We do indeed have that specimen. It was filed under Olivella fortunei (ANSP and lurking among about a dozen others, but it matches the figure well and was collected by Stearns. It will be passed on to our Type Imaging Project manager for processing, so should be visible on the web shortly. There are several paratype lots too, as the only qualification for that status is that they have been collected by Stearns and seen by Pilsbry.
Paul Callomon
Collection Manager, Malacology, Invertebrate Paleontology and General Invertebrates
Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, Philadelphia
1900 Benjamin Franklin Parkway, Philadelphia PA 19103-1195, USA
[log in to unmask] Tel 215-405-5096 - Fax 215-299-1170
-----Original Message-----
From: Conchologists List [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Ron G. Noseworthy
Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2015 8:44 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: [CONCH-L] Correct Date (Olivella japonica)
Dear Harry,
Thank you so much for your detailed comments on the taxonomy of Olivella japonica and the links that you provided. They are very helpful. I have used Clench and Turners's work on Pilsbry's names and was somewhat surprised when they missed O. japonica. I still have no idea why some researchers use 1910 as the date of publication for this name.
Thanks also for pointing me to this interesting comment on Arthur Adams' descriptive ability. In the Manual of Conchology Pilsbry also includes several rather sarcastic references to the quality of Adams' descriptions.
Perhaps Paul can enlighten us on the possibility that one or more of the "fortunei" specimens at the ANSP may be type material.
All the best from Jeju Island!
Ron
--------------------------------------------
On Sun, 2/8/15, Harry Lee <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Subject: Re: [CONCH-L] Correct Date (Olivella japonica)
To: [log in to unmask]
Received: Sunday, February 8, 2015, 6:04 AM
Dear Ron,
When I first responded I wasn't clear on the authorship of the Catalogue you cited. I now see that it is Pilsbry, and I found the original description of Olivella japonica Pilsbry,
1895:
"Olivella fortunei (Ad.) Marratt [sic; see < https://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0706D&L=CONCH-L&P=R4800&X=6F051FFD71B6701C8F&Y=hglee2%40mindspring.com
>]. PI. II, fig. 11. Thes. Conch., IV, pi. 350, f. 422, 423. Marratt's [sic] figures but poorly represent the magnificent specimens procured by Mr. Stearns. The large dark form shown in the figure may be called var. japonica Stearns."
Now the problem changes a bit: how to deal with the (Frederick, not to be confused with the USNM's Dr. Robert Edward Carter) Stearns attribution? Stearns' participation in this opus was made reasonably clear in the preface (Pilsbry) and introduction (Stearns):
he collected
essentially all the material treated, had published a catalogue of some of the material (Stearns, 1891; no mention of any Olivella therein), and dissociated himself from the scientific aspects of the catalogue (" ... I beg to be considered only as an amateur in conchology, and the public will understand that whatever of scientific merit that this volume possesses, is due to my friend and editor Prof.
H.A. Pilsbry."). It seems that Stearns'
scientific
contribution (NB: he published it) to this work amounted to little more than occasional manuscript communications, e.g., a label. Ergo, to the extent that this taxon is regarded as a species-level taxon (as permitted by the Code), the short version is:
Olivella
japonica Pilsbry, 1895: 23
<
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/77006#page/39/mode/1up>;
pl. 2, fig. 11
<
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/77006#page/215/mode/1up>.
In the interest of fairness, I must report that Higo, Callomon, and Goto
(1999: 271) cite "Stearns in Pilsbry, 1895"
as
attribution for the nominal taxon, so you have a choice.
I haven't been at all tenacious in delving much deeper here, but since Higo, Callomon, and Goto (2001) didn't present a photograph of a primary type of Olivella fortunei var. japonica, I tried to determine the fate of such material. In the ANSP catalogue database < http://clade.ansp.org/malacology/collections/search.php>,
there
are no hits for Olivella japonica, but under O.
fortunei
there are four lots in which Stearns received mention in the chain of ownership of Japanese specimen, two as collector and donor; one as collector only, and one as donor only. Could one or more be type material of our species? Paul C?
Higo, S., P. Callomon, and Y. Goto, 1999. Catalogue and bibliography of the marine shell-bearing mollusca of Japan Gastropoda - Bivalvia - Polyplacophora - Scaphopoda. Elle Publications, Osaka.
pp.
1-749.
Higo, S., P. Callomon, and Y. Goto, 2001. Catalogue and bibliography of the marine shell-bearing mollusca of Japan Gastropoda - Bivalvia - Polyplacophora - Scaphopoda. Type figures. Elle Publications, Osaka.
pp. 1-208, incl. numerous color figures.
Stearns, F., 1891. A list of Mollusca and other forms of marine life collected in the years 1889-1890, in Japan. John F. Eby and Co., Detroit. (1)-(20), pl. 1.
<
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/60301#page/7/mode/1up>
Pilsbry, H. A., 1895. Catalogue of the Marine Mollusks of Japan, with Descriptions of New Species, and Notes on Others Collected by Frederick Stearns. Detroit: F. Stearns, Detroit. (i)-viii + "2'"
[error pro 1]-196 + 11 pls.
<
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/77006#page/9/mode/1up>
[get a load of the author's assessment of Dr. Arthur Adams' conchological prowess at bottom of < http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/77006#page/11/mode/1up
>]
PS It seems that the Pilsbry biographers missed this nomenclatorial act even after a second try. Alan Kabat tells me it also escaped Johnson and Clench (2002). HGL
At 08:28 AM 2/7/2015, Harry Lee wrote:
Dear Ron,
It looks like you've done due diligence on this one - as usual.
All I can say is that the name appears to have been proposed in the 1895 work and is available under the provisions of the Code as of that act (if the same binomen hadn't previously been made available).
I'm not certain
how the Pilsbry attribution came into play, but the master may have used the name in ms only.
Have you checked Johnson and Clench (2002) just to be sure?
I don't have
it anymore.
Harry
Clench, W.J. and R.D. Turner, 1962. New names introduced by H. A. Pilsbry in the Mollusca and Crustacea. Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia. Special Publication 4: 1-218.
<
http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/28923>
Johnson, R.I. and W.J. Clench, 2002. Additions and corrections to Clench and Turner, 1962, New names introduced by H.A.
Pilsbry.
Harvard University, Museum of Comparative Zoology, Department of Mollusks. 22 pp.
At 07:10 AM 2/7/2015, Ron G. Noseworthy wrote:
Hi, everyone!
I need some help with the correct date for a species. While working on gastropod species described by Henry Pilsbry which occur here on Jeju Island, I encountered a problem with the correct date for Olivella japonica. Some publications use 1895 as the date but others use 1910. The Catalogue of Marine Mollusks of Japan (1895) contains what appears to be the first reference to O. japonica as "Olivella fortunei var. japonica, and a figure is given. I have been unable to find any 1910 publications by Pilsbry containing an original description of this species.
Can someone enlighten me as to the correct date for O.
japonica?
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
All the best from Korea! Ron
Noseworthy
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