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Trachycardium egmontianum (Shuttleworth, 1856) Florida Pricklycockle |
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Cedar Key, Florida (About 32 mm.) |
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The Florida Pricklycockle; prickly issues indeed |
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By Harry G. Lee |
| In the 1990's a nomenclatorial cloud arose over the proper identity
of Cardium mindanense Reeve, 1844 and thus the validity of
C. egmontianum Shuttleworth, 1856, by which name we have come to
know the Florida Pricklycockle. There were two different type
designations, each providing the former species with a
different identity. Reeve based his description on three syntypes,
only one (the one Reeve illustrated!) of which was the The Florida
Pricklycockle; the other two represent an Indo-Pacific species. With considerable help from Dick Petit, I decided that this conundrum required the application of the plenary powers of the International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN), so we presented a petition, which was published on March 31, 2007. Petition This is a seldom-needed but nonetheless vital example of how "due process" operates in the taxonomic nomenclature of animals. The ICZN ruled favorably on the petition in June, 2008. Opinion
ICZN, 2008. OPINION 2197 (Case 3341) Cardium egmontianum
Shuttleworth, 1856 (currently Trachycardium |
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