ICZN and new publications formats

[Doug Yanega]

Chris Thompson wrote:

>Under the code, these names, if not published elsewhere in an
>available format, are nomina nuda. They should simply be listed as such in
>future publications.

but Hendrik Segers wrote:

>Such names (if not published separately in a conventional way, of course)
>are to be considered unpublished. The names proposed in the website aren't
>even nomina nuda, which are *published* names that do not conform to
>requirements set in the code.

So we have two differing opinions - myself, I had understood the
latter to be the correct principle, but was unsure of how web
"publications" were treated by the pre-2000 version of the ICZN (I
recall some confusion surrounding some new Cryptocercus species
proposed in a web publication, which were later "validated" by
publication in Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society). IF we
accept Chris' claim that they are nomina nuda, wouldn't that imply
that they were validly published? If so, if we further suppose that
Myles designated type species and type specimens for these genera,
that they would have been accepted - which is precisely the sort of
situation that arose with those Cryptocercus? SO...what is the status
of those Cryptocercus names? Is the original date of publication the
webpage, or the hardcopy?

Another detail - if we go with Chris' claim that they should be cited
in future publications, how do we know which date to assign? There's
no indication that all of these new genera were in the 1996 version
of the page, so some may only have been added in 1998, but there's no
way to tell. So would one list it as, say, "Dendrotermopsis Myles
1996 (1998) Nom. Nud."??

Definitely a mess.

Peace,
--

Doug Yanega        Dept. of Entomology         Entomology Research Museum
Univ. of California - Riverside, Riverside, CA 92521
phone: (909) 787-4315 (standard disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
            http://entmuseum9.ucr.edu/staff/yanega.html
   "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
         is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82