Dear Masachi Yamagu and others,,
it is right which Helmut says: The grammatical termination of the specific
name, if it is an adjective, will be always assign to the gender of the
generic name and should be correct, if a shell will be transferred to
another genus with an another grammatical gender (spinosus, spinosa,
spinosum).
But be careful, the specific name must not always be an adjective even if
looks so. It can also be a noun in the nominativ singular (without flexible
ending) standing in apposition to the generic name and cannot be declined.
Examples: Ocenebra erinaceus (lat. "erinaceus" = hedgehog); Tricolia pullus
(lat. "pullus" = young chicken) - therefore not "Ocenebra erinacea" or
"Tricolia pulla", as one can often find in the literature.
To Donax cuneatus: HENTY DODGE write in his work "A Historical Review of the
Mollusks of Linnaeus" Part 1. The classis Loricata and Pelecypoda, Bulletin
of the American Museum of Natural Hostory, Vol. 100: Article 1, 1952 as
follows:
***Linnaeus treated Donax as a feminine noun, as appears from the adjectival
terminations of his specific names, and his orthography has been generelly
followed. The name, however, is masculine, having been adopted from that of
a fish (Donax) described by Pliny, a name that was also applied to a
"Seascallop". One or two writers have attempted to remedy this grammatical
inconsistency, and in some cases the practice has apparently befuddled
writers to the extent of using masculine and feminine teminations in the
same list. The error, however, should be corrected, and I am here adopting
the masculine terminations except in the headings for the species. This is
predicated on my opinion that Article 19 of the Rules, covering errors of
transcription and similar errors, is overriden by the more basic Article 14
(a) to the effect that adjectives, when used as specific names, must agree
with the generic name.***
In the "Official lists and indexes of names and works in Zoology" 1987
edited by R.v. Melville and J.D.D. Smith, publ. by The International Trust
for Zoological Nomenclature c/o British Museum (Natural History), London,
you can read "cuneatus Donax, Linnaeus 1758, Syst. Nat. (ed. 10) 1:683
(specific name of type species of Latona Schumacher, 1817) (Bivalvia) O.
1057."

With best greetings,
Gert

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