Cormocephalus (C.) kraepelini Attems, 1930

Lewis, John G. E., Minelli, Alessandro & Shelley, Rowland M., 2006, Taxonomic and nomenclatural notes on scolopendrid centipedes (Chilopoda: Scolopendromorpha: Scolopendridae), Zootaxa 1155 (1), pp. 35-40 : 37

Cormocephalus (C.) kraepelini Attems, 1930

Attems (1930) reduced Hemiscolopendra Kraepelin, 1903 to subgeneric status under Cormocephalus Newport, 1844 , thus creating the homonymy between C. (Hemiscolopendra) michaelseni (Attems, 1903) (Type locality: Chile, Valparaiso) and C. (Cormocephalus) michaelseni Kraepelin, 1908 (Type series: Western Australia: Albany, Bridgetown, Collie). Cormocephalus (C.) michaelseni is characterized by Attems (1930:97); however in a footnote to the Contents (Inhalt) on page v (evidently written and printed at a later stage than the main text) he noted that it must receive the new name “ C. (H.) Kraepelini nom. nov. Att.” because of homonymy with Cormocephalus (H.) michaelseni Att. 1903 : “S. 97. Cormocephalus (C.) michaelseni Krpln. 1908 muss wegen Cormocephalus (H.) michaelseni Att. 1903 S. 112 einen neuen Namen erhalten, ich nenne ihn: C (H.) Kraepelini nom. nov. Att.” Attems clearly intended the new name to read C. (C.) Kraepelini , as in the index (page 296) he lists Cormocephalus (Cormocephalus) kraepelini in bold type, indicating that he regarded it as valid, and referred to page 97, but he failed to substitute C. (C.) kraepelini for C. (C.) michaelseni on that page. That this was Attems’ intention is confirmed by the entry on page 298 in the index, where Cormocephalus (Hemiscolopendra) michaelseni is listed in bold type indicating that it is a valid name. The nomen novum kraepelini has been overlooked by subsequent authors.

A further complication is created by C. michaelseni as used by misidentification by Attems (1922) for material from Namibia, Penguin Island near Lüderitzbucht which he ( Attems 1928:283) renamed C. insulanus Attems, 1928 nomen novum in a footnote to the key to Cormocephalus species : “Nomen novum pro Cormocephalus michaelseni Att. 1922 (nec Kraepelin 1908).”

Hemiscolopendra is now recognised as a full genus, having been reelevated by Crabill (1960) and confirmed as such by Hoffman & Shelley (1996) and Shelley (2002).