Menobranchus lateralis (James, 1822)

Pyron, R. Alexander & Beamer, David A., 2022, A nomenclatural and taxonomic review of the salamanders (Urodela) from Holbrook’s North American Herpetology, Zootaxa 5134 (2), pp. 151-196 : 165

Menobranchus lateralis (Say in James, 1823)

[= Sirena maculosa Rafinesque, 1818 ]

The last salamander and final entry in the third volume of the first edition, Holbrook (1838b:119, pl. 30) gave an account of the Mudpuppy ( Necturus maculosus ), using Harlan (1825a) ’s genus Menobranchus for the junior subjective synonym Triton lateralis Say in James (1823). Holbrook noted that he has never seen this species alive, but that the drawing by A. Herman was done from life, under the direction of G. Troost, and with reference to G. W. Benedict’s detailed description in his letter to D. H. Barnes (Benedict in Barnes 1827). The nomenclature of N. maculosus has an exceptionally complex history ( Waite 1907). Holbrook was only peripherally associated with this history, and we will not attempt to recount it here save to note that Holbrook (1842e:111) also recognized “ M. maculatus ,” a subsequent misspelling of Sirena maculosa Rafinesque, 1818 by Rafinesque (1819), which Holbrook erroneously credited to Barnes (1827). Holbrook regarded his “ M. maculatus ” as likely distinct from his “ M. lateralis ,” though they are now known to be populations of the same species. Here, Holbrook is clearly describing a juvenile of the species, which are usually striped. Holbrook (1842e:115, pl. 38) reproduced the A. Herman plate and revised much of the 1838 account, moving sections of it regarding the species’ taxonomic and nomenclatural history to the “ M. maculatus ” account without comment. It does not seem that Holbrook had any Necturus specimens of his own to 1842, and none are presently known among his extant collections.

The fourth volume of the first edition was printed in extremely low numbers that were not widely circulated and was essentially “lost” for 63 years ( Gill 1903a). In it, Holbrook (1840) provided accounts and descriptions for four species, two of them new: