Helmut Zibrowius writes:-
[quotes from Phyllis Knight-Jones] ...
> "Indonesia and _Sabellastarte_, he selected a jar of very large sabellids
> labelled 'Kuhl, Java'. Examination proved this to be six specimens of
> _Sabella spallanzanii_.
[...]
> Now this Indonesian material is identified, 165 years after it was
> collected, we have reliable records of _Sabella spallanzanii_ from the
> Mediterranean, NW France, Azores, Rio de Janeiro, Java and Australia...."
[then comments]
> I would be less confident in this record. Have come across many
> errors concerning old material, and including the Challenger! But I am
> confident in Jacob van der Land's detective and archeologist work: that
> Kuhl was a medic who traveled to Java around 1820. ...
I enjoyed Phyllis's latest detective story. As an outsider it does seem that
reliable is perhaps too strong a word for the record (Do we have a volunteer
to check it out in Jakarta?). Short of finding Kuhl's diary ("today during
careenage at X collected strange growths") or supporting evidence from other
Kuhl stuff in the museum we'll never know will we? What is the suggested
scenario here anyway? That _S. spallanzanii_ was exported from Europe, or the
reverse, or neither? Reminds me of the similarly uncertain _Ficopomatus
enigmaticus_ situation, to which no doubt someone will apply the appropriate
modern genetic tools eventually.
Geoff
--
Geoff Read <gread at actrix.gen.nz>
Annelida resources => http://www.actrix.gen.nz/users/chaeto/index.html
