Opinion 1672 Muraena Linnaeus, 1758 and Anguilla Schrank, 1798 (Osteichthyes, Anguilliformes): placed on the Official List of Generic Names

2 Pages·1992·0.55 MB·English

by  International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature

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BulletinofZoologicalNomenclature49(1)March 1992 93
OPINION 1672
Muraena Linnaeus, 1758 and AnguillaSchrank, 1798(Osteichthyes,
Anguilliformes): placedonthe Official ListofGeneric Names
Ruling
(1 ThefollowingnamesareherebyplacedontheOfficial ListofGenericNamesin
Zoology:
(a) Muraena Linnaeus, 1758 (gender: feminine), type species by subsequentdesig-
nationby BorydeSaint-Vincent(1827)MuraenahelenaLinnaeus, 1758;
(b) AnguillaSchrank. 1798 (gender: feminine), typespecies bymonotypyMuraena
a/;gz//7/aLinnaeus, 1758.
(2) ThefollowingnamesareherebyplacedontheOfficialListofSpecificNamesin
Zoology:
(a) helena Linnaeus, 1758, as published in the binomen Muraena helena (specific
nameofthetypespeciesoiMuraenaLinnaeus, 1758);
(b) anguillaLinnaeus, 1758,aspublishedinthebinomenMuraenaanguilla(specific
nameofthetypespeciesoiAnguillaSchrank, 1798).
HistoryofCase 1173
An application for theconfirmation ofMuraenahelena Linnaeus, 1758 asthetype
specieso^MuraenawasreceivedfromMissRuthA.Cooper{Secretariat,International
Commission on Zoological Nomenclature) and Mr Oliver A. Crimmen {The Natural
HistoryMuseum,London. U.K.)on21 September 1989.Aftercorrespondencethecase
was published in BZN 46: 259-261 (December 1989). Notice ofthecase was sent to
appropriatejournals.
The generic name Muraena, consistently used for moray eels, was placed on the
Official List of Generic Names in Opinion 77 (January 1922) with the universally
acceptedtypespeciesM.helenaLinnaeus, 1758. However,in 1958Muraenawaswith-
drawnfromthe Listforfurtherinvestigation: theearliestdesignationofatypespecies
wasbelievedtobethatby Bleeker(1865)ofM. anguillaLinnaeus, 1758.M.anguillais
the type species by monotypy oiAnguilla Schrank, 1798, the common rivereel, and
strict adherence to the Regies [Code] would have resulted in the transferofthe name
Muraena from the moray to the common eel and the loss ofthe name Anguilla as a
juniorobjectivesynonym.
The application by Cooper & Crimmen (BZN 47: 259-261) sought to set aside
Bleeker's (1865) designation ofanguilla as the type of Muraena and accept that by
Jordan & Gilbert (1882) ofhelena, thereby conserving both generic names, Muraena
andAnguilla,intheiraccustomedusages.
A comment from Mr Alwyne Wheeler {Epping Forest Conservation Centre.
Loughton, Essex, U.K.), published in BZN 47: 138 (June 1990), noted that the name
Anguilladated from Schrank (1798), and not Shaw(1803)ascited in theapplication.
Comments from Dr F.C. Thompson {United States Department of Agriculture,
H^ashington D.C., U.S.A.) and from one of the authors of the application (Ruth
Cooper), published in BZN 47: 139, pointed out that Commission action was not
required to conserve the name Muraena in its accustomed sense: the designation by
94 BulletinofZoologicalNomenclature49(1)March1992
Bory de Saint-Vincent (1827) ofhelena as the type species predated that by Bleeker
(1865)andHelenaisthusthevalidtypespeciesofthegenus.
The Commission was asked to agree to place both Muraena Linnaeus, 1758 and
AnguillaSchrank, 1798ontheOfficialList,withMuraenaHelenaandM.anguilla,both
ofLinnaeus, 1758,therespectivetypespecies.
DecisionoftheCommission
On 1 September 1991 themembersoftheCommission wereinvited to vote. At the
closeofthevotingpe—riodon 1 December 1991 thevoteswereasfollows:
Affirmative votes 26: Bayer, Bock, Cocks, Corliss, Dupuis, Hahn, Halvorsen,
Heppell, Holthuis, Kabata, Kraus, Lehtinen, Macpherson, Mahnert, Martins de
Souza, Minelli, Nielsen, Nye, Ride, Savage, Schuster, Starobogatov, Thompson,
Trjapitzin,Ueno,—Willink
Negativevotes none.
NovotewasreceivedfromCogger.
Originalreferences
Thefollowingaretheoriginal referencestothenamesplaced onOfficial Listsbytheruling
giveninthepresentOpinion:
AnguillaSchrank, 1798,FaunaBoica,vol. 1,part2,p.304.
anguilla,Muraena,Linnaeus, 1758,SystemaNaturae,Ed. 10,vol. 1,p.245.
Helena,Muraena,Linnaeus, 1758,SystemaNaturae,Ed. 10,vol. 1,p.244.
MuraenaLinnaeus, 1758,SystemaNaturae,Ed. 10,vol. 1,p.244.
ThefollowingisthereferenceforthedesignationofMuraenahelenaLinnaeus, 1758asthetype
speciesofthenominalgenusMuraenaLinnaeus, 1758:
Bory de Saint-Vincent, J.B.G.M. 1827, in Audouin, [J.V.] et al. (Eds.), Dictionnaire classique
d'Histoirenaturelle,vol. 11,p.305.
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