Larus canus major Middendorff, 1853

Mlíkovský, Ji Ř Í, 2012, Nomenclatural notes on the East Asian form of the Mew Gull Larus canus Linnaeus, 1758 (Aves: Laridae), Zootaxa 3356, pp. 65-68 : 65-66

Larus canus major Middendorff, 1853

Middendorff (1853: 243) described this form as Larus canus var. major on the basis of birds recorded by him in 1843–1844 in the Stanovoy Mountains and at Okhotsk Sea. Brodkorb (1936: 122) restricted the type locality to the western slopes of Stanovoy Mountains and suggested that Larus canus major Middendorff, 1853 , is a junior secondary homonym of Laroides major C.L. Brehm (1831: 738) = Larus argentatus Pontoppidan (1763: 622) . To the best of my knowledge, C.L. Brehm's Laroides major has never been "published in combination with the same generic name" (Art. 53.3 of the Code), i.e. Larus Linnaeus (1758: 136) . Ridgway’s (1919: 580) incorrect statement that G.R. Gray (1840: 78) designated Larus major C.L. Brehm as the type species of the genus Laroides C.L. Brehm (1830: col. 993) cannot be understood as a transfer of C.L. Brehm’s major to the genus Larus ( G.R. Gray 1840: 78 wrote L. major ).Thus, Laroides major C.L. Brehm and Larus canus major Middendorff are not secondary homonyms.

However, T. Forster (1817: 32) arbitrarily replaced bird names then in use by earlier “classical names, including Larus atricilla Linnaeus (1758: 136) with Larus major Baltneri. Larus major Baltneri is not a trinomial, because the words mean in Latin Larus major of Baltner. Leonard Baldner's (or Baltner's, as his name was sometimes spelled) manuscript from 1666 was published much later by Lauterborn (1903), but Willughby (1676: 263) and Ray (1713: 129) have referred to Larus major of Baldner, and one or both of the latter works were presumably the source of T. Forster's information. Larus major T. Forster, 1817 is available for the purposes of zoological nomenclature as a new replacement name for Larus atricilla Linnaeus (1758) and lies in its synonymy. Larus canus var. major Middendorff, 1853 , is thus a junior primary homonym of Larus major T. Forster, 1817 , and unavailable (Art. 57.2 of the Code).

Linnaeus (1758: 136) based his Larus atricilla upon Larus major Catesby (1731 : 89, 1754: 89), which is a pre- Linnaean name without standing in zoological nomenclature. Note that also names contained in post-1757 editions of Catesby (1731) are not available for the purposes of zoological nomenclature (ICZN 1925, 1954).

" Gavina kamtchatchensis / kamtschatchensis Bonaparte, 1854 " and " Gavina kamtschatschensis Bonaparte, 1855 " Bonaparte (1854) listed Gavina kamtchatchensis (p. 212) and Gavina kamtschatchensis (p. 215) as "la race kamtschadale du Larus canus , L." (p. 215). In another paper, Bonaparte (1855: 16) listed the name as " Gavina kamtschatschensis ", again with a remark that it is a "race kamtschadale du Larus canus , L.". No descriptions or indications were provided and the specific names are nomina nuda in both these papers. Note different spellings of each of these specific names.