Limits on the HI content of the dwarf galaxy Hydra II

Sensitive 21cm HI observations have been made with the Green Bank Telescope toward the newly-discovered Local Group dwarf galaxy Hydra II, which may lie within the leading arm of the Magellanic Stream. No neutral hydrogen was detected. Our 5-sigma limit of MHI < 210 solar masses for a 15 km/s linewidth gives a gas-to-luminosity ratio MHI/L_V < 2.6 x 10^{-2} Mo / Lo. The limits on HI mass and MHI/L_V are typical of dwarf galaxies found within a few hundred kpc of the Milky Way. Whatever the origin of Hydra II, its neutral gas properties are not unusual.