Mithrax Latreille, 1816

Ng, P. K. L. & Low, M. E. Y., 2010, On the generic nomenclature of nine brachyuran names, with four replacement names and two nomina protecta (Crustacea: Decapoda), Zootaxa 2489 (1), pp. 34-46 : 38

Mithrax Latreille, 1816 ( Majidae Samouelle, 1819 ), not Mithrax Latreille, 1818 , or Mithrax Desmarest, 1823

The authorship and year of publication for the majid genus Mithrax has been attributed Pierre André Latreille (1818: 224) (see Wagner 1990: 5) or Alfred Grandidier Desmarest (1823: 263) (see Ng et al. 2008: 120). However, Latreille (1816) appears to have been the first to use the name Mithrax in Les Crustacés, les Arachnides et les Insectes which comprises volume 3 of Cuvier’s Règne Animal. The date of publication for volume 3 of Cuvier’s Règne Animal is often cited as 1817, but we follow Roux (1976: 31), who determined that the correct date of publication of volume 3 of Cuvier’s Règne Animal was 2 December 1816.

Latreille (1816: 23) listed: “Les MITHRAX . Leach.” and included a short diagnosis, followed by a footnote saying “ Canc. spinipes, HERBST, XVII, 94; ― canc. hispidus, id. XVIII, 100; ― canc. aculeatus, id. XIX, 104.”. This makes Mithrax Latreille, 1816 , available.

It is, however, important to note that the way in which Latreille (1816) cites and names the various brachyuran genera in his work varied, and it may be argued that his usage of “Les MITHRAX ” was as a vernacular name. For most of the genera, e.g., “Les PARTHENOPES. (PARTHENOPE. Fab.)” and “Les MIGRANES. (CALAPPA. Fab.)” ( Latreille 1816: 23), he used a French vernacular name, followed by the scientific name and the author responsible. However, Latreille (1816) also used names which he ascribed to Leach, probably resulting from their correspondence. These Leach names were printed in a different format: “Les THIA, Leach. ” (p. 19); “Les IXA . Leach. (p. 20); “Les DOCLEA . Leach.” (p. 22); “Les MITHRAX . Leach.” (p. 23); and “Les OETHRA . Leach.” (p. 24). Neal Evenhuis (pers. comm.) commented that Latreille (1816) would have used “Les Mithraces. Leach” if he had intended it to be the vernacular form of the name. Latreille’s (1816: 18) use of two other names: “Les POTAMOPHILES. Latr.” and Les ERIPHIES. Latr.”, both of which we do not consider to have been made available in this publication, support this premise.

The name Oethra (now emended to Aethra ) has been discussed at length by Ng (1999: 110, 111) who noted that Aethra was first made available in Latreille (1816). Furthermore, following a strict interpretation of Article 50.1 of the Code ( ICZN, 1999: 52), the author of Aethra should not be Leach, but Latreille, who used the name and first provided a description (see Ng 1994). With regard to the three names ( Thia , Ixa and Doclea ) attributed by Latreille (1816) to Leach; they do not present any nomenclatural problems as they had been published by Leach before Latreille (1816): Doclea in Leach, 1815, while Ixa and Thia were published by Leach on 24 January 1816 (see discussion on Thia below).

On the basis of the above arguments, Mithrax is nomenclaturally available from 1816 and Latreille is the author of the name.