Coryne pusilla Gaertner 1774

Coryne pusilla Gaertner, 1774

Coryne pusilla Gaertner, 1774: 40–41, pl. 4 fig. 8.

Coryne pusilla – Millard 1975: 51–52, fig. 19f–g. — Schuchert 2001b: 776–780, fig. 14a–b; 2012: 134–135, fig. 142.

SOUTH ATLANTIC OCEAN • 1 colony, with sporosacs; Vema Seamount, stn BT5; 31°37′16″– 31°36′58″S,8°22′37″–8°23′06″E; 71–94m depth; 31Jan.2015;SEAFO-2015leg.; SEAFO-2015-40942 • 1 colony, with sporosacs, growing on sponge; Vema Seamount, stn Dive 5; 91 – 42 m depth; 1 Feb. 2015; SEAFO-2015 leg.; SEAFO-2015-40191.

Molecular studies carried out by Schuchert (2005) to explore species boundaries within the genus Coryne found that populations identified as Coryne pusilla from the Mediterranean, Japan and Korea are genetically different from the Northeast Atlantic ones. Based on these results, Schuchert (2005, 2010) indicated that C. pusilla appears to be a species complex, an opinion also shared by Calder (2017).

The material examined here is scarce and prevents us from giving a detailed description of the species. Nevertheless, we want to highlight that we found two size-classes of stenoteles: small (8.2–10.3× 4.1– 5.5 µm) and large (15.1–17.6 × 10.3–11.8 µm) ones. These measurements concur with those obtained by Millard (1975) from South African material, but they are clearly inferior to those reported from East and West Atlantic populations (see Schuchert 2001b and Calder 2017, respectively). These data suggest that the Southeast Atlantic populations of C. pusilla could also represent a different species.

Coryne pusilla is considered as a circumglobal species, although the records from Madagascar and Kerguelen Islands (Millard 1975) and those from the Pacific Ocean (Millard 1975; Schuchert 2005, 2012) are considered as uncertain. It was reported from South Africa by Millard (1975). Its bathymetric range extends from the intertidal level to 100 m depth (Hirohito 1988).