Nereis falsa Quatrefages, 1866

Faulwetter, Sarah, Simboura, Nomiki, Katsiaras, Nikolaos, Chatzigeorgiou, Giorgos & Arvanitidis, Christos, 2017, Polychaetes of Greece: an updated and annotated checklist, Biodiversity Data Journal 5, pp. 20997-20997 : 20997

Nereis falsa Quatrefages, 1866

Nereis falsa Quatrefages, 1866 | Nereis splendida Grube, 1840

Notes

Nereis falsa is considered a synonym of Nereis splendida Grube, 1840 by Núñez (2004). However, a Nereis splendida Blainville, 1825 also exists in literature and in online databases (e.g. WoRMS) which should take priority over Grube's species and render the latter a junior homonym. Gravina et al. (2015) therefore use Nereis falsa as the valid name, as Nereis splendida Grube, although having priority over Nereis falsa Quatrefages, is pre-occupied. However, the identity of the species described by Blainville (1825) species is confused and early authors (e.g. Quatrefages 1866:434, Rathke 1843:172) consider it indeterminable and probably belonging to Nephtys . In addition, Blainville (1825) creates a confusing situation of synonyms by applying the name Nereis splendida to a specimen he had received from Dr. Leach under the (probably unpublished) name Nereis clava (p. 439) and in the same publication transfers Hesione splendida Savigny 1818 to Nereis , creating an unresolved synonymy with Nereis splendida (p. 443). Until this confusion is resolved, the name Nereis falsa is used here, following Gravina et al. (2015). See also Salazar-Vallejo et al. (2017) and discussions on the Annelida mailing list for extensive clarifications on the identity and nomenclatural problems associated with Nereis falsa and Nereis splendida .