plectilis, with gonothecae; PS65/121, few stems, up to 3 mm high, on S. lobata; PS65/248, few stems, up to 2 mm high, on Sy. curvatus and Sy. plectilis; PS65/253, some stems, up to 10 mm high, on St. polarsterni; PS65/265, some stems, up to 15 mm high, on St. polarsterni and H. pseudodelicatulum; PS65/276, one colony, c. 15 mm high; PS65/278, several stems, up to 20 mm high, on O. terranovae, L. dumosa and Sy. weddelli; PS65/281, few stems, up to 3 mm high, on O. terranovae and Sy. cumberlandicus.

Ecology and distribution. Reported from three (Stepanjants 1979, as Halecium ovatum) to 728 m (Peña Cantero 2014a); examined material from 62 to 758 m. Circum-Antarctic species (Peña Cantero 2014b), reported here for the Weddell Sea for the first time.