Campanularia castellata Fraser, 1925

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 : 65-66

Campanularia castellata Fraser, 1925

not Campanularia castellata Clarke, 1894: 71 , 72 [nomen nudum].

? Campanularia castellata Fraser, 1925: 170 , figs. 4Α, B.

? Campanularia castella .—Αrai, 1977: 27 [incorrect subsequent spelling].

Syntypes. CAS-IZ 21801.00: USA, California, San Francisco Bay, near Alcatraz Island , 10–17 fm (18–31 m), labelled “ type ”; 10% formalin.

BCPM 976-00342-001: USA, California, San Francisco Bay, 10–17 fm (18–31 m), labelled “co-type”; 60% IPA.

Lectotype, by present designation. CAS-IZ 2 1801.00: USA, California, San Francisco Bay, near Alcatraz Island , 10–17 fm (18–31 m), colony fragments on Salacia desmoides , without gonothecae; 10% formalin.

Paralectotype. BCPM 976-00342-001: USA, California, San Francisco Bay, 10–17 fm (18–31 m), several fragments on Salacia desmoides , in poor condition, without gonothecae, labelled “co-type”; dry sometime in the past; 60% IPA.

Type locality. USA, California: San Francisco Bay, near Alcatraz Island , 10–17 fm (18–31 m) ( Fraser 1925).

Current status. Species inquirenda.

Remarks. No name-bearing type was fixed by Fraser (1925) in describing Campanularia castellata . Specimens of the type series occur at both the CAS (CAS-IZ 21801.00) and the RBCM (BCPM 976-00342-001). The syntype at CAS contains colony fragments of Salacia desmoides ( Torrey, 1902) supporting epizoic C. castellata , together with a handwritten label bearing the word “ type ”. The vial is inside a jar with a label bearing the designation “XLIV.3.5257”. According to the CAS label, this designation refers to a Scripps Institution dredging station near San Pedro, CA. However, given that this label is not in direct association with the specimen in the vial and that the CAS specimen appears to be similar to the RBCM specimen in its fragmentary nature and epizoic association, we believe that both are syntypes representing material collected from San Francisco Bay as indicated by Fraser (1925: 170). Although fragmentary, we conclude that that the CAS specimen (CAS-IZ 21801.00) constitutes a single colony of C. castellata epizoic on S. desmoides . It has been selected here as the lectotype. The RBCM sample (BCPM 976-00342-001) is designated as a paralectotype.

Fraser (1925) founded C. castellata on infertile material, and the gonosome of the species remains undescribed. Its specific identity is thus unclear (Calder 1991). Fraser noted a close resemblance of his hydroid to C. groenlandica Levinsen, 1893 , although longitudinal folds were completely absent on walls of the hydrothecae of C. castellata .

The binomen Campanularia castellata as used earlier by Clarke (1894) is a nomen nudum (ICZN Art. 11.5) and does not threaten the identical name used later by Fraser. The name appeared in two introductory lists of species in Clarke’s paper but, in all subsequent parts of that publication, including the descriptive account and figure captions of the species, Obelia castellata was used as the valid name. In remarks on the species, Clarke commented “It is, of course, impossible to determine whether this belongs in the genus Obelia or in Campanularia , without knowing its manner of reproduction; and it is from its general similarity to some of the Obelias, longissima and especially gelatinosa, that I place it provisionally here” (as Obelia castellata ).

While listed as valid in Cairns et al. (2002), WoRMS is followed here in considering Campanularia castellata a species inquirenda.