Dear Constantine et al.,
 
Among the Mediterranean species Linnaeus named is the recently-featured and
arguably mislocalized Patella (now Crepidula) fornicata.  I posted this
notice to ConchL a while back:
 
"Linnaeus (1758; species 658) cited "ad Ilvam insulam" as the "habitat" for
his Patella fornicata.  That means the yet-to-be-infamous Mediterranean
island of Elba.  He may have been wrong; three pages earlier he placed his
species 639, Nerita peloronta "in O. Asiae ad Bandam," which is in modern-day
Indonesia.  We now know N. p. from St. Augustine, Florida (C. W. Johnson
1890; 1919; no longer present by personal observations) to Brasil (according
to numerous authorities, but not Rios, 1995).  So you see, information was
sometimes wrong 240 years ago and today is a bit closer to accurate and
precise, paradigms which biology may not fully yield to us."
 
I guess the message is that the master was at the mercy of his collectors,
and, although he created very, very few synonyms, his zoogeography can often
be impugned - like that of any naturalist who followed in his (binominal)
footsteps.
 
Harry
 
 
At 06:37 PM 2/25/99 +0100, you wrote:
>Dear All,
>
>There are 166 species described by Linnaues from the Mediterranean sea
>(fide my database). most 144, were described in 1758 and a few others,
>22 in 1767.
>
>Constantine Mifsud,
>
>Malta, Europe.
>
Harry G. Lee
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