On unavailable genus-group names introduced by Tom Iredale for Australian non-marine gastropods: nomenclatural clarifications and descriptions of new genera

ABSTRACT

Among non-marine genus-group names of Australian Gastropoda established by Tom Iredale (1880–1972), 42 were introduced without a description, and are thus unavailable under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Several of these names were made available, often inadvertently, in subsequent literature, but others have remained unavailable. We clarify the nomenclatural availability of all 32 originally unavailable names, the nomenclatural availability of which was not subsequently properly assessed. Most notably, the names Arnemelassa, Figuladra, Malandena, Meridolum, Nannochloritis, and Turrisitala continue to be used in taxonomic literature to this day, although they are unavailable. Where no other available name can be applied, these genera are herein described as new (Arnemelassa n. gen., Figuladra n. gen., and Nannochloritis n. gen.) to stabilise the nomenclature of Australian non-marine gastropods.

Publication LSID: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:E0FE996A-E52D-4DF4-B5E0-95FA399B9BC2

KEYWORDS:

• Nomenclature
• taxonomy
• Gastropoda
• freshwater
• terrestrial

Acknowledgements

We thank Jean-Pierre Rocroi who, between 1985 and 2015, compiled the nomenclator of molluscan supraspecific names that formed the backbone of the present paper, and Gary Rosenberg for nomenclatural advice on several critical issues. We gratefully acknowledge the efforts of Bruce Marshall and two anonymous reviewers as well as the Editor-in-Chief, Don Colgan, for providing valuable feedback on the manuscript. Their comments were instrumental in improving the clarity and objectivity of this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

ORCID

Frank Köhler http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7150-6509

Philippe Bouchet http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5864-8676