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Taxon
Idiellana pristis (Lamouroux, 1816)
Nomenclature
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Family: SertulariidaeGenus: Idiellana
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Synonyms: 2
SUMMARY
Hydrorhiza a fibrous mass of thin, tangled stolons.
Stems 40 - 170 mm high, monosiphonic, pinnate, sometimes sparingly branched, more or less straight, perisarc of older stems thick, proximal stem region usually athecate with remnant hydrocladia and hydrothecae; stem intern odes short, nodes almost transverse, constricted, a hydrotheca in aphophysal axis, a hydrotheca above and one opposite.
Hydrocladia alternate, straight, given off at an angle of 70 - 80° from side of stem on lower third of internode; hydrocladial apophysis short with narrow, transverse distal node, hydrocladial internodes bearing up to 10 pairs of hydrothecae, internode beneath hydrothecae inflated.
Hydrothecae biseriate, long, set in an imbricated pattern on front of hydrocladium; adcauline wall convex to sinuous, adnate part overlapping opposite hydrotheca, free part projecting upwards or outwards from hydrocladium. Abcauline wall concave to sinuous, lower third adnate to adcauline wall of hydrotheca below, usually a knot of perisarc at point where wall bends away from hydrocladium. Margin elongate oval with a pair of sharply pointed lateral lobes, embayments between deep, perisarc thin; operculum of two valves, often a pleat in adcauline valve. Hydrothecal perisarc moderately thick. Hydranth buried deep inside sinuous part of hydrotheca.
Gonothecae borne in longitudinal rows on lower to mid-region of hydrocaulus, one on internode; gonothecal pedicel short, wide, body of gonotheca large, urn-shaped, with numerous longitudinal pleats to shoulder, merging into a short, wide neck, rim everted and sealed by a dome-shaped plug; perisarc of gonotheca very thick. Female gonophore ovoid, containing many large ova.
Colour: Dark honey brown.