Case 2816. Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi Mathews, 1912 (currently Catharacta skua lonnbergi; Aves, Charadriiformes): proposed conservation of the subspecific name

4 Pages·1993·0.83 MB·English

by  J F Voisin

.
48 BulletinofZoologicalNomenclature50(1)March1993
Case2816
CatharactaantarcticalonnbergiMathews,1912(currentlyCatharacta
skualonnbergi;Aves,Charadriiformes):proposedconservationofthe
subspecificname
J.-F.Voisin&C.Voisin
LahoratoiredeZoologie:MammifereselOiseaux,MuseumNational
cl'HistoireNaiurelle,55ruedeBuffon,75005Paris.France
W.J.Bock
DepartmentofBiologicalSciences,ColumbiaUniversitvintheCilvof
New York.N.Y. 10027. U.S.A.
M.Thery
C.N.R.S.. U.R.A.1183.Laboratoired'EcologieGenerale MuseumNational
,
d'HistoireNaturelle,4avenueduPetitChateau,91800Brunov,Paris,France
Abstract. The purpose of this appHcation is to conserve the subspecific name of
CatharactaskualonnbergiMathews, 1912(familystercorariidae). Thenameisin
universal usage forthe brown skua ofthe subantarctic region butis threatenedby
the unused senior subjective synonym Stercorarius aniarcticus madagascariensis
Bonaparte,1856.forwhichsuppressionisproposed.
Resume.L'objetdecetterequeteestdeconserverlenomsubspecifiquedeCatharacta
.•ikualonnbergiMathews, 1912(familledesstercorariidae).Cenom,dontTusageest
courammentacceptepourleSkuabrundelaregionsubantarctique,estmenaceparle
nominemployeStercorariusantarcticusmadagascariensisBonaparte,1856,synonyme
subjectifplusancien,dontonproposeicilasuppression.
1 Bonaparte(1856,p.207)describedaskuaobtainedoffthecoastsofMadagascar
and named it asa subspeciesmadagascarien.mofStercorariusantarcticus(Lesson,
1831)(p.616).Thecompletedvol.2ofBonaparte'sworkisdated1857.However,dates
printedwiththesignaturesindicatethatitwaspublishedinpartsbetween 1854and
1856(seealsoWoodward.1903,p.194).Pages193-232ofvol.2bearthedate1856and
this has been adopted here for the name madagascariensis. The name was largely
ignoredbysubsequentauthorsandSaunders(1876.pp. 321-322; 1896,p.320)syn-
onymizeditwithS.antarcticus.Hartlaub(1877,pp.380-382)acceptedthesynonymy
andpublishedmeasurementsofBonaparte'sspecimen(no. 1992-392intheMuseum
Nationald'HistoireNaturelle,Paris).
2. Mathews (1912 (January), p. 212) described Catharacta antarctica lonnbergi
basedonasinglebird(specimenno.3755)from'NewZealandSeas'.Thisspecimen,an
BulletinofZoologicalNomenclature50(1)March1993 49
adult male formerly part ofthe Rothschild collection, is in the collection ofthe
AmericanMuseumofNaturalHistory,catalogueno.744457.Mathewsalsodescribed
theegg(1912(April),p.55).Ayearlater(1913,p.484)heelevatedthetaxontospecific
rank and (p. 494) proposed three subspecies: C. I. lonnbergi (pi. 122) from New
Zealand,C.I.intercedensfromtheKerguelenIslandsandC.I.clarkeifromtheSouth
Orkneys.However,hehasbeenlittlefollowed;Hamilton(1934,p. 174)synonymized
intercedensandclarkeiwiththenominatelonnbergiandtreatedthisasasubspeciesof
CatharactaskuaBriinnich, 1764.SinceHamilton'sworkthetaxonlonnbergihasbeen
variouslyconsideredtobeaspecies,orasubspeciesofeitherskuaorantarcticus.These
taxahavebeenincludedeitherinStercorariusBrisson,1760orinCatharaclaBriinnich,
1764.TodaymostauthorsagreeonthetrinomenC.skualonnbergi.inaccordancewith
thetaxonomicconclusionsofHamilton(1934),Devillers(1978)andFurness(1987).
3. Brooke (1978, p. 296; 1981, p. 144) resurrected the name madagascariensis
Bonaparte, 1856and,onthegroundsofare-examinationoftheholotypebyDrJ.-L.
MouginandbyDrsC.andJ.-F.Voisin,adopteditasaseniorsynonymofCskua
