Martyn E. Y. Low

The order Zoantharia Rafinesque, 1815 (Cnidaria, Anthozoa: Hexacorallia): supraspecific classification and nomenclature

Abstract Many supraspecific zoantharian names have long and complicated histories. The present list is provided to advise researchers on the current state of supraspecific nomenclature of the zoantharians, particularly given the recent attention paid to the taxonomy, phylogeny, and biodiversity of this order. At the same time, several taxonomic issues brought to light by recent research are resolved. Details on the taxonomic and nomenclatural history of most groups are provided, along with appendices of invalid supraspecific names.

Names and publication dates of the Brachyura in F.É. Guérin (Guérin-Méneville) (Crustacea: Decapoda)

The names and dates of the publications of Brachyura of Guérin (Guérin-Méneville from 1836) are reviewed, and previously unidentified or overlooked names are identified. Several identical new names used in multiple publications by Guérin (also under the name Guérin-Méneville), and others that appeared in the same year necessitated the accurate determination of publication dates to establish priority. The authorships of three names should be credited to Guérin (1832): Gecarcinus lateralis (Gecarcinidae), Halimus aries (Majidae), and Libinia spinosa (Epialtidae), the first previously attributed to Fréminville (1835), the last two to H. Milne Edwards (1834). The overlooked genus- and species-group names Cyclocarcinus pinnotheroides Guérin-Méneville, 1838, are determined to be senior subjective synonyms of the genus- and species-group names Hapalonotus reticulatus (De Man, 1879) (Pilumnidae). Applying Article 23.9.1 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, precedence is reversed between the genus-group names and the correct name is Hapalonotus pinnotheroides (Guérin-Méneville, 1838). Current and widespread use of the genus-group name Thalamita Latreille, 1829 (31 March) (Portunidae) is threatened by the overlooked Thalamites Guérin, 1829 (21 March), and the precedence of the names is also reversed to maintain usage of the former. The genus-group name Eurypodius Guérin (Inachidae) is shown to have been established in 1828, not 1825. Included is a complete bibliography of the publications in which Guérin (also under Guérin-Méneville) established new names for Brachyura, with their accurate publication dates.

The resurrection of the genus Bergia (Anthozoa, Zoantharia, Parazoanthidae)

The genus Bergia was established by Duchassaing de Fonbressin and Michelotti in 1860, for two species, Bergia catelunaris and B. vialactea. Subsequently, in 1903 Duerden recognized these two species as conspecific, and used B. catelunaris in favour of B. vialactea, and transferred B. catelunaris to the genus Parazoanthus. However, over the last decade, it has been found that the genus Parazoanthus is actually polyphyletic and therefore it has gradually been divided and redefined. Based on phylogenetic analyses, Parazoanthus sensu stricto was recently limited to species which form associations with sponges, but it still comprised of three distinctive and monophyletic subclades. Of these clades, one Parazoanthus clade contains the type species for Parazoanthus, P. axinellae, while another clade was recently described as the genus Umimayanthus based on mitochondrial 16S-rDNA sequences. However, the other remaining Parazoanthus clade contains P. catenularis, the original type species of the genus Bergia. Based on a concatenated set of published data for five molecular markers (18S-rDNA, 28S-rDNA, ITS1/5.8S/ITS2-rDNA, 16S-rDNA and COI-DNA), this study confirms the monophyly of Bergia in the context of Parazoanthidae. The phylogenetic analyses strongly support the resurrection of the genus Bergia as a valid taxonomic unit.

'Googleology' revisited: an additional tool for preventing zoological homonymy.

Homonyms at the genus-group level in zoological nomenclature are not just “embarrassing for an author to discover or be told that his proposed name is preoccupied, but for all concerned it is a nuisance and an expense to make the corrections required” (Oehser 1935: 962). Names at the genus-group level are also the most “abundant source of homonyms” (Patterson et al . 2009: 688). Most preoccupied names will require a published article of at least half a page to replace them, and can lead to acrimonious debates in scientific literature, especially if this is done by data-miners who are not specialists of the groups (see Krell 2009: 274).

On the identities of the molluscan names described in A Short Zoology of Tahiti in the Society Islands by Anthony Curtiss in 1938 (Mollusca: Cephalopoda, Gastropoda)

Anthony Curtiss described two species of cephalopod and nine species of gastropod molluscs from Tahiti. Herein, we discuss and determine the identities of these eleven names. Ten of these names are considered to be junior subjective synonyms of well-known taxa, and one an unavailable name.

The identities of Grapsus nankin Tu, Tu, Wu, Ling & Hsu, 1923, and Grapsus nankin Lin, 1926 (Decapoda, Brachyura, Varunidae)

The brachyuran names Grapsus nankin Tu, Tu,Wu, Ling & Hsu, 1923, and Grapsus nankin Lin, 1926, have not been used as valid names since 1926. Both names, however, are available. There is little doubt that both names are synonymous with Eriocheir sinensis H. Milne Edwards, 1853. The history of these names and the various nomenclatural issues involved are fully discussed. To ensure nomenclatural stability, this chapter designate the lectotype of E. sinensis as the simultaneous neotypes of Grapsus nankin Tu, Tu, Wu, Ling & Hsu, 1923, and Grapsus nankin Lin, 1926. This makes both names objective junior synonyms of E. sinensis . The chapter follows Ng et al. (2008: 228) in recognising six valid species in three genera. Many of the species are important not only commercially. Keywords: Eriocheir sinensis ; Grapsus nankin