Fig. 8h
Sertularella areyi Nutting, 1904: 83, pl. 17, fig. 6.
Type locality. Cuba: near Havana, 100–200 fathoms (183–366 m) (Nutting 1904).
Voucher material. Off Sebastian Inlet, 27°52.5’N, 79°57.5’W, 75–98 m, 28.ii.1974, Smith-McIntyre grab, R/ V Gosnold Station 222/274C, one colony, 7 mm high, without gonophores, ROMIZ B1135.
Remarks. Sertularella areyi Nutting, 1904 was found in a sample from the outer continental shelf mid-way along the Atlantic coast of Florida. Originally described from Cuba, it has been reported from deeper neritic and upper bathyal bottoms in tropical and subtropical regions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. Detailed taxonomic accounts of this small but morphologically striking species, based on material from the western Pacific, are given by Vervoort (1993) and Vervoort & Watson (2003). The latter authors noted that it often grows on larger hydroids.
Reported distribution. Atlantic coast of Florida. First record.
Western Atlantic. South Carolina/Georgia continental shelf (Wenner et al. 1984) to Brazil (Oliveira et al. submitted), including Bermuda (Calder 2000) and the Gulf of Mexico (Calder & Cairns 2009).
Elsewhere. Indian Ocean (Millard 1975, as Sertularella annulaventricosa Mulder & Trebilcock, 1915); western Pacific (Vervoort 1993; Hirohito 1995; Vervoort & Watson 2003).