BZN Volume 64, Part 3, 28 September 2007

Abstracts of Cases

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Abstracts of the Applications published on 28 September 2007 in Volume 64, Part 3 of the Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature

Comment or advice on any of these Applications is invited for publication (subject to editing) in the Bulletin and should be sent to the Executive Secretary, International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, c/o The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, U.K. (e-mail: iczn@nhm.ac.uk).

 

Case 3396 (see Comments BZN 65:3; Case closed June 2009)

Conus jaspideus Gmelin, 1791 (Mollusca, Gastropoda): proposed conservation of the specific name by designation of a neotype

Alan J. Kohn
Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, U.S.A. (e-mail: kohn@u.washington.edu)

Danker L.N. Vink
Groot Santa Martha, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles
(e-mail: dankervink@carib-online.net)

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Article 75.5 of the Code, is to define and conserve the usage of the specific name of Conus jaspideus Gmelin, 1791 by designating a neotype. C. jaspideus is a marine gastropod mollusc occurring in the tropical Western Atlantic and Caribbean region. The name is in common usage but it is also a source of confusion, for both nomenclatural and biological reasons. The main nomenclatural reason is that the lectotype is unidentifiable. The main biological reason is disagreement as to whether C. jaspideus is a very variable and widely distributed species, or a complex of related species that may have narrower geographic ranges. Replacement of the present unidentifiable name-bearing type by a neotype would solve the first problem and facilitate research to solve the second.

Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Gastropoda; Conus; Conus jaspideus; neotype; Western Atlantic.

 

Case 3387 (see Opinion 2213)

Cancer setosus Fabricius, 1798 (currently Pseudograpsus setosus; Crustacea, Decapoda): proposed replacement of a syntype by a neotype

Ngan Kee Ng and Peter K.L. Ng
Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543, Republic of Singapore
(e-mail: dbsngnk@nus.edu.sg)

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Article 75.5 of the Code, is to replace the only known, extremely deteriorated, syntype of Cancer setosus (currently Pseudograpsus setosus) Fabricius, 1798 with a neotype. Cancer setosus Fabricius, 1798 has been accepted by carcinologists as a senior subjective synonym of Grapsus penicilliger Latreille, 1817 and Pseudograpsus barbatus H. Milne Edwards, 1853 for 150 years, and as such it is essential that a recognizable type be available to the scientific community.

Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Pseudograpsus setosus; neotype; brachyuran crab.

 

Case 3389 (see Opinion 2217)

Heterocarpus gibbosus Bate, 1888 (Crustacea, Decapoda, PANDALIDAE): proposed replacement of the holotype by a neotype

Xinzheng Li
Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 7 Nanhai Road, Qingdao 266071, China (e-mail: lixzh@ms.qdio.ac.cn)

Tin-Yam Chan
Institute of Marine Biology, National Taiwan Ocean University, 2 Pei-Ning Road, Keelung 202, Taiwan (e-mail: tychan@mail.ntou.edu.tw)

Peter K.L. Ng
Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260 (e-mail: peterng@nus.edu.sg)

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Article 75.5 of the Code, is to replace the poorly preserved holotype of the deep-sea pandalid prawn Heterocarpus gibbosus Bate, 1888, with a recently collected neotype from the type-locality in the Philippines.

Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Heterocarpus gibbosus; holotype; neotype; Philippines; pandalid prawn.

 

Case 3395

Geophilus linearis C.L. Koch, 1835 and Geophilus sorrentinus Attems, 1903 (currently Stenotaenia linearis and S. sorrentina; Chilopoda): proposed conservation of the specific names

Lucio Bonato and Alessandro Minelli
University of Padova, Department of Biology, Via Ugo Bassi 58 B, I-35131
Padova, Italy (e-mail: lucio.bonato@unipd.it; alessandro.minelli@unipd.it)

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Article 23.9.3 of the Code, is to conserve the specific names linearis C.L. Koch, 1835 and sorrentinus Attems, 1903, both originally published in Geophilus Leach, 1814, for two widespread European species of geophilomorph centipedes currently referred to the genus Stenotaenia C.L. Koch, 1847 of which Geophilus linearis C.L. Koch, 1835 is the type species. Stenotaenia linearis (C.L. Koch, 1835), which is currently in universal and commonuse, is threatened by the long forgotten subjective synonym Geophilus simplex Gervais, 1835 because of a first-reviser action by Gervais (1837) which has been practically disregarded since 1918. Stenotaenia sorrentina (Attems, 1903) is threatened by its putative, subjective synonymy with Geophilus forficularius Fanzago, 1881, a name never used as valid since the year of publication.

Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Chilopoda; Stenotaenia; Stenotaenia linearis; Geophilus simplex; Stenotaenia sorrentina; Geophilus forficularius; geophilomorph centipedes.

