Zootaxa 3882 (2): 001–230 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ Monograph ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2014 Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3882.1.1 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:03E154FD-F167-4667-842B-5F515A58C8DE ZOOTAXA 3882 Family-group names of Recent fishes RICHARD VAN DER LAAN1,5, WILLIAM N. ESCHMEYER2 & RONALD FRICKE3,4 1Grasmeent 80, 1357JJ Almere, The Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected] 2Curator Emeritus, California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive, San Francisco, CA 94118, USA. E-mail: [email protected] 3Im Ramstal 76, 97922 Lauda-Königshofen, Germany. E-mail: [email protected] 4Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, D-70191 Stuttgart, Germany [temporarily out of office] 5Corresponding author Magnolia Press Auckland, New Zealand Accepted by L. Page: 6 Sept. 2014; published: 11 Nov. 2014 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 RICHARD VAN DER LAAN, WILLIAM N. ESCHMEYER & RONALD FRICKE Family-group names of Recent fishes (Zootaxa 3882) 230 pp.; 30 cm. 11 Nov. 2014 ISBN 978-1-77557-573-3 (paperback) ISBN 978-1-77557-574-0 (Online edition) FIRST PUBLISHED IN 2014 BY Magnolia Press P.O. Box 41-383 Auckland 1346 New Zealand e-mail: [email protected] http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/ © 2014 Magnolia Press 2 · Zootaxa 3882 (1) © 2014 Magnolia Press VAN DER LAAN ET AL. Table of contents Abstract . .3 Introduction . .3 Methods . .5 Rules for the family-group names and how we dealt with them . .6 How to use the family-group names list . .13 Family-group names list . .14 Acknowledgements . .136 References . .136 Index . .211 Abstract The family-group names of animals (superfamily, family, subfamily, supertribe, tribe and subtribe) are regulated by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Family names are particularly important because they are among the most widely used of all technical animal names. Apart from using the correct family-group name according to the Code, it is also important to use one unique universal name (with a fixed spelling) to avoid confusion. We have compiled a list of family- group names for Recent fishes, applied the rules of the Code and, if possible, tried to conserve the names in prevailing recent practice. We list all of the family-group names found to date for Recent fishes (N=2625), together with their author(s) and year of publication. This list can be used in assigning the correct family-group name to a genus or a group of genera. With this publication we contribute to the usage of correct, universal family-group names in the classification of, and for communication about, Recent fishes. Key words: family names, subfamily names, tribal names, ICZN, Zoological Code, nomenclature, prevailing spelling, prevailing recent practice Introduction The goal of this publication is to contribute to the use of correct family-group names in Recent fishes. Confusion about names, inconsistent use, and incorrect spellings create problems in communication and in searches for information. The zoological family-group names include superfamily (suffix –oidea), family (suffix –idae), subfamily (suffix –inae), tribe (suffix –ini), and subtribe (suffix –ina). They are regulated by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (hereafter referred to as the Code) as published by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). The 4th edition of the Code (in effect on 1 January 2000) provided a set of rules for the naming of animals and the resolution of nomenclatural problems. Consistency in the use of valid family-group names is very important because they are among the most widely used of all technical names for fishes. They are used by fish systematists and frequently by scientists in related fields of biology, by naturalists, fishermen and aquarium hobbyists (van der Laan 2014). Like every scientific name, a family-group name serves as a tool for the storage and retrieval of information attached to the taxon. Family-group names also are important in that they often are used to form English vernacular names (and adjectives) as follows: · Tribes (–ini): by changing the suffix to singular in or plural ins; for example, Characini to characin fishes or characins · Subfamilies (–inae): by changing the suffix to singular ine or plural ines; for example, Characinae to characine fishes or characines · Families (–idae): by changing the suffix to singular id or plural ids; for example, Characidae to characid fishes or characids · Superfamilies (–oidea): by changing the suffix to singular ide or plural ides; for example, Characoidea to characide fishes or characides. As a result, an error in spelling of a family-group name extends to errors in vernacular names. Furthermore, if the names of higher-ranked taxa, specifically ordinal names (superorders, orders or suborders), are based on a FAMILY-GROUP NAMES OF RECENT FISHES