A good check for up to date nomenclature of Western Atlantic species is Gary Rosenbergs web site:  http://erato.acnatsci.org/wasp/search.php/4762

Allen Aigen
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-- bivalve <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
It's important to keep separate the issues of nomenclatural versus biological appropriateness of subspecies.  A subspecies name can be an official scientific name, based on the ICZN rules.  Varieties, etc. proposed after the rule was established cannot be official scientific names.

On the other hand, there is the question of whether subspecies are a biologically meaningful concept.  Someone who does not think so will either synonymize or elevate subspecies names to species.  Organisms are much more variable than any system of names, so there will be cases that seem to make subspecies an appealing option and cases where subspecies seem to be a bad idea.

A similar issue comes from subjective synonyms.  If two people independently name a species based on different specimens from the same population, everyone may agree that the second name is biologically superfluous.  However, it is a validly proposed name.

    Dr. David Campbell
    Old Seashells
    University of Alabama
    Biodiversity & Systematics
    Dept. Biological Sciences
    Box 870345
    Tuscaloosa, AL  35487-0345 USA
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That is Uncle Joe, taken in the masonic regalia of a Grand Exalted Periwinkle of the Mystic Order of Whelks-P.G. Wodehouse, Romance at Droitgate Spa