 

Case 3403 (see Opinion 2218)

Mecistocephalus Newport, 1843 and Pachymerium Koch, 1847 (Chilopoda): proposed conservation of current usage by designation of Mecistocephalus punctifrons Newport, 1843 as the type species of Mecistocephalus Newport, 1843

Lucio Bonato and Alessandro Minelli
Department of Biology, University of Padova, Via Ugo Bassi 58 B, I-35131 Padova, Italy (e-mail: lucio.bonato@unipd.it; alessandro.minelli@unipd.it)

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Article 70.2 of the Code, is to conserve Mecistocephalus punctifrons Newport, 1843 as the type species of the genus Mecistocephalus Newport, 1843, following current universal use; this requires suppression of the earlier but long forgotten valid designation of Geophilus ferrugineus Koch, 1835 as the type species of this genus. Accepting G. ferrugineus as the type species of Mecistocephalus would threaten the current, universal use of both names Mecistocephalus Newport, 1843 and Pachymerium Koch, 1847 for two wellestablished genera of centipedes. These genera have long been recognised as very distinct and included in different families; both have a wide geographical distribution and encompass more than 120 and 20 valid species respectively. The name Mecistocephalus, as currently applied, is threatened by Lamnonyx Cook, 1896, which has not been used as valid in taxonomic and faunistic literature since 1945. The name Pachymerium, as currently applied, is threatened by Mecistocephalus, which is currently and universally applied to a different genus.

Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; type species; Chilopoda; Mecistocephalus; Pachymerium; Geophilus ferrugineus; Mecistocephalus punctifrons; geophilomorph centipedes.

 

Case 3392 (see Comments 65:1 & Opinion 2220 )

Hemerobius elegans Stephens, 1836 (currently Sympherobius elegans) and Hemerobius elegans Guérin-Méneville, 1844 (currently Vieira elegans) (Insecta, Neuroptera): proposed conservation of the specific names

John D. Oswald
Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843–2475, U.S.A. (e-mail: j-oswald@tamu.edu)

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Article 23.9.5 of the Code, is to conserve the specific names Hemerobius elegans Stephens, 1836 (currently Sympherobius elegans) (HEMEROBIIDAE) and Hemerobius elegans Guérin-Méneville, 1844 (currently Vieira elegans) (CHRYSOPIDAE). Although Hemerobius elegans Stephens, 1836 and Hemerobius elegans Guérin-Méneville, 1844 are primary homonyms, they were treated congenerically only for the seven-year period from 1844 to 1851, after which the junior name was removed from Hemerobius. The senior homonym is a European brown lacewing; the junior homonym is a Neotropical green lacewing. Both names are in current use. It is proposed that Hemerobius elegans Guérin- Méneville, 1844 be conserved by ruling that it is not invalid by reason of being a junior homonym of Hemerobius elegans Stephens, 1836.

Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; CHRYSOPIDAE; HEMEROBIIDAE; Vieira elegans; Sympherobius elegans; green lacewings; brown lacewings; Costa Rica; Suriname; Brazil; Europe.

 

Case 3388 (see Comments BZN 64:3 & 64:4 & Opinion 2221)

Buprestis angustula Illiger, 1803 (Insecta, Coleoptera): proposed precedence of the specific name over that of Buprestis pavida Fabricius, 1793

E. Jendek
Institute of Zoology, Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dúbravská cesta 9, SK 842 06 Bratislava, Slovakia (e-mail: jendek@stonline.sk)

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Article 23.9.3 of the Code, is to conserve the specific name Agrilus angustulus (Illiger, 1803) for a widely distributed species of jewel beetle (family BUPRESTIDAE) by giving it precedence over its unused senior synonym Agrilus pavidus (Fabricius, 1793).

Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Coleoptera; BUPRESTIDAE; Agrilus angustulus; Agrilus pavidus; buprestids; jewel beetles; Europe; Asia.

 

Case 3390 (see Comments BZN 64:4, 65:4, 66:1, 66:4)

Archaeopteryx lithographica von Meyer, 1861 (Aves): proposed conservation of usage by designation of a neotype

Walter J. Bock
Department of Biological Sciences, 1212 Amsterdam Avenue, PB, 2431 Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, U.S.A. (e-mail: wb4@columbia.edu)

Paul Bühler (deceased)
Institute of Zoology, University of Stuttgart-Hohenheim, D-7000 Stuttgart 70, Germany

Abstract. The purpose of this application, under Article 75.5 of the Code, is to preserve stability and universality of usage of the name Archaeopteryx lithographica von Meyer, 1861 by setting aside the existing holotype and designating a neotype.

Keywords. Nomenclature; taxonomy; Archaeopteryx lithographica; neotype;
Solnhofen; Aves; Jurassic.