Synbranchus doeringii Weyenbergh

Stefan Koerber, 2007, Synbranchus doeringii Weyenbergh, 1877, a justified emendation of S. döringii (Pisces: Synbranchidae)., Zootaxa 1509, pp. 68-68 : 68

[[ Synbranchus doeringii Weyenbergh ]]

Weyenbergh in 1877 described Synbranchus doeringii from lakes near Santa Fé, Argentina. Synbranchus doeringii is considered as a synonym of Synbranchus marmoratus , a widespread species occurring throughout Central and South America (Kullander 2003). Synbranchus Doeringii , as spelled in the original description, is frequently listed sub S. doringii by recent authors (e.g. Eschmeyer 1998; Kullander 2003). Eschmeyer emended Doeringii to doringii and additionally said “Species name originally spelled as Doeringii ; if based on a German name the correct spelling would be doeringii ”.

Weyenbergh (1877) published 11 new names of fish species, dedicating four of them to single persons, namely Platystoma luceri , Achirus lorentzii , Synbranchus hieronymi , and Synbranchus doeringii . Information about the etymology of the specific names was provided for three of them and is missing only for Synbranchus doeringii . These three species where dedicated by Weyenbergh to Lucero, Lorentz and Hieronymus, all three colleagues of Weyenbergh at the University of Córdoba.

At the time of finishing the manuscript in October 1876 two brothers, Oscar and Adolfo Döring, were also employed by the Argentinean government to teach and conduct research in the natural sciences department of Córdoba ’s University (Tognetti 2005). They were born in 1844 and 1848 respectively in Neuwaake, Hannover (Tognetti 2005), then a kingdom, today the capital of Germany ’s province of Lower-Saxony. As Weyenbergh explained in his paper, he dedicated three of his new species to honour colleagues; the fourth species too might have been dedicated to one of the Döring brothers, both working with him. There is no doubt that Weyenbergh knew them personally, as a photo taken in 1876 and provided by Podgorny (2001) shows him posing together with both brothers and other members of the Académia Nacional de Ciencias de Córdoba.

The family name Döring originates from the low German dialect spoken in northwestern Germany, including the Hannover area, and means ‘thuringian’ or ‘one from Thuringia’ (Kohlheim 2005), today a german province.

A family name with its origin in the medieval dialect of a German region with a meaning referring to another German region is to be considered a German name.

The specific name Synbranchus doeringii is based on the stem Döring, a family name of German origin, latinized to Döringius. In accordance with articles 19.2., 32.5.2.1. and 33.2.2. of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature 1999) it is hereby emended to Synbranchus doeringii Weyenbergh, 1877 .