Siphonaria stellata ( Helbling, 1779 )

Jenkins, Bruce & Köhler, Frank, 2024, Hidden in plain sight: Systematic review of Indo-West Pacific Siphonariidae uncovers extensive cryptic diversity based on comparative morphology and mitochondrial phylogenetics (Mollusca, Gastropoda), Megataxa 13 (1), pp. 1-217 : 202

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.11646/megataxa.13.1.1
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treatment provided by	Plazi (2025-03-05 09:04:49, last updated by Juliana 2025-03-06 18:13:23)
scientific name	Siphonaria stellata ( Helbling, 1779 )
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Siphonaria stellata ( Helbling, 1779) View in CoL

Patella stellata Helbling 1779: 109 , pl. 1, fig. 11 (without type locality).— Satyamurti 1952: 252, pl. 34, fig. 2a, b.

Siphonaria stellata View in CoL — Martens 1868: 235; Nagabhushanam & Krishnan 1993: 480; White & Dayrat 2012: 68.

Taxonomic remarks. The original description and original figure provide the only indication for the identity of S. stellata ( Helbling, 1779) View in CoL . No type specimen(s) are known to exist. Martens (1868: 235) transferred Patella stellata Helbling, 1779 to Siphonaria View in CoL , indicating that S. exigua Sowerby was the ‘best’ name reversing the priority. This transfer to Siphonaria View in CoL rendered S. stellata Blainville, 1827 as a junior secondary homonym (Art. 57.3; White & Dayrat, 2010: 68). Examination of Helbling’s figure (1779) reveals a shell that resembles specimens from Hawaii (e.g., S. waikoloaensis View in CoL sp. nov., Figs 72D–F; S View in CoL . mauiensis sp. nov., Figs 56G–I) or Mauritius (e.g., S. incerta View in CoL ; Figs 35H–L) and is unlike the shell of S. exigua ( Fig. 3J). The identity of S. stellata is currently unknown and there is no prospect of clarifying its identity based on the original description alone. The use of the name S. stellata (Helbling) for material from the Bay of Bengal in Nagabhushanam & Krishnan (1993: 480) is therefore questionable. We consider this taxon as a nomen dubium.

References

Helbling, G. S. (1779) Beitrage zur Kenntniss neuer und seltener Konchylien. In: Born, I. E. von (Ed.), Abhandlungen einer Privatgesellschaft in Bohmen zur Aufnahme der Mathematik, der vaterlandischen Geschichte und der Naturgeschichte, Band 4. Gerlische Buchhandlung, Prague, pp. 102-131, pls 1 - 4.

Martens, E. von (1868) Malakologische Mittheilungen. IV. Helbling's Namen. Malakozoologische Blatter, 15, 223-253.

Nagabhushanam, A. K. & Krishnan, S. (1993) Observations on the distribution of some of the marine organisms inhabiting the inter-tidal zone along the western continental shelf of the Bay of Bengal, with particular reference to the Tamil Nadu coastal strip. Records of the Zoological Survey of India 93 (3-4), 449 - 490. https://doi.org/10.26515/rzsi/v93/i3-4/1993/160851

Satyamurti, S. T. (1952) The Mollusca of Krusadai Island. I. Amphineura & Gastropoda. Bulletin of the Madras Government Museum, 1 (2), pl. 6.

White, T. R. & Dayrat, B. (2012) Checklist of genus- and species-group names of false limpets Siphonaria (Mollusca: Gastropoda: Euthyneura). Zootaxa, 3538 (1), 54-78. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3538.1.2