Ceratothoa poutassouiensis (Penso, 1939)

Hadfield, Kerry A., Bruce, Niel L. & Smit, Nico J., 2016, Redescription of poorly known species of Ceratothoa Dana, 1852 (Crustacea, Isopoda, Cymothoidae), based on original type material, ZooKeys 592, pp. 39-91 : 66

Taxon classification Animalia Isopoda Cymothoidae

Ceratothoa poutassouiensis (Penso, 1939) nomen dubium

Meinertia poutassouiensis Brian, 1939: 20-24 [nomen nudum].

Meinertia (Ceratothoa) potassoniensis .- Penso 1939: 1, figs 1-2 [lapsus].

Ceratothoa poutassouiensis .- Trilles 1994: 127.- Horton 2000: 1042.

Hosts.

Micromesistius poutassou (previously Gadus potassoa ).

Remarks.

These two species names, published in the same year, refer to the same species. Brian (1939) stated that “… this isopod circa 2 cm in length … a species of Meinertia deserves to be described as it seems to be a new species, I hope to be able to publish the description of this species which I call Meinertia poutassouiensis ". Horton (2000) added that both authors cited the species as found on Micromesistius poutassou (as Gadus potassoa ), but it was inadequately described with two uninformative figures in Penso (1939). This lack of sufficient information, lack of types to redescribe the species and lack of the location of the type material lead Horton (2000) to place Ceratothoa poutassouiensis (Brian, 1939) into nomen nudum. The mention of size alone by Brian (1939) does not meet the criteria of availability, specifically ICZN Article 13.1.1, as it does not differentiate or define the species; Brian’s name is therefore not available so the authority has to be Penso (1939) as Penso provided two figures of the species thereby validating the name. The correct spelling of the epithet remains that proposed by Brian (1939). Given the lack of a descriptive data, lack of types and lack of a specific type locality, the species is here regarded as nomen dubium.