Malurus melanotus germaini Mathews

LeCroy, M., 2008, Type Specimens Of Birds In The American Museum Of Natural History. Part 7. Passeriformes: Sylviidae, Muscicapidae, Platysteiridae, Maluridae, Acanthizidae, Monarchidae, Rhipiduridae, And Petroicidae, Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 313 (1), pp. 1-287 : 106

Malurus melanotus germaini Mathews

Malurus melanotus germaini Mathews, 1912a: 359 (South Australia (Port Germain)).

Now Malurus splendens callainus Gould, 1867 . See Schodde, 1982: 56–57, Schodde and Mason, 1999: 93–95, Higgins et al., 2001: 309, and Mees, 2003.

HOLOTYPE: AMNH 602005 , adult male, collected at Port Germein (5 Port Germain ), 33.01S, 138.01E ( USBGN, 1957b), South Australia, Australia. From the Mathews Collection (no. 2278) via the Rothschild Collection.

COMMENTS: In the original description, Mathews gave his catalog number of the holotype, apparently his only specimen. This specimen came to Mathews from Edwin Ashby, but there is another field label that says ‘‘Pre. 469 by M. Murray Esq. 1899’’. This type also bears Mathews’ yellow ‘‘Figured’’ label; it served as the model for the male of Malurus melanotus in Mathews (1922e: pl. 460, lower left fig., opp. p. 61, text p. 62), although Mathews does not confirm that the bird figured is the type.

Schodde (1982: 57) considered this form intergradient between M. s. melanotus and M. s. callainus but averaging slightly closer to M. s. callainus. The holotype has a distinct wash of purplish on the belly, back, and crown and a pectoral band of black intermediate in width. However, until the status of Gould’s type of callainus is resolved, it is not possible to further assess the status of germaini (see above).