Notes in opisthobranchia (Mollusca, gastropoda) 8. On the interpretation of the Code and the sysnonymies of Spurilla onubensis Carmona, Lei, Pola, Gosliner, Valdés & Cervera, 2014 and Berghia dakariensis Pruvot-Fol, 1953 (Mollusca: Nudibranchia: aeolidida)

              Rev. Acad. Canar. Cienc., Vol. XXVI, 293-297 (diciembre de 2014)
NOTES IN OPISTHOBRANCHIA (MOLLUSCA, GASTROPODA) 8.
On the interpretation of the Code and the synonymies of
Spurilla onubensis Carmona, Lei, Pola, Gosliner, Valdes & Cervera,
2014 and Berghia dakariensis Pruvot-Fol, 1953
(Mollusca: Nudibranchia: Aeolidida)
'Ortea, J. & 23 Caballer, M.
1 Departamento BOS, Zoologia, Universidad de Oviedo. Oviedo, Espaiia
: Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 55 rue de Buffon, 75005 Paris, Francia
3 Centro de Oceanologia y Estudios Antarticos
Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Cientificas. Ctra. Panamericana Km 1 1, Miranda, Venezuela.
* Corresponding author: manuelcaballergutieiTez@hotmail.com
ABSTRACT
Spurilla onubensis Carmona, Lei, Pola, Gosliner, Valdes & Cervera, 2014, from Spain
and Morocco, is proposed to be a junior synonym of Spurilla croisicensis Labbe, 1923 (Type
locality: Croisic, France), due to their identical external anatomy, coloration and radula.
Berghia dakariensis (Pruvot-Fol, 1953), recently redescribed from Senegal and posteriorly
considered synonymous to Berghia benteva (Er. Marcus, 1958) is reinstated based on the Prin-ciple
of Priority established in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.
Key words: Opisthobranchia, systematics, Atlantic, amphiatlantic, reinstatement,
ICZN, Principle of Priority, Spurilla , Berghia.
RESUMEN
Se propone la sinonimia de Spurilla onubensis Carmona, Lei, Pola, Gosliner, Valdes
& Cervera, 2014, descrita a partir de animales del sur de Espana y de Marruecos, con Spuri-lla
croisicensis Labbe, 1923 (Localidad tipo: Croisic, Francia) con la misma arquitectura cor-poral,
coloracion y radula. En base a la ley de prioridad establecido en el Codigo Internacional
de Nomendatura Zoologica, se reinstaura la validez de Berghia dakariensis (Pruvot-Fol,
1953), recientemente redescrita en Senegal y posteriormente pasada a la sinonimia con Ber-ghia
benteva.
Palabras clave: Opisthobranchia, sistematica, Atlantico, anfiatlantico, restableci-miento,
ICZN, ley de prioridad, Spurilla , sinonimos.
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INTRODUCTION
Spurilla crosiciensis (Labbe, 1923) is a big, peach-red colored, aeolidacea that inhab-its
the Atlantic coasts of France. This species was very well described by LABBE (1923a;
1923b; 1923c, 1930, 1932), and has been considered by other specialists in the Family Aeo-lidiidae
Gray, 1827 or as a model for histology (HENNEGUY, 1925; NAVILLE, 1926;
ROUSSEAU, 1927, ROUSSEAU, 1931; ROUSSEAU, 1934; ROUSSEAU, 1935;
ROUSSEAU, 1936; TARDY, 1969; NORDSIECK, 1972; WAGELE & JOHNSEN, 2001).
PRUVOT-FOL (1954) give a detailed description on the species but points out the possibil-ity
that S. croisicensis may by a variety of Aeolidiel/a glauca (Alder & Hancock, 1 845). Pos-teriorly,
CARMONA, LEI, POLA, GOSLINER, VALDES & CERVERA (2014a) tackle a
deep review of the genus Spurilla Bergh, 1 864, and describe Spurilla onubensis Carmona,
Lei, Pola, Gosliner, Valdes & Cervera, 2014 from Spain and Morocco, in base to specimens
that fit perfectly in the original description of S. croisicensis.
