Dear Nora & others,
 
Using your specific exapmple, it gets even more confusing. Acmaea pelta was
renamed Collisella pelta. Currently, as of 1981 I believe, all Collisella on
the West Coast of NA are now in the genera Lottia and Tectura. Yours is
officially Lottia pelta (Rathke, 1833). What has occurred with your
Collisella/Acmaea is a complete revision of the Patellogastropod family
Acmaeidae.
 
A subgenus generally does not become elevated to generic status unless it
can be demonstrated that the differences are great enough to warrant generic
status. I also have seen subgenera just "start" being genera, seemingly
without official publication of the change. Another confusing thig I see is
the current generic name followed by the "classic" generic name in
parentheses. I believe that this happens because of confusion concerning the
use of subgeneric names, ie people imitaing what they think they've seen
before in scientific publications (I am not implying that this is the case
in Abbott's book, I know he knew better. I see this quite often in articles
submitted to Of Sea & Shore magazine).
 
When labelling a specimen, it is a good idea to put as much info as
possible, this includes subgenera as it is best known. When citing a
species, I prefer to go the conservative route and leave out subgenus. In
the process of writing my book, I had to address the question of current and
recognized subgeneric names many times. Take care- Aaron
 
 
 
Aaron Baldwin
Juneau, Alaska
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"When I die, I want to go quietly, like my
grandfather did, in his sleep. Not screaming,
like the passengers in his car."