lonnbergi. Thiswasfollowed byVoisin (1979, p. 79and footnote; 1984, p. 15). but
Clancey(1981,p. 197)continuedtousethenamelonnbergi,notingmadagascariensis
as a synonym. Brooke did not publish measurements for the type specimen of
madagascariensis.theidentityofwhichhaslongbeencontroversial.Thosegivenby
Hartlaub(1877)suggestthatitisaspecimenoftheSouthPolarskuaC.maccormicki
(Saunders, 1893) (p. xii), rather than the brown skua, even ifits culmen length is
somewhatlongforthatspecies(Furness, 1987).Ourownmeasurementsofthesame
specimen (culmen length 56.5mm, tarsus length 85mm, middle toe 76mm, wing
length(tipbroken)370and365mm)donotagreewiththoseofHartlaub;theybring
Bonaparte'sspecimenwellwithinthesizerangeofC.skualonnbergiandcompletelyout
ofthatofC.maccormickiaccordingtothetableofmeasurementsgivenbyFurness
(1987)andourownobservations. Moreover,theshapeandsculptureofthebillare
clearly those of C. skua lonnbergi (Brooke, 1981, personal observations). We do
not knowwhyHartlaub'smeasurementsaresodifferent from ourown butourre-
examinationofBonaparte'sspecimenprovesbeyonddoubtthatitisasmallmaleof
C.skualonnbergiand notofC.maccormicki.ashasalreadybeenstatedby Brooke
(1978, 1981).Iftarsuslength,whichisthemostdiagnosticcharacterindiscriminating
Catharactaspecimens(Brooke, 1978;Furness.1987),isconsideredaloneBonaparte's
specimencouldbeaNewZealandbirdbutthefactthatitwastakenfarawayfrom
anyknownbreedinggroundofthebrownskuamakesitdifficulttoapplythename
madagascariensistoanyknownbreedingpopulationofthespecies. Manyyearsago
MilneEdwards&Grandidier(1885,p.644)includedmadagascariensisincmtarcticus
butcommentedthatBonaparte'sspecimenwas'remarquablementpetit'.
4. StrictadherencetothePrincipleofPrioritywouldleadtotheveryundesirable
introductionofthenameCatharactaskuamadagascariensis(Bonaparte,1856)forthe
taxonwhichuntilnowhasconsistentlybeencalledlonnbergiMathews,1912.Thename
madagascariensishasrarelybeenusedwhereaslonnbergihasbeenusedbyalmostall
authors,particularlysinceHamilton's(1934)work.Thenamehasappearedincheck
listsaswellastaxonomicandecologicalworks(see,forexample,Peters, 1934,p.310;
Holgersen, 1957;Downes,Ealey,Gwynn&Young, 1959,pp. 103-111;McLachlan&
Liversidge, 1978, p. 204; Parmelee. 1985; Pietz. 1987; Sibley & Monroe, 1990, pp.
253-254).Alistofafurther18referencespublishedinthelast40yearsdemonstrating
50 BulletinofZoologicalNomenclature50(1)March1993
usageofthenameisheldbytheCommissionSecretariat.Thetaxonomyoftheskuas
ismostdiflficulttointerpretandhastakenaconsiderableefforttoclarify;theuseof
nuidagascariensis instead of (or, more likely, in addition to) the accepted name
hmnbergiwouldaddconfusiontothiscomplextaxonomicsituation.
5. The International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature is accordingly
asked:
(1) to useits plenary powers to suppress the subspecific name madagascariensis
Bonaparte, 1856. as published in the trinomen Siercorarius antarcticus
nuutagascariensis,forthepurposesofthePrincipleofPrioritybutnotforthose
ofthePrincipleofHomonymy;
(2) toplaceontheOfficial ListofSpecificNamesinZoologythenameloimbergi
Mathews,1912,aspublishedinthetrinomenCatharaciaaniarclicaloimhergt
(3) toplaceontheOfficialIndexofRejectedandInvalidSpecificNamesinZoology
the name madagascariensis Bonaparte, 1856, as published in the trinomen
Stercorariusantarcticusmadagascariensisandassuppressedin(I)above.
Acknowledgements
WethankDrR.K.BrookeforusefulcommentsonthemanuscriptandMrsA.Gentry
oftheCommissionSecretariatforhelpinthepreparationoftheapplication.
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