Ectopleura grandis Fraser, 1944a

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 : 18-19

Ectopleura grandis Fraser, 1944a

Ectopleura grandis Fraser, 1944a: 92 , pl. 15, figs. 66a, b.

Syntypes: AMNH 3253 : USA, Louisiana, East Bay , May 1930, several colonies and colony fragments, some with and some without hydranths, up to 5 cm high, in marginally fair to poor condition, a few hydranths with developing gonophores, coll. M. Burkenroad; formalin, now in ethanol.

AMNH 3258 : USA, Louisiana, Imbale Bay , 15 April 1930, several (>10) stem fragments without hydranths, up to 12 mm high, with some stolons on seagrass, without gonophores, coll. M. Burkenroad; formalin, now in ethanol.

Lectotype, by present designation. AMNH 3253 : USA, Louisiana, East Bay , May 1930, one colony, branched eight times, about 5 cm high when straightened, in marginally fair condition, with 4 hydranths, without gonophores, coll. M. Burkenroad; formalin, now in ethanol.

Paralectotypes. AMNH 3258 : USA, Louisiana, Imbale Bay , 15 April 1930, several (>10) stem fragments without hydranths, up to 12 mm high, with some stolons on seagrass, without gonophores, coll. M. Burkenroad; formalin, now in ethanol.

AMNH _ IZC 250227 : USA, Louisiana, East Bay , May 1930, several colonies and colony fragments, some with and some without hydranths, up to 3.5 cm high, in marginally fair to poor condition, a few hydranths with developing gonophores, coll. M. Burkenroad; formalin, now in ethanol.

Type locality. USA, Louisiana: East Bay ( Fraser 1944a).

Current status. Valid.

Remarks. Ectopleura grandis was founded by Fraser (1944a) for hydroids from Barataria Bay, Imbale Bay, and East Bay, Louisiana. Although no types of the species were designated in the original account, specimens of the type series exist at the AMNH, with one sample (AMNH 3253: East Bay) listed in the online database of the museum as the holotype and another (AMNH 3258: Imbale Bay) as a paratype. We regard both as syntypes here, under provisions of the Code (ICZN Art. 72.4.7). Arai (1977) also listed the species as part of the Fraser Hydroid Collection at the RBCM (BCPM 976-00144-001: Barataria Bay, 25 May 1931). However, it is not currently listed in the online catalogue of the museum, and is now missing from the collection. No other types of the species were located in online databases of the NMNH, CAS, RBCM, MCZ and YPM.

After examining the syntypes listed above, a single colony was selected as the lectotype and returned to its vial (AMNH 3253). Other colonies and colony fragments from the same vial were removed to a separate vial, assigned a new collection number (AMNH_IZC 250227), and included in the paralectotype series. The lectotype colony is the best preserved of all the type specimens, although its four hydranths lack gonophores. A few hydranths in one of the paralectotype collections (AMNH_IZC 250227) have developing gonophores, but their trophosomes show fewer characters of the species overall. None of the examined hydranths were as large as indicated by Fraser (1944a: pl. 15, fig. 66a). The type locality of Ectopleura grandis is restricted here to East Bay, Louisiana, USA, following designation of a lectotype.

Ectopleura grandis has been considered a valid species in works such as Deevey (1950), Defenbaugh & Hopkins (1973), Petersen (1990), Cairns et al. (2002), Bouillon et al. (2006), Calder & Cairns (2009), and WoRMS. According to Deevey (1950), the hydroid is decidedly more robust than that of E. dumortierii ( Van Beneden, 1844) , yet it possesses fewer tentacles (proximal and distal tentacles each ca. 14–16) when nearly mature ( Fraser 1944a). Of note, however, type specimens examined here were less robust than typical hydroids of E. dumortierii from Chesapeake Bay ( Calder 1971). Meanwhile, stems of E. grandis in AMNH collections were much more branched than indicated in the original description by Fraser (1944a). The species is still inadequately known, and knowledge of its life cycle is incomplete.