Aglaophenia transitionis Fraser, 1941b

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 : 60-61

Aglaophenia transitionis Fraser, 1941b

Aglaophenia transitionis Fraser, 1941b: 87 , pl. 18, figs. 14a, b.

Holotype. USNM 43458 : USA, California, San Francisco, off Golden Gate, R / V Albatross Sta. 3150, 37°47’N, 122°44’10”W, 38 m, 21 March 1890, large beam trawl, one colony, badly broken up, with several fragments of a hydrocaulus and numerous detached, fragmented hydrocladia, without gonophores, labelled “ type ”; ethanol.

Paratypes. BCPM 976-00811-001 : USA, California, San Francisco, off Golden Gate , 38 m, several colony fragments, up to 6.3 cm high, in poor condition, without gonophores; dry.

Type locality. USA, California: off Golden Gate , 37°47’N, 122°44’10”W, 21 fm (38 m) ( Fraser 1941b).

Current status. Valid.

Remarks. In describing Aglaophenia transitionis, Fraser (1941b) designated material from the NMNH (USNM 43458) as the “ type.” That collection, thereby fixed as the name-bearing type (ICZN Art. 72.1.2), is currently listed as a syntype in the NMNH online database. Although Fraser’s “ type ” is now badly fragmented, we believe it is based on a single specimen and is a holotype. Material from the same collection at the RBCM (BCPM 976-00811-001) is excluded as a name-bearing type in not having been fixed as such in the original description (ICZN Art. 72.1.2). It constitutes a paratype.

Fraser (1941b) did not observe fertile specimens of Aglaophenia transitionis , and we saw no gonophores on the holotype. This species is listed as valid in WoRMS but remains poorly known.