Names of hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) established by Charles McLean Fraser (1872 - 1946), excluding those from Allan Hancock Expeditions
Author
Calder, Dale R.
Author
Choong, Henry H. C.
text
Zootaxa
2018
2018-10-02
4487
1
1
83
journal article
29136
10.11646/zootaxa.4487.1.1
939f52d6-d58b-4a22-8aec-dd5c6a591067
1175-5326
1456161
524B23B9-8EAA-4BD6-8937-A1B8F1C057B9
Hebella eximia
Fraser, 1944a
Hebella
(?)
eximia
Fraser, 1944a
: 207
, pl. 39, figs. 185a, b.
Holotype
.
MCZ-IZ 9067:
Dominica
,
USCSS
Blake
Sta. 185,
15°24’55”N
,
61°27’10”W
, 333 fm (
609 m
),
27 January 1879
, coll.
A. Agassiz
; ethanol (specimen now missing from its vial).
Type
locality.
Dominique
(
Dominica
):
15°24’55”N
,
61°27’10”W
, 333 fm (
609 m
) (
Fraser 1944a
).
Current status.
Species inquirenda
.
Remarks.
While no name-bearing
types
of
Hebella
(?)
eximia
were designated by
Fraser (1944a)
, the online catalogue at MCZ records
type
material of the species in the collection (MCZ-IZ 9067). That record does not specify the number of colonies, but
Fraser’s (1944a)
description was of a single colony.
No
types
or other specimens were located elsewhere, including the Fraser Hydroid Collection at the RBCM. The MCZ specimen, apparently the
holotype
by monotypy (ICZN Art. 73.1.2), is now missing from its bottle. The vial originally containing it was carefully checked twice during this study, but no hydroids of
H. eximia
were found.
Fraser (1944a)
founded
Hebella eximia
in his book on hydroids of the western North Atlantic.
No
gonosome was present, and he was uncertain of its generic affinities.
Boero
et al
. (1997)
referred it to the synonymy of
H. scandens
(
Bale, 1888
)
, given the resemblance of its trophosome to that species. Their conclusion has been upheld in the current WoRMS list. Based on Fraser’s account of the morphology of its hydrothecae, however, and the considerable depth from which it was collected, it may well be distinct. It is held here to be a
species inquirenda
. With the
holotype
now missing, designation of a
neotype
, following provisions of the ICZN, seems desirable if the species is re-discovered.