“Dacrydium albidum Pelseneer, 1903 (Figs 55, 56, 57)
Dacrydium albidum Pelseneer, 1903: 26, fig. 100; Thiele, 1912: 226, pl. 17, fig. 9; Thiele and Jaeckel, 1931: 170; Lamy, 1937: 70; Soot-Ryen, 1951: 20; Powell, 1958: 175; Powell, 1960: 174; Nicol, 1966: 25, pl 3, figs 2, 8; Egorova, 1982: 64, figs 271, 272.
MATERIAL EXAMINED: TAE Stns 4, 79; NZOI Stns A488, A449, A450, A470; Eltanin Stns 138, 993, 1870, 1885, 1996, 2012, 2021, 2031, 2045, 2065, 2072.
DISTRIBUTION: Dacrydium albidium has been recorded from around the antarctic continent only at 89°E, 74°E, from the Davis Sea and the Ross Sea, and at 88°W. Nicol (1966) did not, however, indicate definite localities for the material he examined. The Eltanin collections add the South Shetlands. It occurs relatively commonly in the Ross Sea in depths of 122-752 m. Elsewhere in its range (disregarding the deep sea records discussed below) the lower limit of its bathymetric range appears to be 1437 m.
REMARKS: Having examined a considerable range of specimens of Dacrydium from antarctic waters, the writer would agree with Nicol (1966: 26) that D. modioliforme Thiele should be considered a synonym of D. albidum Pelseneer, the outline of the valves varying to such a degree that two forms cannot be separated on this basis.
Thiele and Jaeckel (1931: 1970) recorded D. modioliforme from 4636 m and Clarke (1961: 378) from three stations in depths of 3036-4234 m. However, Knudsen (1970: 178) doubted if Clarke's records were really based on D. albidum and after studying the specimen recorded by Thiele and Jaeckel noted that it differed widely from D. modioliforme. Specimens from Eltanin Stn 127 (4758 m) agree reasonably well with D. albidum on shell characters. The whole basis of differentiation of species in this genus needs crticial study, and there is some evidence that anatomical characters may assist.”
(Dell, 1990: 33-34)
