Hydroides floridana

Hydroides floridana (Bush, 1910)

Figs 4F, 6

Eupomatus floridanus Bush, 1910: 498 (type locality: Cape Dear Rio, Florida (probably Cape Fear,

North Carolina), United States; nomen novum for E. uncinatus recorded by Ehlers (1887)). Eupomatus rostrata Iroso, 1921: 53 (nomen novum for E. uncinatus recorded by Ehlers (1887)). Eupomatus decorus Treadwell, 1931: 4–5, fig. 3 (type locality: Grand Isle, Lousiana, United States).

Eupomatus uncinatus (non Philippi 1844) – Ehlers 1887: 285 –286, pl. 58, figs 6–11 (off Cape Dear Rio, and fishing grounds in Cape Rear, Florida; 13 m). — Day 1973: 132 –134, fig. 18h–i (off Beaufort, North Carolina; 6.5–18 m).

Eupomatus floridanus – Wells & Gray 1964: 74 (Cape Hatteras, North Carolina; hard substrates). — Wells & Wells 1969: 109 –110 (off St. Augustine, Panama City, near Dog Island, and Cedar Key, Florida; associated with Fargoa dianthophila).

Hydroides floridanus – Robertson & Mau-Lastovicka 1979: 323 (northeastern and northwestern Florida; “host” of Fargoa dianthophila). — Perkins 1998: 95 (checklist of shallow-water polychaetes of Florida). — Bastida-Zavala & ten Hove 2002: 118 –122, figs 6K–P, 7A–F, 9A–F, 10 (North Carolina, Louisiana, Campeche, eastern Mexico; 10–40 m; on shells of Argopecten gibbus (Linnaeus, 1758) and a submerged derrick).

Material examined

Ten specimens: BB (1) Aug. 2004, PB (4) Aug. 2002, CC (5) Sep. 2002.

Diagnosis

Tube white; with three longitudinal ridges; without peristomes, transverse ridges or alveoli. Opercular peduncle smooth, white. Opercular funnel with 26–32 radii with pointed tip (Fig. 4F); verticil with 11–12 spines, curving inwards, with one basal internal spinule, without external and lateral spinules (Fig. 4F). Most specimens have spines with lateral wings extending for less than half the length of the spine. Special collar chaetae with two blunt, short teeth and smooth distal blade.

Taxonomic remarks

The type locality of Hydroides floridana is unknown, from Florida or somewhere nearby. Ehlers (1887: 286) recorded the localities as “ Cape Dear Rio ” and “Inside fishing ground Cape Rear”, but these are probably transcription errors, as these placenames were not found in Florida (Read 2016); instead, “ Cape Dear” and “ Cape Rear” might refer to Cape Fear, in North Carolina.

Some specimens examined here have the verticil spines colored red (see H. dianthus). The specimens from Corpus Christi are the first records for the Texas coast. Hydroides floridana is rare as a fouling organism.

Ecology

Intertidal to sublittoral (40 m). On hard substrates, shells of Argopecten gibbus and on a submerged derrick (Wells & Gray 1964; Bastida-Zavala & ten Hove 2002); also associated with the gastropod Fargoa dianthophila (Wells & Wells 1969).

Distribution

Gulf of Mexico and east coast of the United States: From North Carolina to Florida and Louisiana (Bastida-Zavala & ten Hove 2002). In this work, Hydroides floridana was found occasionally on fouling plates from Biscayne Bay and Pensacola Bay, Florida, and Corpus Christi, Texas (Fig. 6). This species extends its westward range from Louisiana (Treadwell 1931) to Texas (710 km).