Taxacom: nomen nudum and synonymy question

Fri Jan 27 11:03:46 CST 2023

Thank you to everyone who responded and helped clarify the situation. First
clarification is that the name in question is not a nomen nudum as it was
described in the first published article of that year.

Second question I would like to clarify here is that since the name is
designated an aberration, it does not fall within the Code - that it is
'unavailable' as a taxon within the code. I am fine with that, but if such
a name is 'unavailable', does this mean that one does not recognize the
name as a 'synonym'? For example, Nielsen et al (2000) list of
Hepialdiae include many infrasubspecies names under the applicable species
names. Should that not have done that? Or can one list infrasubspecies
names, but not treat them as synonyms? Could I list them as 'unavailable'?

This question arises as I finalize a revised Hepialidae catalog, and had
followed Nielsen et al in listing infrasubspecies name. In the current list
I include information on type locality and type depository only for species
and subspecies names (when known). For infrasubspecies names I have just
noted the locality (i.e. not as a type locality), and collection depository
(but, again, not as a type collection).

Thanks,

John Grehan

On Fri, Jan 27, 2023 at 10:58 AM Douglas Yanega via Taxacom <
taxacom at lists.ku.edu> wrote:

> On 1/26/23 7:51 PM, John Grehan via Taxacom wrote:
> > Dear colleagues,
> >
> >    Krulikowsky 1908 (ref below)  listed under the species name Hepialus
> > hectus, a subspecific name as ''ab. [aberration] male decorata Krul. K. 1
> > Ex'
> >
> > Nielsen et al (2000) in their world catalog of Hepialidae, listed
> decorata
> > under Phymatopus hecta as a junior synonym, but also as a nomen nudum.
> > Would I be correct to understand that if the name 'decorata' is a nomen
> > nudum (having no description or illustration), then it cannot be listed
> as
> > a synonym since there is no way to know if it were really a form of
> > Phymatopus hecta or even of any other Hepialidae? (and that's assuming
> the
> > individual were competent at least to recognize whether a moth was a
> > hepialid or not.
>
> While names without descriptions are nomina nuda, not all nomina nuda
> are names without descriptions.
>
> The Code defines a nomen nudum as follows:
>
> A Latin term referring to a name that, if published before 1931, fails
> to conform toArticle 12
> <
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcode.iczn.org%2Fchapter-4-criteria-of-availability%2Farticle-12-names-published-before-1931%2F&data=05%7C01%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C4346f617278b42a76f9d08db00888ba2%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638104358700129763%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ymOB4BP9wZJBUdheGcZDuBnunWB5Lr3NfbB%2BLA0WA0U%3D&reserved=0>;
>
> or, if published after 1930, fails to conform toArticle 13
> <
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcode.iczn.org%2Fchapter-4-criteria-of-availability%2Farticle-13-names-published-after-1930%2F&data=05%7C01%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C4346f617278b42a76f9d08db00888ba2%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638104358700285998%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=d%2Ft0aO4zIgXrqELvOjibgTb9Exs2AsjYwlZcDl6a7%2Fg%3D&reserved=0
> >.
>
> There are *many* ways a name can fail to conform to these Articles.
>
> I will note, however, that ALL names published as "ab." (aberration) or
> "m." (morph) are *permanently unavailable* under a different Article of
> the Code, namely Art. 45.6.2:
>
> 45.6.2. it is deemed to be infrasubspecific if its author used one of
> the terms "aberration", "ab." or "morph";
>
> All infrasubspecific names are unavailable, at least from their original
> publication:
>
> 45.5.*Infrasubspecific names*
>
> A name expressly proposed to denote an infrasubspecific entity (see
> Glossary) is not an available name unless the provisions ofArticle 45.6
> <
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcode.iczn.org%2Fspecies-group-nominal-taxa-and-their-names%2Farticle-45-the-species-group%2F%23art-45-6&data=05%7C01%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C4346f617278b42a76f9d08db00888ba2%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638104358700285998%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=1n6DGZYvptUacRC5j9ik%2FU9ebtzK061XUMuWQXFqIcU%3D&reserved=0>specify
>
> otherwise; it is excluded from the species group and is not regulated by
> the Code [Art. 1.3.4
> <
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fcode.iczn.org%2Fzoological-nomenclature%2Farticle-1-definition-and-scope%2F%23art-1-3&data=05%7C01%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C4346f617278b42a76f9d08db00888ba2%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638104358700285998%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=Uj6FRULjCypCKSNXMNobkewjMTd%2BGGFkuLzB0P4jVPI%3D&reserved=0
> >].
>
> An infrasubspecific name does not intrinsically violate either Article
> 12 or 13, so it is possible that Nielsen incorrectly called the name a
> nomen nudum, and should instead have said only that it was unavailable.
>
> Peace,
>
> --
> Doug Yanega      Dept. of Entomology       Entomology Research Museum
> Univ. of California, Riverside, CA 92521-0314     skype: dyanega
> phone: (951) 827-4315 (disclaimer: opinions are mine, not UCR's)
>
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffaculty.ucr.edu%2F~heraty%2Fyanega.html&data=05%7C01%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C4346f617278b42a76f9d08db00888ba2%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638104358700285998%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=xvlgdZeniFHYsMOF5Uwml62pgmOSTMtV9prm2xT%2FDSY%3D&reserved=0
>    "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness
>          is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82
> _______________________________________________
> Taxacom Mailing List
>
> Send Taxacom mailing list submissions to: taxacom at lists.ku.edu
> For list information; to subscribe or unsubscribe, visit:
> https://lists.ku.edu/listinfo/taxacom
> You can reach the person managing the list at: taxacom-owner at lists.ku.edu
> The Taxacom email archive back to 1992 can be searched at:
> https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ftaxacom.markmail.org%2F&data=05%7C01%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C4346f617278b42a76f9d08db00888ba2%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638104358700285998%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=aUzNlx4eQDHnf2iI3jDzbFlKj8AHcc4%2BzSP97wwTuOw%3D&reserved=0
>
> Nurturing nuance while assailing ambiguity and admiring alliteration for
> about 36 years, 1987-2023
>

-- 
https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fhepialidsoftheworld.com.au%2F&data=05%7C01%7Ctaxacom%40lists.ku.edu%7C4346f617278b42a76f9d08db00888ba2%7C3c176536afe643f5b96636feabbe3c1a%7C0%7C0%7C638104358700285998%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ULV29nM%2BT%2FIv4sil4WYn6w4YqYMkw1DCd9k4Lo1e9us%3D&reserved=0 (use the 'visit archived web site'
link, then the 'Ghost Moth Research page' link.