Scolopendra clavipes C. L. Koch, 1836

Doménech, Carles & Nagel, Peter, 2022, On the dates of publication of four European species of Scolopendra Linnaeus 1758 described by C. L. Koch (Myriapoda, Chilopoda), Zootaxa 5159 (1), pp. 125-135 : 126-127

Scolopendra clavipes C. L. Koch, 1836

S. clavipes C. L. Koch, 1836 is the currently accepted name of a species propria with the herewith corrected date “1836” instead of the widely used “1847” (see Bonato et al. 2016, founded on Würmli 1980). The name is not yet registered with Zoobank.

This species is often cited explicitly or with the implicit understanding that it was first published in C. L. Koch’s well-known monograph and catalogue “System der Myriapoda ” ( Koch 1847), see for example Attems (1902, 1930), Kraepelin (1903), and Bonato et al. (2016), and a posthumously published work of C. L. Koch himself ( Koch 1863a, see also Kohlrausch 1879, p. 72; 1881, p. 83). In fact, the text in Koch (1847, p. 169) is just the first comprehensive description, while the first illustration is found in Koch (1863a).

Publications before 1847 by Stein (1839, p. 278), Brandt (1840, p. 149) and Ranzani (1841, pp. 394, 441) as well as the coetaneous work of Walckenaer & Gervais (1847; p. 257), quoted the source of the description in two different ways. Stein (1839, p. 278) cited this as “Koch (in den von Dr. Herrich-Schäffer herausgeg. Deutschl. Krust. Myriap. und Arachn.)” while the other authors did it as “Koch (Deutschl. Crustaceen, Myriapoden und Arachniden, Heft [German term for “fascicle”] (or as Fasc.) 9, tab. [abbreviation of the Latin tabula = “plate”] (or as pl.) 1.)”, but not any of them specified the year of the paper’s release.

This work certainly was published in two versions, both with identical content but with different numbering and title ( Nagel & Grieder 2019, e.g. Figures 2 - 7) ( Figs. 1 , 2 ). The species S. clavipes was published by C. L. Koch in the section “Anmerkungen” (notes) of the letterpress associated with the text to index species Tab. 1 and plate 1 ( S. italica ), but not appearing in the index itself nor in an illustration in the following parts of the two parallel editions [Author of letterpress and illustrations in both editions: C. L. Koch] ( Fig. 1D , 2D ):

Koch, C.L. (1836a). Deutschlands Crustaceen, Myriapoden und Arachniden. Ein Beitrag zur deutschen Fauna. [Herausgegeben von Dr. Herrich-Schäffer] [N. B.: This statement “Edited by Dr. Herrich-Schäffer“ is true for the whole Koch series, despite it was printed only on few title pages]. 9th fascicle, 24 plates and associated letterpress. Regensburg: Fr. Pustet. [in the present paper quoted as the “Koch series”].

and Koch, C.L. (1836b) in Herrich-Schäffer G. A. W. (ed.). Deutschlands Insecten, herausgegeben von G. W. F. Panzer, fortgesetzt von Dr. G. A. W. Herrich-Schäffer. 142nd fascicle, 24 plates and associated letterpress. Regensburg: Fr. Pustet. (in the present paper quoted as the “Herrich-Schäffer series”)

The index pages (wrappers) of these Hefte of both editions display a footnote with the imprinted date “Den 1.

Oktober 1836” ( Figs. 1B , 2B ). This date was confirmed as the actual date of publication of both Hefte 9 and 142 ( Nagel & Grieder 2019). Consequently, the original description of S. clavipes has to be dated as “1 st. Oct. 1836 ” and the publication should be chosen as Heft 9 of the “Koch series” or as Heft 142 of the “Herrich-Schäffer series”.

The citation of Heft 9 as part of the Koch series in the form of a separate line of the text in Heft 142 of the Herrich-Schäffer series (see Fig. 2C ) by Koch himself is an objective evidence of the precedence of Heft 9 in the case of a simultaneous publication ( Nagel & Grieder 2019).

The detailed statement in Nagel & Grieder (2019, p. 119) quoting “1836” rather than “1837” of Heft 9 in the Koch series “Deutschlands Crustaceen …” reveals a minor uncertainty: Indeed, a few subsequent references seem to support the publication date “1837”, without denying the wrapper date “1836” ( ICZN 1999, Article 21.2; Nagel & Grieder 2019, pp. 119-120). Identical description of S. clavipes in Heft 142 of the Herrich-Schäffer series “Deutschlands Insecten …” was equally dated as “ 1. Oktober 1836 ” with stronger evidence: Five subsequent records of Heft 142 have to be dated “1836” with the utmost probability ( Nagel & Grieder 2019, p. 70).

In summary, both Hefte 9 and 142 were published contemporaneously. Heft 9 was cited in Heft 142 and hence marked as the original publication (see above).

Consequently, the work containing the original description must be determined as follows:

Scolopendra clavipes C. L. Koch, 1836 in Koch, C.L., Deutschlands Crustaceen , Myriapoden und Arachniden. Ein Beitrag zur deutschen Fauna. Heft 9, unpaginated letterpress titled “Anmerkung [no.] 3)” [1 p.], listed subsequently to index species no. 9.1. Regensburg: Fr. Pustet. Date of publication 1 October 1836 (cf. Fig. 1B ).

The application of this amendment will contribute to the stability of nomenclature with regard to the date and title of publication. However, some other nomenclatural issues such as the list of subspecies or eventual synonyms were not checked in detail as this would be beyond the scope of the present contribution.

Figures

FIGURE 1. The Koch series, Heft 9, selected pages. A. Title page (Label) [glued on the front of the cardboard slipcase]. B. Outer front wrapper of thick, dusky pink paper. It depicts the register of contents. C. First page of letterpress with the description of Scolopendra italica Koch. The numbering of this page is on top left, highlighted and enlarged by present authors. D. Second page of letterpress with continuation of the description of S. italica and followed by the section “Anmerkung” (note). The two red arrows point to the descriptions of S. graeca and S. clavipes. E. Colour lithograph of S. italica, with plate and species number 9. 1. (highlighted and enlarged by the present authors) and long vertical scale bar pointing the actual size of the described Scolopendra. (Holding Library: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, München, Germany)

FIGURE 2. The Herrich-Schäffer series, Heft 142, selected pages. A. Title page (Label) [glued on the front of the cardboard slipcase]. B. Outer front wrapper of thick, dusky pink paper. It depicts the register of contents. C. First page of letterpress with the description of Scolopendra italica Koch. The numbering of this page is on top left. The red frame highlights the additional information on the primary publication as part of the “Koch series”. D. Second page of letterpress with continuation of the description of S. italica and followed by the section “Anmerkung” (note). The two red arrows point to the descriptions of S. graeca and S. clavipes. Neither of them is found in the “Index”. E. Colour lithograph of S. italica, with plate and species number 142. 1. (highlighted and enlarged by the present authors) and a scale bar pointing the actual size of the described Scolopendra (Holding Libraries: Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, München, Germany, Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) and Österreichische Nationalbibliothek, Wien, Österreich).