Linda,

>Why should I give up my paratype of a recently named species, when the
> person who gave/sold them to the dealer was the museum professional who
> described the species?

I don't condone the sale of any type material. If it was up to me, all of
it would be deposited in institutions that were able to care for it and
make it available to those who needed to study it. Having said that, I am
less concerned about paratype being in private collections. Holotypes
should be in institutional collections and I feel this should be an ICZN
regulation.

At the Carnegie there is one lot of a unionid. There is the holotype and
about 200 paratypes. In addition dozens of paratypes were sent to other
institutions when this taxon was named. Thus you can see that the
scientific impact of a few paratypes being in private hands would have
little impact.

On the other have, I am currently working on two other taxa that I believe
are underscribed. One is a single specimen. I have been working on this
one for 17 years! I am still reviewing the literature to make sure that it
has not been described. I'm getting close to finally submitting the paper.
The other taxon was one that for which I had a single specimen. I recently
received 3 more specimens. All of the specimens of these two taxa will be
deposited in the Carnegie's collection. There are too few to keep in
private hands.

Regards,
Charlie
.................................................
Research Associate - Section of Mollusks
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Pittsburgh, PA, USA

Assistant Professor - Family Medicine
Fellow-American Academy of Family Practice
Fellow-Academy of Wilderness Medicine

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