Gordon Paterson writes:
> ...in marine systems species tend to be widespread and variable in
> occurrence in time and space so the type locality has less relevance.
Widespread or ill-diagnosed? For polychaetes the evidence is the latter is
often the case. In which case type locality might be crucial.
> ... A further point about type localities is that if you nominate
> syntypes, instead of a holotype, from a across the biogeographic range it
> gets away from the problems of fixating on a type locality.
Correct me if I've overlooked something but that appears to be frowned upon in
ICZN-3. "Recommendation 73A. An author who establishes a new nominal
species-group taxon should clearly designate its *holotype*." In addition any
author can subsequently designate one of those biogeographical syntypes as the
lectotype with a type locality.
There is a lovely subsection on type localities which is apropos on
wandering polychaetes though it might be stretching the intention were it
applied to an established colonising species:
"If captured or collected after being transported by boat, ... , the type
locality is the place from which the name-bearing type, or its wild
progenitor, began its unnatural journey."
Geoff
--
Geoff Read <gread at actrix.gen.nz>
Annelida resources => http://www.actrix.gen.nz/users/chaeto/index.html
