Meganema claviformis Fraser, 1939b

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 : 28

Meganema claviformis Fraser, 1939b

Lafoeina maxima Levinsen, 1893: 182 , pl. 6, figs. 9–12.

Keratosum complexum Hargitt, 1909: 379 , figs. 8–10.

Levinsenia maxima .— Hadži, 1917: 55.

Eupoma maximum .— Stechow, 1920: 45.

Meganema claviformis Fraser, 1939b: 60 , figs. 2a–c.

Lafoeina claviformis .— Fraser, 1947a: 240.

Keratosum maximum .—Calder, 1991: 10.

Syntypes. BCPM 976-00302-001 : Canada, Nunavut, Dolphin and Union Strait, off Cape Bexley , 68°59’N, 115°40’W, 16 m, summer 1936 or 1937, RCMP Vessel St. Roch, dredge, two colony fragments, coll. Sgt. H.A. Larsen; slide.

Lectotype, by present designation. RBCM 976-00302-001 : Canada, Nunavut, Dolphin and Union Strait, off Cape Bexley , 68°59’N, 115°40’W, 16 m, summer 1936 or 1937, RCMP Vessel St. Roch, dredge, one colony fragment (specimen on the left side of the slide BCPM 976-00302-001 ), 8 mm high, in only fair condition, without gonophores, coll. Sgt. H.A. Larsen; slide.

Paralectotype. BCPM 976-00302-001 : Canada, Nunavut, Dolphin and Union Strait, off Cape Bexley , 68°59’N, 115°40’W, 16 m, summer 1936 or 1937, RCMP Vessel St. Roch, dredge, one colony fragment, 8 mm high, in only fair condition, without gonophores, coll. Sgt. H.A. Larsen; slide.

Type locality. Canada, Nunavut: Dolphin and Union Strait, off Cape Bexley , 68°59’N, 115°40’W, 16 m ( Fraser 1939b).

Current status. Invalid.

Remarks. In describing Meganema claviformis, Fraser (1939b) reported that the hydroid was “attached to sponges, barnacle shells, etc.” No name-bearing type was designated by him. The only type material of the species in existence is mounted on a slide (BCPM 976-00302-001) in the Fraser Hydroid Collection at the RBCM. Two specimens occur on the slide, both of them fragmentary. While the fragments may be part of a single colony, we have not assumed so for nomenclatural purposes (ICZN Recommendation 73F). The specimen on the left side of the slide has been designated here as the lectotype (RBCM 976-00302-002) to objectively define the species and ensure stability of nomenclature. The specimen on the right is the paralectotype.

Fraser (1947a) abandoned Meganema Fraser, 1939b as valid, acknowledging that M. claviformis was referable to the same genus as Lafoeina maxima Levinsen, 1893 . He nevertheless persisted in recognizing Lafoeina claviformis as a distinct species. The two were later regarded as synonyms ( Calder 1970, 1991). The species is listed in Cairns et al. (2002) as Keratosum maximum and in WoRMS as Lafoeina maxima . The former is maintained here for reasons given above in Remarks on the genus Meganema .