> I think the starting point should be Arcopagia T. Brown, 1827: type species
> Tellina crassa Pennant, 1777  by subsequent designation of Herrmannsen
> (1846: 76) from the Recent of Europe. Various authorities analyze the origin
> to be "arcos" (arc, bow) and pagios" (firm, solid) = "firm arch" or "firm
> bow." Considering that the type species is quite firm (thick; as in crassa)
> and bowed or arched (tumid) compared to its then-known congeners, the name
> seems apt enough.

Although this is quite plausible, it should be remembered that many
original publications lack etymologies, and many authors were either
creative or poor spellers in their use of Latin.  Herrmannsen gave
etymologies for many names that were not given in the original
publication, and so must be regarded as his guess rather than
definitive.  This becomes important when you are trying to figure out
the gender or the stem of a genus.  An example discussed a while back
on Conch-L is Pleurocera Rafinesque.  If we knew that he intended to
derive -cera from ceras, a horn, then the family would be
Pleuroceratidae.  However, Rafinesque's use of Latin was not strictly
grammatical (e.g., later authors such as Herrmannsen and Agassiz often
"corrected" his genera, not legal under present rules), so we can't
guarantee what he might have had in mind, and the family name becomes
Pleuroceridae.


--
Dr. David Campbell
The Paleontological Research Institution
1259 Trumansburg Road
Ithaca NY 14850

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