Reniera aquaeductus f. taurica Czerniavsky, 1880, 1862

Van Soest, Rob W. M., 2024, Correcting sponge names: nomenclatural update of lower taxa level Porifera, Zootaxa 5398 (1), pp. 1-122 : 43-44

Reniera aquaeductus f. taurica Czerniavsky, 1880

Reniera aquaeductus f. taurica Czerniavsky, 1880: 118 (no illustration).

The names erected by the author Czerniavsky for species, varieties and formae from the Black Sea are often problematic because of repetitive use of the same geographic name (as varieties or formae) for different species of the same genus. The descriptions are in Latin (first) and Russian (second) and are for that reason difficult to validate against recent descriptions of established Mediterranean species of the relevant genera.

The following taxa need to be considered in the case of the varieties all named taurica:

Protoschmidtia simplex var. taurica Czerniavsky, 1880 (cf. above)

Reniera aquaeductus Schmidt, 1862 f. taurica Czerniavsky, 1880

Reniera inflata Schmidt, 1868 var. taurica Czerniavsky, 1880

Reniera informis Schmidt, 1868 var. taurica Czerniavsky, 1880

Reniera palmata sensu Lieberķhn, 1859 var. taurica Czerniavsky, 1880

Reniera palmata sensu Lieberķhn, 1859 var. taurica f. transitans Czerniavsky, 1880

Since Protoschmidtia simplex , Reniera aquaeductus , R. inflata , R. informis , R. palmata are all accepted as species of the genus Haliclona Grant, 1841 (see De Voogd et al. 2022), and varieties and formae erected before 1961 are to be guided by the Code (ICZN art. 45.6.4) the above names are primary homonyms. Older listings of Black Sea sponges (e.g. Arndt 1947) simply repeated the forma/variety names of Czerniavsky. Even the most recent listings of several of these Czerniavsky varieties by Ereskovsky et al. (2016, 2018) in tables of Black Sea sponge records maintained the status of some of the varieties. It is high time to address their homonymy here as they are not treated in the recent attempt to remove remaining Porifera homonyms of Van Soest et al. (2020).

Despite the likely junior synonymy of the species mentioned here, it is necessary to replace the remaining four taurica junior homonyms of senior homonym Protoschmidtia simplex (ICZN art. 57 and 59). The four taxa are all currently accepted as congeneric with the senior homonym, and are thus invalid (ICZN art. 59). In the absence of known or likely junior synonyms, I propose here the following substitute names, currently to be accepted as subspecies endemic to the Black Sea:

Haliclona aquaeductus subsp. sebastopolensis nom.nov. for Reniera aquaeductus f. taurica (present variety).

Haliclona inflata subsp. vladimiri nom.nov. for Reniera inflata var. taurica (cf. below).

Haliclona informis subsp. voldomaroi nom.nov. for Reniera informis var. taurica (cf. below).

Haliclona palmata subsp. pontuseuxiniensis nom.nov. for Reniera palmata var. taurica (cf. below).

Three of the nomina nova are named after Vladimir (Russian first name) or Voldomaro (Ukrainian first name) Czerniavsky, the last nomen novum is a geographic name.

The present variety was described by Czerniavsky from Sebastopol, Crimea, approximate coordinates 44.62°N 33.5°E (no type material identified). The present R.a. f. taurica is a junior secondary homonym of Protoschmidtia simplex f. taurica Czerniavsky,1880 [= Haliclona caucasica ( Czerniavsky, 1880) ] and the varietal name is proposed to be replaced by the combination Haliclona aquaeductus subsp. sebastopolensis nom.nov., named after its type locality, possibly a Black Sea subspecies of the Mediterranean Haliclona aquaeductus Schmidt, 1862 .