Zootaxa 3882 (1) © 2014 Magnolia Press · 3 typified system (Alonso-Zarazaga 2005; Dubois 2005, 2006a, 2006b), incorrect use of a stem for family-group names will result in the incorrect formation of names in the ordinal series. The preamble of the Code states: “Priority of publication is a basic principle of zoological nomenclature; however, under conditions prescribed in the Code its application may be modified to conserve a long-accepted name in its accustomed meaning.” Although priority is the guiding principle in recognition of valid family-group names, disagreements may exist about the correct spelling. For example, Robins et al. (1991:4–5; see also Nelson 2006:xii) discussed several problems with spelling and suggested that when disagreements occur, names should be selected based on “prevailing recent practice.” Wheeler (1990) had made more or less the same argument when he suggested that decisions be based on ‘the consent of the learned’ (Stearn 1985) and ‘accepted usage’. This list of family-group names of Recent fishes is based on the principle of priority, and when disagreements on spelling occur, on prevailing use. As Kottelat (2013:388) and many others have noted, decisions about prevailing use can be subjective. For example, Robins (1991) noted the use of both Eleotridae and Eleotrididae for sleepers. Relative to such decisions, the Code, Article 29.3.1.1, states that “If the stem so formed ends in -id, those letters may be elided before adding the family-group suffixes. If, however, the unelided form is in prevailing usage, that spelling is to be maintained, whether or not it is the original spelling.” In our opinion, strict application of Article 29.3.1 leads to unnecessary changes in the spelling of some very familiar names and certainly does not lead to consensus on the spelling of family names. If we found one spelling widely used by many workers, we accepted that spelling as correct. This list was compiled in an attempt to find all family-group names ever published for Recent fishes (a total of 2,625 names), evaluate their availability, and provide the correct spelling with author(s) and publication date. The generic classification in the Catalog of Fishes (Eschmeyer, 2014, http://research.calacademy.org/research/ ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp) was used to list the family-group names. The ‘Index to the family-group names’ provides an alphabetical list of all family-group names. History The use of family-group names for fishes started in the beginning of the 19th century. Duméril (1805) is generally regarded as the first author to publish family-group names, and soon was followed by Rafinesque (Rafinesque 1810a, 1810b, 1815) and many others. See Gill (1889a) for notes on early ‘namers’ of families. In those early publications it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the suprageneric name as a family-group name rather than a higher-level name (of the order/class-series: suborder, order, superorder, … class) because suffixes were not yet standardized (Dubois 2006b: pp. 175–179 and 206–210; Dubois & Bour 2010). Also, some early family names were in vernacular form (not latinized). At the beginning of the 19th century many plural endings were used, gradually transforming to family suffixes such as –idae (used by Bonaparte, Günther), –oidae (Agassiz, Gill) or –oidei (Bleeker), and to subfamily suffixes including –ini (Bonaparte), –inae (Gill) or –iformes (Bleeker), and finally leading to the current Code-regulated suffixes. In addition to names published explicitly as family-group names, this list includes all names assigned to a cohors, group, Gruppe, stirps, phalanx and subgroup when they refer to a group of Recent fishes above the genus and below the level of suborder. In 1895 an International Commission was elected by the Third International Zoology Congress at Leiden to draft some explicit rules of nomenclatural, and in 1897 the Règles de la Nomenclature Zoologique proposées au Congrès de Cambridge was published. In it were the first rules to regulate family names. Article 31 established the suffix –idae for the family names and the suffix –inae for subdivisions of families. The rules were gradually amended over the years (Sabrosky 1947; Temple 1962), but the Règles internationals de la Nomenclature Zoologique (1905) remained more or less in force until 1961, after which various rules of the Code were amended (1st edition, 1961; 2nd edition, 1963; 3rd edition, 1985; and 4th edition, 1999). The stem of a family-group name is based on the name of its type genus (Article 29.3). However, in part because the rules have changed over the years, determination of what constitutes the correct stem has led in some cases, to changes in spelling of family-group names. Steyskal (1980) argued for consistent, grammatically correct formation of the stem but his suggestion was not followed universally, which led to confusion (Wheeler 1990). A change in the rules has removed much of the confusion.