[Taxacom] Quick question regarding formation of some family names in botany

[Tony Rees]

Of course the second instance of "Dinophysaceae" in my message above should
read "Dinophysiaceae", sorry...
<https://about.me/TonyRees>
Regards - Tony


On Tue, 9 Feb 2021 at 05:49, Tony Rees <tonyrees49 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Dear Taxacomers,
>
> I have come across the following issue and believe the answer lies in the
> relevant nomenclatural Code (ICNafp), but need some expert guidance since
> my latin is not so good...
>
> The question concerns the correct formation of family names (and above)
> based on genus names ending in -physis (examples in dinoflagellates,
> treated under the botanical Code for this purpose: Oxyphysis, Dinophysis)
> for which both types of derived family names have been used in the
> literature, without or with the final "i", namely  Oxyphysaceae /
> Oxyphysiaceae,  Dinophysaceae / Dinophysaceae. The same applies to names of
> higher rank based on such genera, e.g. Dinophysales / Dinophysiales, etc.
>
> The relevant Article of the current ICNafp states:
>
> "*18.1.* The name of a family is a plural adjective used as a noun; it is
> formed from the genitive singular of a name of an included genus by
> replacing the genitive singular inflection (Latin *‑**ae,* *‑**i,* *‑*
> *us,* *‑**is;* transcribed Greek *‑**ou, **‑**os,* *‑**es,* *‑**as,* or
> *‑**ous,* and its equivalent *‑**eos*) with the termination *‑**aceae* (but
> see Art. 18.5
> <https://www.iapt-taxon.org/nomen/pages/main/art_18.html#Art18.5>). For
> generic names of non-classical origin, when analogy with classical names is
> insufficient to determine the genitive singular, *‑**aceae* is added to
> the full word. Likewise, when formation from the genitive singular of a
> generic name results in a homonym, *‑**aceae* may be added to the
> nominative singular. For generic names with alternative genitives the one
> implicitly used by the original author must be maintained, except that the
> genitive of names ending in *‑**opsis* is always *‑**opsidis*."
>
> So I get the feeling that versions without the included "i" would be
> correct in this instance (Oxyphysaceae, Dinophysaceae) but would welcome
> confirmation from others who are more expert in this area than I.
>
> Regards - Tony
> Tony Rees, New South Wales, Australia
> https://about.me/TonyRees
> www.irmng.org
>