Sertularella humilis Fraser, 1943a

Calder, Dale R. & Choong, Henry H. C., 2018, Names of hydroids (Cnidaria, Hydrozoa) established by Charles McLean Fraser (1872 - 1946), excluding those from Allan Hancock Expeditions, Zootaxa 4487 (1), pp. 1-83 : 48-49

Sertularella humilis Fraser, 1943a

Sertularella humilis Fraser, 1943a: 81 , pl. 19, fig. 12.

Holotype. MCZ-IZ 9008: USA, Florida, off Sand Key, 27 March 1872, Bache Expedition 1872–1874, 75–128 fm (137–234 m), one hydrocaulus, 0.9 mm high, in poor condition, with eight hydrothecae (two of them broken off), without gonophores, coll. W. Stimpson, labelled “ type ”; dry.

Type locality. USA, Florida: off Sand Key Light , 125 fm (229 m) ( Fraser 1943a).

Current status. Valid.

Remarks. The original description of Sertularella humilis by Fraser (1943a), in a collection from the MCZ, was based on a single colony said to reach 1 cm in height. A specimen of the species from the type locality at that museum (MCZ-IZ 9008), containing a label marked “ type ”, is the holotype by monotypy (ICZN Art. 73.1.2) because no other type material is known to exist. The specimen is now dry, accompanied by a note stating “found dry (prior to 1983)”. Although desiccated and in quite poor condition, the base of the colony nevertheless matches the illustration provided by Fraser (1943a, pl. 19, fig. 12).

Gonophores were lacking in the hydroid described by Fraser (1943a), and the small, unbranched colony appears to have been a juvenile. Sertularella humilis , taken to be valid in WoRMS, is known only from the original description. Fraser (1947a) speculated that its affinities were with S. tenella (Alder, 1856) and S. rugosa ( Linnaeus, 1758) , both boreal species.