Alcedo moluccana Lesson

Jansen, Justin J. F. J., 2017, Rene Mauge's ornithological collections from Kupang Bay, West-Timor, Indonesia, August-November 1801, with special regard to type-specimens, Zoosystematics and Evolution 93 (2), pp. 467-492 : 473

Alcedo moluccana Lesson

Alcedo moluccana Lesson, 1826, Zool. de la Coq. 1: 343 (no locality; the specific epithet suggests Moluccas).

Alcedo atthis bengalensis (Gmelin, 1788). - Now.

Type materials.

HOLOTYPE: MNHN-ZO-2014-417 [MNHN A.C. 3559], adult female, near Kupang Bay, Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara, West-Timor (10°11'0"S; 123°35'0"E), between 22 August and 13 November 1801, by René Maugé.

Pedestal underside: Timor / M. Maugé / Exp. Cap. Baudin / Cte Natte / 3559 / Alcedo Bengalensis / Gm. Pedestal label: Alcedo bengalensis / (Gm.) / M. Maugé Timor.

Comments.

Lesson provided no details on where and how many specimens were examined. Given that he only studied birds in the MNHN (MNHN Laboratory, ZMO-GalOis 2), this is the holotype of the species as it was the only specimen until 1820 (and from the Moluccas), when another specimen collected in ‘Bengale’ by Dussumier was added to the collection. This female was described by Péron ( Muséum d’histoire Naturelle, Le Havre no 79125Bv) as ‘Martin-pêcheur rivière de Timor’. The type locality is erroneous (Moluccas), and therefore corrected and restricted to: West-Timor, near Kupang Bay (article 76a.2.A (ICZN 1999)). Vieillot named this species Alcedo moluccana or 'from the Moluccas’ ( Jobling 2017).