Hippurella elegans 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 : 52

Hippurella elegans Fraser, 1937b

Hippurella elegans Fraser, 1937b: 5 , pl. 2, figs. 9a–c.

Holotype. USNM 43292 : Puerto Rico, north coast off Playa de Loiza, Johnson-Smithsonian Deep-Sea Expedition Sta. 9, 18°33’15”N, 65°56’45”W, 240 fm (439 m), 0 1 February 1933, R/ V Caroline, one colony, ca. 35 cm high, in excellent condition, with gonophores, coll. Paul Bartsch, labelled “ type ” and “ holotype ”; ethanol.

Paratypes. USNM 43343 : Puerto Rico, north coast, Johnson-Smithsonian Deep-Sea Expedition Sta. 106, 18°31’30”N, 66°18’20”W, 0 8 March 1933, 150-195 fm (274–357 m), R/ V Caroline, coll. Paul Bartsch; ethanol.

USNM 43344 : Puerto Rico, northwest coast, Johnson-Smithsonian Deep-Sea Expedition Sta. 35, 18°24’45”N, 67°14’15”W, 0 9 February 1933, 80-180 fm (146–329 m), R/ V Caroline, coll. Paul Bartsch; ethanol.

BCPM 976-00864-001: Puerto Rico, northwest coast, 0 9 February 1933, 146- 329 m, one large colony (> 20 cm high), in fair condition, with phylactocarps and gonophores; 60% IPA.

BCPM 976-00865-001: Puerto Rico, Johnson-Smithsonian Deep-Sea Expedition Sta. 9, N of Puerto Rico, 0 1 February 1933, 439 m, two colony fragments, in fair condition, with phylactocarps and gonophores, labelled "cotype"; 60% IPA.

BCPM 976-00866-001: Puerto Rico, one colony fragment, 1.1 cm high, in fairly good condition, without phylactocarps and gonophores; slide.

Type locality. Puerto Rico: off north coast, Johnson-Smithsonian Deep-Sea Expedition Sta. 9, 18°33’15”N, 65°56’45”W, 240 fm (439 m) ( Fraser 1937b).

Current status. Valid.

Remarks. The colony of Hippurella elegans designated by Fraser (1937b) as the holotype is currently listed as a syntype at the NMNH (USNM 43292). Location data on a label with this hydroid do not accord with coordinates for Johnson-Smithsonian Deep-Sea Expedition Station 9 recorded in Bartsch (1933). Our record above is taken from data on the collection label.

Remaining samples of Hippurella elegans in both the NMNH (USNM 43343, USNM 43344) and the RBCM (BCPM 986-00864-001, BCPM 976-00865-001, BCPM 976-00866-001), all from Puerto Rico, comprise paratypes. Data for the two paratype collections at the NMNH (USNM 43343, USNM 43344), from Fraser’s (1937b) original account, generally agree with station records in Bartsch (1933).

Hippurella elegans is currently known only from Puerto Rico, and from Fraser’s (1937b) original description. Differences said to exist in the three species currently assigned to Hippurella Allman, 1877 ( H. annulata Allman, 1877 ; H. longicarpa Nutting, 1900 ; H. elegans Fraser, 1937b ) need to be re-evaluated. Hippurella elegans is listed as valid in WoRMS.