[Coral-List] Name changes

Fautin, Daphne G. fautin at ku.edu
Thu Sep 12 16:35:02 EDT 2013


It is true that the same name may be used in diverse ways.  The simplest case is of lumpers versus splitters -- lumpers will use one name for several entities that splitters might recognize.  So species A of a lumper will be species A, B, and C of splitters.  Clearly, then, what the two groups mean by species A differs, even when they use the same name.  Adding the name of the author and date of description does not help -- clearly, if the people using the names are conscientious, they will have that right, and that information will simply be redundant with the scientific name (except in the case of homonyms, which is not the focus here).  (And, of course, there are people at all stages between.)  To distinguish uses, cite the source of the sense in which you use the name.

For a real world case, let's take Porites lobata Dana, 1846. It is my understanding that this name is used in diverse ways.  If you believe, as Veron (2000) delimits it, that the range of the species is from Central America to East Africa, and includes Hawaii and the Red Sea, that "Colonies are usually hemispherical or helmet-shaped and may be over 4 meters across," and that this is "Frequently a dominant species of back reef margins, lagoons and some fringing reefs," use the term Porites lobata Dana, 1846, sensu Veron, 2000.  If you understand Porites lobata to include corals with a smaller geographic or morphological or ecological range, refer to it as circumscribed by someone else, as Porites lobata Dana, 1846, sensu Someoneelse.


Sincerely,
Daphne

Daphne G. Fautin
Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Curator, Natural History Museum (Biodiversity Institute)
University of Kansas
1200 Sunnyside Avenue
Lawrence, Kansas 66045 USA

telephone 1-785-864-3062
fax 1-785-864-5321
skype user name daphne.fautin
evo user name fautin
website: invertebratezoology.biodiversity.ku.edu/home<http://www.nhm.ku.edu/~inverts>
cv: www.nhm.ku.edu/inverts/daphne.html

    database of hexacorals, including sea anemones
       newest version released 2 January 2013
hercules.kgs.ku.edu/Hexacoral/Anemone2/index.cfm
________________________________
From: Dennis Hubbard [dennis.hubbard at oberlin.edu]
Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2013 1:45 PM
To: Fautin, Daphne G.; coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Name changes

Thanks Daphne.

As a general note to the group, I'm still not sure how to cite M. faveolata.. While I hold all the folks on the taxonomy paper as "experts", what happens when someone does not. The bottom line for me is that I often refer to M.. faveolata in papers. How do I handle this in future papers?

We went through this with (I believe) Agaricia tenufolia awhile back and I still see it cited multiple ways; someone outside the inner circle may think we're talking about three different corals. So, it strikes me that the lack of a formal "naming" process requiring consensus may be creating as great a confusion as disagreements over genetic versus morphologic data vs personal preference. Maybe geologists have an authoritarian streak in us, but we generally frown on folks changing the Holocene to the Imobscene just because we're fed up with Homo stupidus.

Dennis


On Thu, Sep 12, 2013 at 2:35 PM, Fautin, Daphne G. <fautin at ku.edu<mailto:fautin at ku.edu>> wrote:
ICZN does not "accept" names.  ICZN, as its name states, deals with nomenclature.  It makes the rules about how to form a name, which name should be used in the case of identical names (homonyms), which name should be used if two names are considered to apply to the same taxon (synonyms), etc.  If the rules of nomenclature are followed, the ICZN has been satisfied. Whether two names really are synonyms is a matter of taxonomy (not nomenclature) and it is the judgment of the expert community that prevails.


Daphne (a Commissioner of the ICZN)

Daphne G. Fautin
Professor, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Curator, Natural History Museum (Biodiversity Institute)
University of Kansas
1200 Sunnyside Avenue
Lawrence, Kansas 66045 USA

telephone 1-785-864-3062<tel:1-785-864-3062>
fax 1-785-864-5321<tel:1-785-864-5321>
skype user name daphne.fautin
evo user name fautin
website: invertebratezoology.biodiversity.ku.edu/home<http://invertebratezoology.biodiversity.ku.edu/home>
cv: www.nhm.ku.edu/inverts/daphne.html<http://www.nhm.ku.edu/inverts/daphne..html>

    database of hexacorals, including sea anemones
       newest version released 2 January 2013
hercules.kgs.ku.edu/Hexacoral/Anemone2/index.cfm<http://hercules.kgs.ku.edu/Hexacoral/Anemone2/index.cfm>

________________________________________
From: coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov<mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov> [coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov<mailto:coral-list-bounces at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>] on behalf of Dennis Hubbard [dennis.hubbard at oberlin.edu<mailto:dennis.hubbard at oberlin.edu>]
Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2013 12:01 PM
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov<mailto:coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov>
Subject: [Coral-List] Name changes

Hi all:

I looked over Nancy's interesting article and the data appear to be pretty
compelling. However, being a geologist and not a coral taxonomist, my
question is whether the ICZN (or whoever the official body is) has accepted
these name changes yet. If not, how is this typically dealt with in the
literature? As M. faveolata is a highly preferred lab rat for paleoclimate
studies, it's probably important that we follow the rules before we start
tossing new names about. If this hasn't yet happened, what is the protocol
for referring to this and other species that may now sit in new bins?

Thanks,

Dennis
--
Dennis Hubbard
Chair, Dept of Geology-Oberlin College Oberlin OH 44074
(440) 775-8346<tel:%28440%29%20775-8346>

* "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"*
 Benjamin Stein: "*Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream*"
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--
Dennis Hubbard
Chair, Dept of Geology-Oberlin College Oberlin OH 44074
(440) 775-8346

 "When you get on the wrong train.... every stop is the wrong stop"
 Benjamin Stein: "Ludes, A Ballad of the Drug and the Dream"


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