Staurotheca urceolifera (Kirchenpauer, 1884)

Cantero, A. L. Peña & Vervoort, W., 2003, Species of Staurotheca Allman, 1888 (Cnidaria: Hydrozoa: Sertulariidae) from US Antarctic expeditions, with the description of three new species, Journal of Natural History 37 (22), pp. 2653-2722 : 2708

Staurotheca urceolifera (Kirchenpauer, 1884) ?

Selaginopsis urceolifera Kirchenpauer, 1884: 104–106 , pl. 11 figure 5; Billard, 1914: 20. Staurotheca urceolifera: Stechow, 1921: 256 ; 1923b: 152; Peña Cantero et al., 1997: 336.

Remarks. Staurotheca urceolifera was described by Kirchenpauer (1884) from material collected by the ‘Gazelle’ expedition off Kerguélen. Kirchenpauer’s description and figures, particularly those of the (female) gonotheca, leave no doubt that he was dealing with a species of Staurotheca allied to and possibly identical with Staurotheca dichotoma Allman, 1888 . Without inspection of Kirchenpauer’s type material it will remain impossible to confirm their identity. For the present it seems best to consider Selaginopsis urceolifera Kirchenpauer, 1884 , a doubful species. Should Kirchenpauer’s type be rediscovered and the identity of the two species concerned confirmed this will have no nomenclatorial consequences for the genus name Staurotheca Allman, 1888 , even though it concerns the type of that genus.