Sphaerocystis heteronema Fraser, 1943a

Plumularia dendritica Nutting, 1900: 67, pl. 8, figs. 4–6.

Sphaerocystis heteronema Fraser, 1943a: 85, pl. 20, figs. 17a, b.

Holotype. MCZ-IZ 9002: Bahamas, Pourtalès Gulf Stream Exploration, USCSS Bibb Sta. 162, Orange Key (Orange Cay), 9 fm (16 m), one small and fragmentary colony, about 1.2 cm high, without gonophores, labelled “ type ”; dry.

Type locality. Bahamas: off Orange Key (Orange Cay), 9 fm (16 m) (Fraser 1943a).

Current status. Invalid.

Remarks. Type material of Sphaerocystis heteronema Fraser, 1943a is known to exist only at the MCZ (MCZ- IZ 9002). No type of the species was designated by Fraser (1943a), but his description was based on a single colony, constituting the holotype by monotypy. That specimen is now dry, accompanied by a note stating “found dry (prior to 1983)”. Nevertheless, three fragments of a single hydrocaulus, and several detached hydrocladia, were found in the vial. Although desiccated, and constituting a very small colony of a particularly large species, its morphology is still apparent and its identity quite certain. As noted above in remarks on the genus Sphaerocystis Fraser, 1943a, S. heteronema Fraser, 1943a is a junior subjective synonym of Plumularia dendritica Nutting, 1900, a species now frequently assigned to the genus Dentitheca Stechow, 1920 . In common with S. heteronema, the type locality of D. dendritica is the Bahamas (near Little Cat Island).