Douglas Nolen Shelton wrote:
>
> I have a question for the taxonomists:
>         In regard to Scaphella gouldiana vs. Scaphella dorhni, which is
> correct.  There seems to be no doubt they are the same species.   S. gouldiana
> is the earlier name and as such one would think should take precedence.   S.
> dorhni was described several years later and I would expect to be a synonym of
> S. gouldiana.  (Weaver & du Pont, 1972) gave S. dorhni precedence, relegating
> S. gouldiana into synonymy.  (Abbott, 1974) gave S. gouldiana precedence,
> relegating S. dorhni into synonymy which would seem proper.  The problem:
> Several more recent publications give S. dorhni precedence.  What is going on
> here?  Was the name S. gouldiana suppressed and I missed that bit of
> information?
>
> Doug Shelton
> Alabama Malacological Research Center
> 2370-G Hillcrest Road #236
> Mobile, AL 36695
HI!
Genus Scaphella Swainson,1832 is perfectly defined but its knowledge is
always very fragmented due to the rather deep sandy-rocky habitat hard
to dredge and impossible to dive. The main problem is what exact
taxonomic rank can be given to so different forms we can point out in
this Genus.
So that,question about S.dohrni (Sowerby III,1903) and S. gouldiana
(Dall,1887) is not a problem of Law of Priority but a true taxonomic
problem.
In 1887, Dall described S. gouldiana,a shell with strong spiral brown
bands and numerous small nodules on the whorl shoulder.
In 1903, Sowerby III described S.dohrni, a taxon misidentified by Dohrn
as S. dubia. This taxon with its constant pattern of spiral rows of
brown dots seems different from  S. gouldiana. However, many authors
have synonymized these two taxa,so that question of priority was asked.
Up to now, no definitive answer can be given. We only can point out that
Genus Scaphella is made by few well-defined species and by several
clusters of more and less well-identified populations without giving a
clear taxonomic status such as full species, subspecies,geographical
forms,ecomorphes, etc.
* Good species are:
1)S. contoyensis Emerson & Old,1979
2)S. dubia dubia (=kieneri,=ethelae) and its  two subspecies : S.dubia
georgiana and S.dubia schmitti.
3)S. evelina Bayer,1971
4)S. juniona (Lamarck,1804) and its two geographical forms: johnstonae
and butleri.
5)S.macginnorum Garcia & Emerson,1987
* Species complexes, lead by a good species but gathering likely several
good subspecies and many local forms:
6)S. gouldiana complex with two taxa:The one small uniform pale
colored,the other with strong spiral bands.
7)S.dohrni complex with several either local forms or individual
variation: dohrni dohrni, dohrni florida, dohrni bermudenzi.
8)S. robusta complex with robusta robusta, and local forms: robusta
marionae, robusta cuba.
Some specimens seem to be a link between these complexes and remain open
the question of conspecificity, although not very probable.
* Still dubious species:
9)S. atlantis (Clench,1946)
10)S. neptunia (Clench & aguayo,1940)
Hope it is not too confuse but this Genus is hard to clarify!
All the best,     Pat Bail