Gecarcinus lateralis Fréminville in Guérin, 1832

Ng, Ngan Kee, Rodríguez Moreno, Paula A., Naruse, Tohru, Guinot, Danièle & Mollaret, Noémy, 2019, Annotated type-catalogue of Brachyura (Crustacea, Decapoda) of the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris. Part II. Gecarcinidae and Grapsidae (Thoracotremata, Grapsoidea), with an Appendix of pre- 1900 collectors, Zoosystema 41 (7), pp. 91-130 : 99-100

Gecarcinus lateralis Fréminville in Guérin, 1832

( Fig. 2F )

“ Gecarcinus lateralis . Fréminville” Guérin, 1832 (1829-1837): 7; “ Gecarcinus lateralis Fréminv. ” Guérin, 1832 (1829-1837): caption of pl. 5, fig. 1.

Ocypoda lateralis – Fréminville 1835: 224.

Gecarcinus lateralis – H. Milne Edwards 1837: 27; Atlas, pl. 18, figs 1-6.

CURRENT TAXONOMIC STATUS. — Gecarcinus lateralis Fréminville in Guérin, 1832 (see Low et al. 2013: 104).

NEOTYPE (by present designation). — MNHN-IU-2000-3758 (= MNHN-B3758 ), ♂ 36.7 × 47.2 mm, Guadeloupe, coll. Beaupertuis. — Original label: “ Gecarcinus lateralis, Fréminv. , Guadeloupe, Mr Beaupertuis”. — Additional labels: “ Lectotype. J.F. [J. Forest] 1.3.69”; “ Gecarcinus lateralis Fréminville , Guadeloupe, M. Beaupertuis, Lectotype ”; “ Gecarcinus (Gecarcinus) lateralis lateralis ( Fréminville, 1835) , Révision M. Türkay, VI.1972 ”.

PRESERVATION. — Dry. Specimen complete, mounted on cardboard.

REMARKS

Two assertions previously published in the literature, related to the authorship and the type material of Gecarcinus lateralis need to be corrected.

The authorship of G. lateralis is traditionally attributed to Fréminville (1835) (e.g. H. Milne Edwards 1837; Chace & Hobbs 1969; Türkay 1970, 1974a; Bliss et al. 1978; Hartnoll 1988; Ng & Guinot 2001; Ng et al. 2008; Perger & Wall 2014). Low et al. (2013) stated that Guérin (1832 in Guérin 1829-1837) must take precedence. Fréminville (1835) described Ocypoda lateralis from La Désirade, Guadeloupe, Marie-Galante, Martinique, Les Saintes in the West Indies, based on specimens that he has probably himself collected (see Appendix). In the introduction of this paper (1835: 213, footnote), the editor of the volume, actually H. Milne Edwards, indicates about Fréminville’s “tourlourou”: “son Ocypoda lateralis est une espèce de Gécarcin bien distincte et dont j’ai donné une figure dans mon Histoire naturelle des Crustacés. M. Guérin l’a également figuré dans son Iconographie du règne animal ” [“his Ocypoda lateralis is a clearly distinct species of ‘Gécarcin’ and to which I have given a figure in my Histoire naturelle des Crustacés. M. Guérin has also figured it in his Iconographie du règne animal ”]. Guérin (1832, in Guérin 1829-1837: 7) had previously used the name “ Gecarcinus lateralis Fréminville ” and illustrated what is clearly the same species. It is very likely that Guérin used the same material as Fréminville and that he was aware of the future species by Fréminville. According to the official dates, Guérin’s plate has been published before the description by Fréminville in 1835. According to Low et al. (2013) the authorship of G. lateralis must be credited to Guérin (1832). But, as Fréminville is solely responsible for the species name in a way satisfying the criteria of availability (Code, Art. 50.1.1), the authorship of G. lateralis should be credited to Fréminville in Guérin (1832).

Türkay (1970), based on erroneous indications given by J. Forest, the curator of Crustacea Collection in the MNHN at the time, regarded as the type series of G. lateralis material collected by two French naturalists, Beaupertuis and Bélanger, and deposited in this institution. Türkay (1970: 337) selected as lectotype of Gecarcinus (Gecarcinus) lateralis a specimen from Guadeloupe collected by Beaupertuis. Türkay (1974a: 974, 975) then designated as paralectotypes one male and one female from Guadeloupe MNHN-IU-2000-3757 (= MNHN-B3757), and two males and one female collected by Bélanger from Martinique (MNHN-IU-2000-3755 [= MNHN-B3755], MNHN-IU-2000-3756 [= MNHN-B3756]). A colour figure of the lectotype was published by Perger & Wall (2014: fig. 6A-C). However, Beaupertuis and Bélanger’s specimens are likely to not have been collected during this period (i.e., before 1832), these two naturalists having traveled in the Antilles later on as shown by the entry dates of their material in the CAA (Beaupertuis: 1839 from Guadeloupe; Bélanger: 1859, 1860, 1864 from Martinique) (see Appendix), and cannot constitute the original material seen by Guérin (1832).

According to the Code (Art. 74.2), “the name-bearing type of any nominal taxon, once fixed in conformity with the provisions of the Code, is not subject to change” except if the lectotype is “found not to have been a syntype ”. Thus, “if it is demonstrated that a specimen designated as a lectotype was not a syntype, it loses its status of lectotype ”. A neotype of G. lateralis must be fixed. Having been previously referred to, although unsupported, as the lectotype for the species by Türkay (1970), then by Perger & Wall (2014), and considering its locality, the specimen from Guadeloupe registered MNHN-IU-2000-3758 (= MNHN-B3758) is eligible for neotype designation: it is hereby selected as the neotype of Gecarcinus lateralis Guérin, 1832 .

Figures

FIG. 2. — A, Cardisoma urvillei H. Milne Edwards, 1853, MNHN-IU-2000-3735 (= MNHN-B3735),lectotype, ♂; B, Discoplax gracilipes Ng & Guinot, 2001, MNHN- IU-2014-11214 (= MNHN-B26950),paratype,♀; C, Discoplax longipes A.Milne-Edwards,1867,MNHN-IU-2000-3763 (= MNHN-B3763),lectotype,♂; D, Gecarcinus digueti Bouvier,1895,MNHN-IU-2000-10951 (= MNHN-B10951),holotype,♂; E, Gecarcinus lagostoma H. Milne Edwards,1837,MNHN-IU-2000-3750 (= MNHN- B3750), lectotype, ♂; F, Gecarcinus lateralis Fréminville in Guérin-Méneville, 1832, MNHN-IU-2000-3758 (= MNHN-B3758), neotype, ♂; G, Gecarcinus nobilii Perger & Wall, 2014, MNHN-IU-2014-11211 (= MNHN-B12314), paratype, ♀; H, Pelocarcinus cailloti A. Milne-Edwards, 1890, MNHN-IU-2000-3751 (= MNHN- B3751), holotype, ♂. Scale bars: A, E, 5 cm; B-D, F-H, 2 cm.