Spurilla dakariensis Pruvot-Fol, 1953 has been redescribed by CABALLER &
ORTEA (2013) in base to one specimen from Senegal, which was deposited as neotype in
the Museum national d’Histoire naturelle in Paris (MNHN). This species was transferred to
the genus Berghia Trinchese, 1877 and compared to Berghia benteva (Er. Marcus, 1958), a
junior synonym. CARMONA, POLA, GOSLINER & CERVERA (20 1 4a) in their revision of
Berghia consider 10 valid species in the world, one of them B. benteva, with B. dakariensis
on the list of synonymies.
This systematic note, the eighth published in the series, tackles the reinstatement of the
names S. crosiciensis and B. dakariensis supported by the Principle of Priority (ICZN, 1 999).
SYSTEMATICS
Family Aeolidiidae Gray, 1827
Genus Spurilla Bergh, 1 864
Spurilla crosiciensis (Labbe, 1923)
Aeolidiella croisicensis Labbe, 1923a: Bulletin de la Societe des Sciences Naturclles de FOuest de la
France, Proces Verbaux, series 4, 3: 9. Type locality: Croisic, France.
Synonymy: Spurilla onubensis Carmona, Lei, Pola, Gosliner, Valdes & Cervera, 2014a.
Description: See LABBE (1923a; 1923b; 1923c, 1930, 1932).
Genus Berghia Trinchese, 1 877
Berghia dakariensis (Pruvot-Fol, 1953)
Spurilla dakariensis Pruvot-Fol, 1953: Travaux de I’Institut Scientifique Cherifien 5. Neotype: 35 mm
long alive (15 mm preserved), deposited in MNHN. Type locality: Wreck “La Russe” (14°38.1’N
17°18.9’W), Goree Bay, Dakar, Senegal, 17 m deep.
Synonymy: Baeolidia benteva Marcus 1958.
Description: See CABALLER & ORTEA (2013).
294
DISCUSSION
The opisthobranch fauna from Croisic has been studied by LABBE (1923), who de-scribed
5 new species from this french station, one of them Spurilla croisiciensis. This species
reaches up to 30 mm long, with the body “garance” red, pinkish foot, apex of the cerata and
rhinophores white, rhinophores with transversal folds, smooth jaws and 16 radular plates with
24-26 denticles on each side. Several years later LABBE (1930) gave complementary data on
S. croisicensis, which has red rhinophores folded transversally, 14-15 rows of cerata (7-8
arches) and an anterior collar composed of small cerata, similar to that ofAeolidiella glauca,
but with the same color as the rest. Additionally, he illustrated the radular tooth of S. croisi-censis
, with 36-40 lateral denticles, identical to the one figured by CARMONA et al. (2014a:
Fig. 6 B). JUST & EDMUND (1985), in their effort to recover the unpublished work of Lem-che,
do not consider the papers of LABBE (1923a; 1930), and illustrate as Spurilla sp. A
(JUST & EDMUND, 1985: Plate 68) one specimen from Arcachon (France) collected and
sketched by Lemche in 1 969. CARMONA et al. (20 1 4a) identify Spurilla sp. A with Spurilla
onubensis given that they have “
exactly the same color pattern”, which they consider typical,
but this pattern also matches perfectly with the description of LABBE (1923a; 1930). Due to
the coincidence in the distribution, the external morphology, the color pattern and the radular
morphology among other characters, we propose the synonymy of S. onubensis with S. croisi-censis
, the oldest name, applying the Principle of Priority established in the Code (Interna-tional
Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1999: Glossary):
“ The principle that the
valid name ofa taxon is the oldest available name applied to it (taking into consideration the
other provisions ofArticle 23), provided that the name is not invalidated by any provision of
the Code or by any ruling by the Commission [Art. 23/”.
