BZN Volume
59, Part 2, 28 June 2002
General
Articles & Nomenclatural Notes
General
Articles and Nomenclatural Notes with the
following titles were published on 28 June
2002 in Volume 59, Part 2 of the Bulletin
of Zoological Nomenclature
Copies
of these General Articles and Nomenclatural
Notes can be obtained free of charge from
the Executive Secretary, The International
Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, c/o
The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road,
London SW7 5BD, U.K. (e-mail: iczn@nhm.ac.uk).
Nomenclatural Note
The
true identity of Astacus vitreus Fabricius,
1775 (Crustacea, Stomatopoda)
L.B. Holthuis
Nationaal Natuurhistorisch Museum, Naturalis,
P.O. Box 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
In 1818 Lamarck gave
the name Squilla scabricauda (currently Lysiosquilla
scabricauda; family LYSIOSQUILLIDAE) to
the mantis shrimp, one of the best known stomatopod
Crustacea of the Western Atlantic. However,
for many years the name has been considered
as pre-dated by the synonym Astacus vitreus Fabricius,
1775, which was based on a larva. The name vitreus has
been mentioned as referring to the larval form
but it has not been adopted for the adult crustacean,
and scabricauda has been used in numerous
publications. To avoid any possible confusion
in November 2000 I submitted an application
to the Commission seeking the suppression of
vitreus. The case was announced in BZN
58: 1 (March 2001).
Fabricius's (1775) rather general description of Astacus vitreus fitted
the larva of Lysiosquilla scabricauda and mentioned no characters
that would make the synonymy impossible. The type locality of vitreus was given
by Fabricius as 'in Oceana atlantico' which, as I showed (Holthuis, 2000, pp.
12-13), was most likely near Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and within the range for L.
scabricauda.
Hansen (1895) gave special attention to the identity of Astacus vitreus,
and was sure that it was the larva of Lysiosquilla scabricauda, and
most later authors followed him. Hansen pointed out that the correct name for
the species should be Lysiosquilla vitrea (Fabricius, 1775) but, in
his view, to adopt that specific name was absurd and would lead to unlimited
confusion. He suggested that the nomenclature for adults and larvae should
be kept separate. He continued to use the name Lysiosquilla scabricauda for
the species, as have all subsequent authors even if agreeing that Astacus
vitreus was an older synonym. Under L. scabricauda, Gurney (1946)
referred to Hansen and noted 'Lysierichthus vitreus is its larva'.
Manning (1969), in his monographic review of the Stomatopoda of the Western
Atlantic, cited Astacus vitreus in the synonymy of Lysiosquilla
scabricauda with a question mark and noted (p. 33) ‘Several larval
forms, including Astacus vitreus Fabricius . . . have been identified
with Lysiosquilla scabricauda. As all of these identifications are
tentative, the names are accompanied with a question-mark in the synonymy’.
In his description of Astacus vitreus, Fabricius (1775) referred
to 'Mus. Banks'. There are no existing type specimens of the species (see White,
1847 and Zimsen, 1964) but Wheeler (1986) recorded that Fabricius based his
description on material in the collection of Sir Joseph Banks, most probably
the drawing by Sydney Parkinson made during the outward journey of James Cook's
first circumnavigational voyage in the Endeavour (August 1768 to July
1771). The drawing forms part of the collection given by Banks before 1815
to the Linnean Society of London and in 1863 passed to the British Museum and
thence to The Natural History Museum, London.
Mrs Anthea Gentry (The Secretariat, ICZN) recently pointed out to me
that the drawing of Astacus vitreus was reproduced by Wheeler (1983,
p. 209, pl. 189b). It shows enlarged dorsal and ventral views, as well as a
natural sized view, and is annotated 'Cancer vitreus' and 'Sydney
Parkinson pinxt 1768' on the front, and 'Coast of Brasil' on the reverse, possibly
by Fabricius when he studied Banks's collection (see Wheeler, 1983, pp. 200-201).
I have recently received on loan the publication by Wheeler (1983) in
which Parkinson's figures of Astacus vitreus were reproduced and found
that the drawing represents a larva of Alima Leach, 1816, most probably A.
neptuni (Linnaeus, 1768), instead of the expected Lysiosquilla larva.
It seems clear that none of the previous authors who dealt with the nomenclature
of L. scabricauda had seen this illustration. As noted above, Fabricius's
(1775) description was rather general and fitted both species, although it
now seems certain that an Alima larva was meant. Fabricius's (1775) description
fits Parkinson's figures very well.
The first mistake in the identification of Astacus vitreus was
made by Desmarest (1823) who synonymised vitreus with Smerdis
vulgaris Leach, 1818, the latter being very similar to species of Lysiosquilla,
judging by Leach's figure. Leach's type specimen originates from West Africa
and certainly is not L. scabricauda.
