Melanopsis pygmaea inflata Sauerzopf, 1952 non Handmann, 1882

Neubauer, Thomas A., Harzhauser, Mathias, Kroh, Andreas, Elisavet, Georgopoulou & Mandic, Oleg, 2014, Replacement names and nomenclatural comments for problematic species-group names in Europe's Neogene freshwater Gastropoda. Part 2, ZooKeys 429, pp. 13-46 : 27

Taxon classification Animalia ORDO FAMILIA

Melanopsis pygmaea inflata Sauerzopf, 1952 non Handmann, 1882

Melanopsis pygmaea inflata Sauerzopf, 1952: 13, pl. 2, fig. 4 [non Melanopsis pygmaea inflata Handmann, 1882].

Type locality.

No locus typicus given; occurs in Stegersbach, Litzelsdorf, Olbendorf, and Oberdorf in the Styrian Basin, Austria.

Age.

Late Miocene (Pannonian, Serbian, biozones E–F).

Type material.

No storage or types indicated (material derived from Sauerzopf's private collections).

Discussion.

There are several issues with the name Melanopsis inflata . First, the name introduced by Sauerzopf definitely constitutes a primary homonym of Melanopsis pygmaea inflata Handmann, 1882. Sauerzopf (1952) explicitly introduced it as new taxon, although the combination is identical to that established by Handmann. Both taxa were obviously erected for different morphologies: while Sauerzopf's form is elongated conical, Handmann's subspecies is rather globular. Handmann's taxon is meanwhile considered as junior synonym of Melanopsis pygmaea Hörnes, 1856 ( Wenz 1929a, p. 2813). Melanopsis pygmaea inflata Sauerzopf, 1952, in turn, highly resembles Melanopsis fuchsi Handmann, 1882 concerning its size, the regular conical outline and the slightly inflated last whorl. Exactly these last two criteria were for both authors the reason to separate their forms from Melanopsis pygmaea (see Handmann 1887, p. 13; Sauerzopf 1952, p. 13). Therefore we consider both synonymous and refrain from introducing a replacement name.

The second problem regards the availability of Melanopsis inflata Handmann, 1882. This name was already introduced as subordinate taxon by Férussac (1823) within Melanopsis buccinoidea . Whether it is available as species-group name, however, cannot easily be determined, given the chaotic system in Férussac's work (see also discussion of Melanopsis elongata below) and the fact that it is not found to be used as species-group name attributed to Férussac in the literature, which would have made it available via ICZN 1999, Article 45.6.4.1. If Férussac's name is accepted as species-group name, Handmann's taxon would become a primary homonym. Since this is apparently not the case and Handmann's subspecies was synonymized anyway, the introduction of a replacement name would be inexpedient.