CARMONA et al. (2014) necessarily ought to know the paper of LABBE (1923a),
because it appeared in the reference list of another paper published in 2014 by 4 of the authors
(CARMONA, POLA, GOSLINER & CERVERA, 2014b) about the genus Berghia. In addi-tion,
Spurilla margaritae Labbe, 1923, another of the 5 species from Croisic described by
LABBE (1923a) together with S. croisicensis, was included in the list of synonymies of
Berghia verrucicornis (Costa, 1 867). The omission of old species such as S. croisicensis is in-explicable,
far more in the context of the global review of the genus as the one tackled by
CARMONA etal. (2014a).
Berghia dakariensis was described by PRUVOT-FOL (1953) in base to some speci-mens
collected in Dakar, Senegal. The description of the species was certainly not exhaustive,
but was enough to identify B. dakariensis if new material was found in the type locality. Thus,
CABALLER & ORTEA (2013) using one specimen from Dakar, redescribed the species and
designated a neotype (deposited in MNHN). Their description included a color plate, some
schemes on the internal anatomy and was detailed enough ensure the recognition of the spec-imen
designated as neotype and to identify a new junior synonym to the species, Berghia ben-teva.
Contemporaneously, CARMONA, POLA, GOSLINER & CERVERA (2013) published
a revision of the Aeolidiidae in which they consider Spurilla dakariensis nomen dubium, since
they were not able to identify the species with their material from Huelva (Spain) and Agadir
(Morocco), which actually belonged to an undescribed taxa (,Spurilla sp. A), that was poste-riorly
described as Spurilla onubensis by CARMONA et al. (2014a). CARMONA et al.
(2014b) besides the redescription of B. dakariensis (CABALLER & ORTEA, 2013), insisted
on considering it a nomen dubium, even when it had been identified beyond doubt and ig-noring
the NOMENCLATURAL ACT of the establishment of a neotype for the species, sup-
295
ported by the Code (ICZN, 1999: Art 75). This authors (Carmona et al., 2014b) argued again
that PRUVOT-FOL (1953) “did not provide any information about the external coloration of
the animal the ornamentation ofthe rhinophores or the arrangement of the cerata, only point-ing
out the large size ofthe species and the shape ofthejaw and radular teeth“, and repeated
that “some forms o/ Spurilla neapolitana, Spurilla sp. A and Spurilla braziliana could be at-tributed
to Spurilla dakariensis”.
The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN, 1999) is not a penal code,
is code of ethics, a guide for the universal behavior of all those who work in the inventory ot
the Animal Kingdom. The Code do not include penalties against those who try to take species
from others and its boundaries do not go beyond the inviolable framework of the established
order.
We don’t know if CARMONA et al. (2014b) consider invalid the redescription of B.
dakariensis, the neotype (not mentioned in their paper) or the Code (they don’t discuss the sta-tus
of the neotype), but they transfer B. dakariensis to the list of synonymies of B. benteva and
stated that this was probably the only amphiatlantic species in the genus Berghia.
As far as B. dakariensis has been redescribed, a neotype has been designated accord-ingly
to the Code (ICZN, 1 999), and there has not been any proposal of invalidation, we con-sider
again the reinstatement of B. dakariensis as a valid species and the synonymy of B.
benteva under the Principle of Priority (ICZN, 1999).
In recent times, some authors seem to pay no attention to the old names, the contem-porary
literature and in some cases, to the Code (ICZN, 1999), which may be interpreted in
inexplicable ways. This could be due to the increasing dependence on internet, databases, or
papers electronically available, or to the great impact of the molecular biology, which is un-doubtedly
a new and fantastic tool for the Taxonomy but not a goal itself.
Another example of this, may be the absence of Facelina variegata d’Oliveira, 1929
in the list of synonymies of B. verrucicornis (CARMONA et al., 2014b), proposed by
ORTEA, BACALLADO & MORO (2012), which is neither discussed.
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