Paul, you happened to mention the bizarrely named Penicillus penis the other day, and I finally got around to looking up its etymology this weekend. As you recall, "penis" is Latin for "tail", and the word acquired other meanings later. One of the later meanings is "brush", which is reasonable; a donkey's tail can look rather brushlike. A "penicillus" is a "little brush"; the word was eventually shortened to "pencil" in English. But I suspect that the author took some perverse punning delight in naming Penicillus penis, all the same. Remember that taxonomy was a men's club until the late nineteenth century. And before you bring it up, no, there is nothing particularly lurid about Ostrea lurida. "Lurida" means "dirty brown, smoky yellow, drab yellow", a rather jaundiced color, hence "ghastly" or "gruesome". But not all of these dubious names are puns. Linnaeus' Distorsio anus probably means exactly what it says. I suspect that the old taxonomist had a sense of humor, especially after an akvavit or two. It just wasn't a good one. Andrew K. Rindsberg Geological Survey of Alabama Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA