Loch Ness monster

[Dimitri Tzotzos]

>
> I read in the popular press that someone coined a scientific name for the
> Loch Ness monster. Is this true? In botany you could not do that without
> a type specimen or at the very least a type illustration. Are the rules
> similar in zoology?
>

A similar situation has arisen here on the West Coast of Canada.
Around Vancouver Island, there have been sightings of a "sea
monster" for decades.  Finally, it has been named, and the name has
been published in a scientific journal.  The name of the creature is
Cadborosaurus willsi.  In this case, a type specimen had been found,
but vanished from the museum after it had been incorrectly identified
as a fetal baleen whale.  Today, three pictures taken of the original
specimen serve as the type.

Dimitri