Since Astacus vitreus Fabricius, 1775 is not a senior synonym
of Lysiosquilla scabricauda Lamarck, 1818 but a junior synonym of Alima
neptuni (Linnaeus, 1768), there is no need for Commission action to conserve
the name scabricauda and I have therefore withdrawn my application.
The larval form A. neptuni was known as A. hyalina Leach,
1817 until Manning & Lewinsohn (1986, pp. 13, 14) demonstrated that the
names were synonyms and adopted neptuni. Manning (1962) had already
shown that A. hyalina referred to the larva of the adult stomatopod Squilla
alba Bigelow, 1893, which Manning (1969, pp. 127-139) considered distinct
from other species of Squilla Fabricius, 1793 and placed in the genus Alima.
I (Holthuis, 2000, p. 18) designated the lectotype of A. alba as the
neotype of A. neptuni (for which species there was no existing type
material), rendering A. neptuni the valid name in accord with current
usage. To the synonymy of A. neptuni, A. hyalina and A.
alba must now be added Astacus vitreus Fabricius, 1775, judging
from Parkinson's figure of the latter.
The name Cancer neptuni was published (p. 226) in a zoological
Appendix to vol. 1 (Regnum Animale, 1766, 1767) of Linnaeus's Systema Naturae (Edition
12). This Appendix (pp. 223-228) was published in 1768 following vol. 3 (Regnum
Lapideum, pp. 5-222) of the work. There is also a botanical Appendix to vol.
2 (Regnum Vegetabile, 1767), and a single addition to vol. 3. Part of Linnaeus's
Systema Naturae (Ed. 12), vol. 3 (Regnum Lapideum) dealing with fossil animals
(pp. 153-174) was rejected for nomenclatural purposes by the Commission in
Opinion 296 (October 1954). Fitton (1978; see also Wheeler, 1991) thought that
the zoological Appendix might have also been 'accidentally suppressed', but
it is clear from the original application (BZN 2: 88) and
subsequent comments (reproduced in the Opinion) that only the section on Petrificata
was at issue, and thus Cancer neptuni Linnaeus, 1768 is an available
name.
References
Fabricius, J.C. 1775. Systema
entomologiae, sistens insectorum classes,
ordines, genera, species . . ..832 pp.
Flensburgi & Lipsiae.
Fitton, M.G. 1978. The species of 'Ichneumon'
(Hymenoptera) described by Linnaeus. Biological Journal of
the Linnean Society, 10: 361-383.
Gurney, R. 1846. Notes on stomatopod larvae. Proceedings
of the Zoological Society of London, 116:
133-175.
Hansen, H.J. 1895. Isopoden, Cumaceen und Stomatopoden
der Plankton-Expedition. Ergebnisse der Plankton-Expedition
der Humboldt Stiftung, 2(Gc): 1-105.
Holthuis, L.B. 2000. Nomenclatural notes on
eighteenth century Stomatopoda (Hoplocarida). Journal of
Crustacean Biology, 20: 12-19.
Lamarck, J.B.P.A. 1818. Histoire naturelle
des animaux sans vertèbres, vol. 5. 612 pp. Déterville,
Paris.
Linnaeus, C. 1768. Systema Naturae,
Ed. 12, vol. 3 (Regnum Lapideum), Appendix Tomi 1 (Animalium).
Pp. 223-228. Salvii, Holmiae.
Manning, R.B. 1962. Alima hyalina Leach,
the pelagic larva of the stomatopod crustacean Squilla alba Bigelow. Bulletin
of Marine Science of the Gulf and Caribbean, 12(3):
496-507.
Manning, R.B. 1969. Stomatopod Crustacea of
the Western Atlantic. Studies in Tropical Oceanography, 8:
1-380.
Manning, R.B. & Lewinsohn, C. 1986. Notes
on some stomatopod Crustacea from the Sinai Peninsula, Red Sea. Smithsonian
Contributions to Zoology, 433: 1-19.
Schotte, M. & Manning, R.B. 1993. Stomatopd
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Wheeler, A. 1983. Animals. Pp. 195-241, pls.
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Cook's Endeavour voyage. xv, 300 pp., 253 pls. British Museum
(Natural History), Croom Helm, London.
Wheeler, A. 1986. Catalogue of the natural history
drawings commissioned by Joseph Banks on the Endeavour voyage
1768-1771 held in the British Museum (Natural History). Part
3 (Zoology). Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History),
Historical series, 13: 1-171.
Wheeler, A. 1991. Caroli Linne. Systema
Naturae, Editio 12, Tomus 1, Regnum Animale (1766).
A microfiche reproduction of the author's personal annotated
copy from the Linnean Society of London, with an historical introduction
by Alwyne Wheeler. 15 pp. The Natural History Museum, London.
White, A. 1847. List of the specimens of
Crustacea in the collection of the British Museum. viii,
143 pp. British Museum, London.
Zimsen, E. 1964. The type material of I.C.
Fabricius. 656 pp. Munksgaard, Copenhagen.
