Sertularella ornata Fraser, 1937b

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 : 49

Sertularella ornata Fraser, 1937b

Sertularella ornata Fraser, 1937b: 2 , pl. 1, fig. 3 [invalid junior primary homonym of Sertularella fusiformis forma ornata Broch, 1933 ].

Sertularella fraseri Galea, 2010: 18 , figs. 5a–g [replacement name for Sertularella ornata Fraser, 1937b ].

Holotype. USNM 43287: Puerto Rico, Johnson-Smithsonian Deep-Sea Expedition Sta. 37, Mona Passage, NE of Mona Island, 18°11’55”N, 67°42’50”W, 160–200 fm (293–366 m), 10 February 1933, R/V Caroline, beam trawl, one colony with about three detached fragments, 5 mm high, in good to excellent condition, with a few gonothecae, coll. Paul Bartsch, labelled “ type ” and “ holotype ”; ethanol.

Paratypes. BCPM 976-00612-001 : Puerto Rico, Johnson Hydro Sta. 37, ca . 329 m, 10 February 1933, one colony, up to 4 mm high, without gonothecae, labelled “cotype”; 60% IPA.

BCPM 976-00612-002: Puerto Rico, N of Puerto Rico, Johnson Hydro Sta. 37, 10 February 1933, parts of one colony, 5 mm high, without gonothecae; slide.

Type locality. Puerto Rico: 18°11’55”N, 67°42’50”W, 160–200 fm (293–366 m) ( Bartsch 1933; Fraser 1937b).

Current status. Invalid.

Remarks. Sertularella ornata was one of nine new species of hydroids described by Fraser (1937b) in material collected by the Johnson-Smithsonian Deep-Sea Expedition to Puerto Rico and vicinity. A single colony of S. ornata at the NMNH (USNM 43287), designated the holotype by Fraser (1937b: 3), is currently listed as a syntype in the online database. Accompanied by labels marked “ type ” and “ holotype ”, we consider it to be the holotype here. Another label with the specimen indicates that it was taken at Station 37 of the expedition, not Station 38 as reported in some accounts. Other specimens of the species, examined in the Fraser Hydroid Collection at the RBCM (BCPM 976-00962-001; BCPM 976-00612-002), are from the same location. We followed Bartsch (1933) in recording collection data for that station. Specimens at the RBCM were not specifically mentioned as types by Fraser in the original description, but they are considered paratypes based on the fact that one is labelled “cotype” (ICZN Art. 72.4.1.1) and the second, on a slide from the same station, was likely prepared from it.

As noted in WoRMS, Sertularella ornata Fraser, 1937b is an invalid junior homonym of S. fusiformis forma ornata Broch, 1933 . Galea (2010) provided a replacement name, S. fraseri , for Fraser’s species. As for S. ornata Broch, 1933 , it is included as a synonym of S. ellisii ( Deshayes & Milne Edwards, 1836) in WoRMS.

In having hydrothecae ornamented with strong transverse ridges, Sertularella fraseri is a particularly striking species of hydroid.