Some hydroids ( Cnidaria : Hydrozoa : Hydroidolina ) from the Konkan coast , Maharashtra , India

Acknowledgements: We are grateful to Mr. Vishal Bhave and Ms. Amruta Prasade for invaluable assistance and contributions in curating the collections. Thanks are also due to Mr. Vishwas Shinde and Mr. Rajendra Pawar for help in the field. We acknowledge the Director of the Bombay Natural History Society for support and encouragement of our studies. Hydroids from intertidal regions on the coast of India have received only modest attention. The eminent Indian hydrozoan taxonomist T.A. Mammen (1963, 1965a,b) recorded and described a number of shallowwater species from southern India. Venugopalan & Wagh (1986, 1990) recorded a few fouling hydroids from Mumbai harbor, including the predominantly intertidal sertulariid Dynamena crisioides. In Maharashtra State Gazetteers (1974–1975), only Pennaria disticha and Ectopleura viridis (as Tubularia pacifica) were reported, both with minimal information, and more detailed descriptions of them are warranted. Finally, several intertidal hydroid species were recorded from Okhamandal, in the state of Gujarat (Thornely 1916). Intertidal hydroids of the Konkan coast have been neglected, although the region has ample intertidal habitat and moderate faunal diversity. Objectives of the present paper were to explore the benthic hydrozoan fauna of Konkan, and to provide some details of their morphological characters. Taxonomic and morphological studies were undertaken to identify the various hydroid colonies that were collected. Eight species, collected from eight different sampling sites (Table 1), are reported herein. These are referable to the anthoathecate families Pennariidae (1 species) and Tubulariidae (1 species), and to the leptothecate families Aglaopheniidae (1 species), Sertulariidae (4 species), and Campanulariidae (1 species). Our study was undertaken on the rocky shores of the Konkan coast, Maharashtra, a region facing the Arabian Sea on the western coastline of India. Hydroids were collected from Ratnagiri (Mandavi, Mirya, Aare Ware, Undi, Purngad), Rajapur (Ambolgad, Kasheli) and Vijaydurga (Image 1). Specimens were collected manually, during low tide, from rock pools and rock crevices. Identification of species was based on morphological characters of hydroid, like colony form, arrangement of hydrocladia and hydrotheca, polyp morphology and gonophore. Most were preserved directly in 4% formalin in sea water for further study, while some were studied alive. Collections were examined microscopically using a stereoscope (Leica EZ4 D) and a compound microscope (Leica DM750). Drawings and photomicrographs prepared in the laboratory were also used in establishing morphological characters of the hydroids. All specimens were deposited in the collections of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Maharashtra.

Hydroids from intertidal regions on the coast of India have received only modest attention.The eminent Indian hydrozoan taxonomist T.A. Mammen (1963Mammen ( , 1965a,b) ,b) recorded and described a number of shallowwater species from southern India.Venugopalan & Wagh (1986, 1990) recorded a few fouling hydroids from Mumbai harbor, including the predominantly intertidal sertulariid Dynamena crisioides.
In Maharashtra State Gazetteers (1974Gazetteers ( -1975)), only Pennaria disticha and Ectopleura viridis (as Tubularia pacifica) were reported, both with minimal information, and more detailed descriptions of them are warranted.Finally, several intertidal hydroid species were recorded from Okhamandal, in the state of Gujarat (Thornely 1916).
Intertidal hydroids of the Konkan coast have been neglected, although the region has ample intertidal habitat and moderate faunal diversity.Objectives of the present paper were to explore the benthic hydrozoan fauna of Konkan, and to provide some details of their morphological characters.
Taxonomic and morphological studies were undertaken to identify the various hydroid colonies that were collected.Eight species, collected from eight different sampling sites (Table 1), are reported herein.These are referable to the anthoathecate families Pennariidae (1 species) and Tubulariidae (1 species), and to the leptothecate families Aglaopheniidae (1 species), Sertulariidae (4 species), and Campanulariidae (1 species).
Our study was undertaken on the rocky shores of the Konkan coast, Maharashtra, a region facing the Arabian Sea on the western coastline of India.Hydroids were collected from Ratnagiri (Mandavi, Mirya, Aare Ware, Undi, Purngad), Rajapur (Ambolgad, Kasheli) and Vijaydurga (Image 1).Specimens were collected manually, during low tide, from rock pools and rock crevices.Identification of species was based on morphological characters of hydroid, like colony form, arrangement of hydrocladia and hydrotheca, polyp morphology and gonophore.Most were preserved directly in 4% formalin in sea water for further study, while some were studied alive.Collections were examined microscopically using a stereoscope (Leica EZ4 D) and a compound microscope (Leica DM750).Drawings and photomicrographs prepared in the laboratory were also used in establishing morphological characters of the hydroids.All specimens were deposited in the collections of the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), Maharashtra.
Substrate: Rockpool, in a shaded area.
Substrate: Rock with sand; also creeping on green Known distribution from India: No specific reference found for locality.
The present study is noteworthy in that five species are recorded for the first time from Maharashtra.Moreover, all eight species reported herein constitute new records for the Konkan coast.Hydroids were well-represented at every site except Vijaydurga.Dynamena sp.requires more study because of the absence of gonothecae in our specimens.It was assigned to sertulariid genus on the basis of hydrothecal arrangement and structure.Pennaria disticha and Dynamena crisioides were the most common species at sites along the coast.Although P. disticha and Ectopleura viridis were reported in the state faunal series, Gazetteer of Maharashtra, we provide a more detailed description and have added specific collection locales.All species collected here are from rocky shores and there is a need to further explore these habitats.