Bairdia attenuata Brady, 1880

Maddocks, Rosalie F., 2013, New and poorly known species of Neonesidea (Bairdiidae, Ostracoda, Crustacea) from French Frigate Shoals, the Hawaiian Islands, Zootaxa 3608 (6), pp. 457-510 : 462-464

Bairdia attenuata Brady, 1880

History: Brady (1880) described B. attenuata from off Honolulu and from Challenger Station 185 in the Torres Strait (11o35'25"S, 144o02'0"E, 135 fathoms) ( Fig. 3 ). His drawings show a sinuously arched, moderately inflated carapace with a distinctly punctate surface, but the provenance of the illustrated specimen was not mentioned.

Chapman (1902) reported B. attenuata from Funafuti but did not illustrate it. Reports by Fyan (1916, in synonymy of Nesidea molengraaffi Fyan , late Pliocene, Timor) and Egger (1901, west coast of Africa) probably apply to other species.

Holden (1967) reported B. attenuata living and fossil in the Hawaiian Islands. His figures of the LV lateral outline show a more sinuous dorsal margin, with an indistinct anterodorsal concavity and a distinctly concave posterodorsal segment above a narrowly produced, up-swung caudal process. Holden concluded (p. 14) that Brady's illustrations apply to a specimen with "a more upturned posterior and anterior" from another locality, not from Honolulu. Holden (1976) did not report the species from Midway.

Puri & Hulings (1976) selected the lectotype from the Torres Strait station. Their figures show an abraded, featureless RV, which is high-arched and angulate in lateral outline, with a more broadly rounded, less produced, less caudate posterior end than Holden's or Brady's figures, and an AMSP that is compatible with Neonesidea . [Having seen the scar of this specimen in 1967, Maddocks (1969) speculated that the species might be assignable to Neonesidea .] It is likely that their selection of this lectotype specimen, which is obviously not the specimen illustrated by Brady, transferred the name to a different species. Study of a topotype population may be required for a diagnosis of this Torres Strait species.

McKenzie and Pickett (1984) listed Paranesidea cf. attenuata (Brady) in several cores of the late Pleistocene of New South Wales, Australia, without discussion. Their illustrations show a uniformly punctate surface and a symmetrical, less sinuous and less caudate outline. The dimensions ( Fig. 3 ) agree with those of Brady.

Mostafawi (1992) reported " Bairdia cf. attenuata " from the Sunda Shelf, commenting that the outline was like the Torres Strait species, but that the surface was finely punctate except in the median region. His illustrated specimen is similar to Brady's, but not as high relative to length, and has a less sinuous dorsal outline. The dimensions ( Fig. 3 ) agree with those of Brady but are smaller than those of Puri & Hulings (1976).

Whatley et al. (1996, p. 6–7, pl. 1, fig. 1, pl. 7, figs. 1, 2, from Lee Point on Shoal Bay, Northern Australia) reclassified Brady's nominal species into Bairdoppilata :

"A bairdiacean species with a puntate [sic] surface ornament more typical of Paranesidea species but possessing 'auxillary [sic] dentition'. The specimens illustrated here are almost identitical [sic] to the original illustration of Bairdia attenuata Brady, 1880 . However, the illustration of the lectotype specimen designated for B. attenuata by Puri and Hullings [sic], 1976 cannot be confidently equated with Brady's (1880) original illustrations."

Here, Whatley et al. apparently intended to suggest that the lectotype designation should be set aside or ignored. Unfortunately, this is not possible under the Rules, even though the lectotype specimen may belong to a different species. The passage concluded:

"A nomina nuda species from Florida, described by Puri, of specimens illustrated by McKenzie and Pickett (1984) as Paranesidea attenuata (Brady) were not shown or described, making the synonymy with specimens illustrated here tentative."

No species is described by this name from Florida. Any nomen nudum is unavailable under the Rules and must be ignored.

Whatley et al. (1996) did not mention Holden or evaluate the record from Hawaii. They illustrated a densely punctate RV with a sinuous dorsal outline and slightly caudate posterior.

Conclusions: The lectotype designation by Puri & Hulings (1976) governs the application of this name. It transferred Brady's name to a third, poorly defined species.

The original species, illustrated by Brady (1880) from the Torres Strait and now reclassified in Bairdoppilata , requires a new specific name. It lives in Indonesian and North Australian waters, although its variability and geographic range are not well delineated. It includes the records by Mostafawi (1992), Whatley et al. (1996), and perhaps also McKenzie & Pickett (1984).

Brady's (1880) Hawaiian record probably applies to a second, similar but slightly larger species, which was redescribed and illustrated under the name Bairdia attenuata by Holden (1967). It requires a new name.

The soft parts of all three of these species are unknown. Figure 3 displays their relative size relationships.

Figures

FIGURE 3. L – H scatter plot for Indo-Pacific records of Bairdia attenuata Brady, 1880.