Nomenclature in Sea Anemones

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Nomenclature in Sea Anemones

• Taras A. Zelenchuk
• Department of Ecology And Evolutionary Biology
• KU Natural History Museum
• Sponsored by Dr. Daphne Fautin

www.infomotions.com
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General information about Sea Anemones

• Solitary marine animals that belong to taxonomic
  order Actiniaria of phylum Cnidaria.
• 1113 valid species.

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International Commission on Zoological
Nomenclature (ICZN)

• Commission determines the laws and writes them in
  the International Code of Zoological
  Nomenclature.
• Commission has plenary powers to interpret the
  Code.
• It issues its rulings in the Bulletin of
  Zoological Nomenclature.

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Scientific Names

• Scientific name of a species consists of three
  parts
• Generic name capitalized and italicized. Ex.
  Anemonia
• Specific name italicized. Ex. manjano
• Author and year as appears in the original
  publication of the name. Ex. Carlgren, 1900

Anemonia manjano Carlgren, 1900
Hexacorallian Database
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Issues Concerning Nomenclature

• Validity of Publication
• Type Designation
• Homonymy

www.classicnatureprints.com
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Validity of Publication

• Nomen nudum - a name that lacks a description
  that makes it distinct from all other taxa.
• Sometimes nomina nuda also exist as descriptions
  of genera without a species.
• Such names are ignored in nomenclature until a
  description is published or in the second case, a
  species is described in that genus.

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Example of a Nomen Nudum

• Ehrenberg (1834) described a hypothetical genus
  Mesacmaea. This name was a nomen nudum until
  Andres (1881) described a species Mesacmaea
  stellata. Andres gets the credit for describing
  the genus.

Mesacmaea mitchellii (Gosse, 1853)
http//www.habitas.org.uk
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Type Designation

• The name-bearing type of a nominal genus or
  subgenus is a nominal species called the "type
  species" ICZN Art. 67.1
• Type species is most commonly established by
• original designation
• monotypy
• subsequent designation

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Example of Type Designation

• Genus Tealia Gosse, 1858.
• Type species Actinia felina Linnaeus, 1767.
• Subsequently designated by Carlgren (1949).
• 89 years and 69 publications after first
  description.

Urticina felina (Linnaeus, 1767)
http//www.mer-littoral.org/
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Homonymy

• Two or more taxa of the same rank in the same
  kingdom that have the same name.
• Usually resolved by the Principle of Priority
• There are two types of homonyms junior and
  senior.
• The valid name of a taxon is the oldest
  available name applied to it, unless that name
  has been invalidated or another name is given
  precedence by any provision of the Code or by any
  ruling of the Commission. ICZN Art. 23.1

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Resolving Homonyms of Genera

• Senior homonyms need no action.
• A junior homonym must be rejected and replaced
  either by an available and potentially valid
  synonym or, for lack of such a name, by a new
  substitute name.
• ICZN Art. 60.2

Urticina felina by Danielssen, 1890
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Example of Homonymy
Genus Edwardsia has five homonyms
Edwardsia beautempsii de Quatrefages, 1842, was
the first species was described in Sea Anemones
Crustacean genus Edwardsia Costa, 1834, has been
suppressed under the plenary powers of ICZN.
Edwardsia andresi Danielssen, 1890
Edwardsia vivus Koenen, 1865
Edwardsia w-album Tutt, 1907
Edwardsia brillians Neumoegen, 1880
http//www.aquarium.co.jp
http//www.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepid
optera/
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Review

• What goes into resolving nomenclatural issues
  within a specific name?

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Acknowledgments

• Dr. Daphne Fautin
• Sigma Xi program