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
Halecium nullinodum
Fraser, 1935b
Halecium nullinodum
Fraser, 1935b
: 109
, pl. 2, fig. 7.
Type
.
BCPM 976-00489-001
:
Japan
,
Okino-se
, shoal outside of
Sagami Bay
,
22 September 1933
, 91
–
110 m
, labelled "type"; dry.
Type
locality.
Japan
:
Okino-se
, outside of
Sagami Bay
,
100–150 m
(
Fraser 1935b
).
Current status.
Valid.
Remarks.
Material of this species, from the collection of Emperor Hirohito, was sent to Fraser for identification by Dr. Hirotaro Hattori. While no specimens of
Halecium nullinodum
are listed in collections at the NMNS, Arai (1977) listed two collections of the species in the Fraser Hydroid Collection at the RBCM (BCPM 976-00489-001; BCPM 976-00489-002). However, one of these (BCPM 976-00489-002), on a slide, bears only a campanulariid colony. Specimens referable to
Halecium
are lacking on it, and the slide may have been mislabelled originally. The only known
type
material of
Halecium nullinodum
is therefore that in a vial at the RBCM (BCPM 976-00489-001), now dry and in very poor condition. It is unclear whether that material comprises one or more than one specimen, and whether it constitutes a
holotype
by monotypy or
syntypes
. We are therefore unable to resolve the
type
status of the collection. In our opinion, a
neotype
is needed given its unsatisfactory condition.
The trophosome and female gonophores of
Halecium nullinodum
were described by
Fraser (1935b)
. He did not observe males.
Hirohito (1995: 16)
regarded
H. nullinodum
as “a problematic species”, including it with question as a synonym of
H. sessile
Norman, 1867
. Fraser’s species is listed as valid in WoRMS.