Raymondcia gemmata Souto & Reverter-Gil 2019, n. comb.

Raymondcia gemmata (Jullien in Jullien & Calvet, 1903) n. comb.

(Figs 2, 23–28; Table 3)

Smittia gemmata Jullien in Jullien & Calvet, 1903: 105, pl. 13, fig. 4.

Material examined. Lectotype (designated here): MOM 420125: Hirondelle st. 53, 43.74722°N, 05.86278°W, 135 m depth, Bay of Biscay, Calvet Coll., dry fragment on slide. Paralectotype (designated here): MOM 420125: Hirondelle st. 53, 43.74722°N, 05.86278°W, 135 m depth, Bay of Biscay, Calvet Coll., fragment on ethanol.

Description. Colony encrusting, unilaminar, beige in preserved material, colour unknown when alive. Zooids hexagonal to oval, longer than wide, separated by fine sutures with a lateral laminar wall visible in frontal view. Frontal wall slightly convex, finely granulated, evenly pierced by large round pores (Fig. 23). Primary orifice wider than long, with a convex proximal border, but lacking a lyrula. Two small quadrangular condyles in the proximolateral corners (Figs 24, 27, 28). Oral spines not observed. Secondary orifice oval, wider than long, formed by the extension of secondary calcification of the adjacent zooids distally by the proximal margin of succeeding zooids, and in some cases by the disto-lateral zooids (Figs 24, 27).

Avicularia suboral, placed within the secondary orifice and almost perpendicular to the primary orifice. Apparently oval in outline, not well preserved in the studied material, with a short, rounded mandible proximally directed, and a crossbar formed by two lateral condyles (Figs 27, 28). Ovicell subimmersed, formed by the distal zooid, spherical, completely calcified with only one central pore; secondary calcification finely granular, covering the ovicell from the distal and lateral zooids, with the sutures well visible between the implicated zooids (Figs 25, 26). Ancestrula unknown.

Remarks. Jullien (in Jullien & Calvet 1903) described Smittia gemmata from two fragments collected at st. 53 of l’Hirondelle (Bay of Biscay, 135 m depth) (Fig. 2), now stored at the MOM. These specimens are here designated as the lectotype and paralectotype. The original description of the species was incomplete; among other characters, the suboral avicularium was not reported. The species does not seem to have been found again since its original description.

Soule et al. (1995) established the genus Raymondcia for two smittinid species with apertural rim and ovicells composed of distal, lateral and frontal (in orifice) segments, and ovicell sometimes with one or two small central pores. Currently, five species with a mainly circumpolar distribution are included in this genus (Bock & Gordon 2018): R. klugei (Gontar, 1982), R. majuscula (Smitt, 1867), R. mcginitiei Soule, Soule & Chaney, 1995, R. osburni Soule, Soule & Chaney, 1995 and R. rigida (Lorenz, 1886). However, Soule et al. (1995) already indicated in the original description of the genus that good examples of the ovicell of Raymondcia were present in species such as Smittina beringia Kluge, 1952 or the description of Prenantia bella (Busk, 1860) by Hayward & Ryland (1979). It remains unclear whether the authors transferred these species to Raymondcia or not. In fact, a few pages later they discussed Lepralia bella with the new species Dengordonia uniporosa Soule, Soule & Chaney, 1995, but without referring the former to Raymondcia. Years later, Grischenko et al. (2007) reported the species as ‘ R. bella (Busk, 1860) ’ (sic.). Accordingly, the genus Raymondcia is already known from European Atlantic waters, as R. bella was reported from Aberdeen, Shetland and west Norway (Hayward & Ryland 1999).

We consider that S. gemmata can fit the characters of the genus Raymondcia, and we therefore propose here, though provisionally, to transfer the species to this genus. The original material of the species is scarce and not well preserved, so fresh material is needed to undertake new studies on its morphology.