Gyrinus striatus Fabricius, 1792

Fery, Hans & Hájek, Jiří, 2021, Nomenclatural and taxonomic notes on some species of Gyrinidae (Coleoptera), Acta Entomologica Musei Nationalis Pragae 61 (1), pp. 55-71 : 58-60

Gyrinus striatus Fabricius [ Aulonogyrus ] and Gyrinus striatus Olivier [ Aulonogyrus ]

( Figs 1–3 )

History of classification. Fൾඋඒ & Hගඃൾκ (2016: 652) declared G. striatus Olivier, 1795: 11 a junior primary homonym of G. striatus Fabricius, 1792: 203 (both currently in Aulonogyrus ), and thus permanently invalid.Additionally, they did not consider designating a neotype necessary to clarify the identity of the taxon, but instead left G. striatus Olivier a nomen dubium. However, thus far it was widely overlooked that Olivier published Gyrinus striatus not only in 1795, but also previously in the year 1792 (p. 701) (see above). Since the name G. striatus Olivier, 1795 is a junior primary homonym of G. striatus Olivier, 1792 (as well as that of G. striatus Fabricius ), the former name is permanently invalid and as such, we will not deal with it in detail in the following discussion.

Publication dates. Fൺൻඋංർංඎඌ (1792) as well as Oඅංඏංൾඋ (1792) were published in the same year. According to EඏൾඇIJඎංඌ (1997) and Bඈඎඌඊඎൾඍ (2016), Olivier’s work should be dated 1 October 1792, and Fabricius’ work 22 December 1792. This would make the Fabrician name a junior primary homonym of Olivier’s name. However, Y. Bousquet kindly communicated privately the following information: ‘ Subsequent to the publication of my “ Litteratura Coleopterologica ” [Bඈඎඌඊඎൾඍ 2016] I found that Fabricius’ book (Pars 1 and 2) was listed as being presented at the Leipzig Michaelismesse Book Fair of 1792 which according to EਖਅNਈਕਉਓ (2014) was held on 30 September 1792. ’ We have checked EඏൾඇIJඎංඌ (2014: 4) and the Catalogue of the Michaelismesse (Aඇඈඇඒආඈඎඌ 1792: 217) and confirm Bousquet’s information. Thus – although the difference is only a single day – Gyrinus striatus Olivier, 1792 is a junior primary homonym of Gyrinus striatus Fabricius, 1792 and it is permanently invalid.

Notes on type material. Gyrinus striatus Fabricius : Fൺൻ- උංർංඎඌ (1792) wrote: ‘Habitat in Barbariae aquis Mus. D. Desfontaines.’ According to Hඈඋඇ et al. (1990a: 91; see also Zංආඌൾඇ 1964: 9) Desfontaines’ collection should be preserved in the MNHN; however, no syntypes of this taxon were found in this museum (A. Mantilleri, pers. comm.). We have studied the sole specimen stored under this name in the collection Fabricius ( ZMUK) – this is in fact an Aulonogyrus striatus (see Fig. 1 for the habitus and Fig. 1a for the label texts: ‘striatus’ [hw Fabricius] and ‘10’ [hw?]). However, there is no evidence that this specimen belongs to the syntype series or is the one Fabricius studied (see also OർIJඌ 1927b: 40). The type locality of Fabricius’s species is ‘Barbaria’, meaning more or less a region in northern Africa which includes today’s Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. Because both Aulonogyrus striatus and A. concinnus ( Klug, 1834) occur in North Africa (see Bඋංඇർκ 1955b: 98 and Fඋൺඇർංඌർඈඅඈ 1979: 163), and Fabricius’ description of his striatus does not allow a safe attribution to either one of these two species, this name is considered a nomen dubium.

Gyrinus striatus Olivier : Oඅංඏංൾඋ (1792) described his taxon on the basis of material from the ‘Cabinet de M. Gigot d’Orcy’. According to Hඈඋඇ et al. (1990b: 138) Gigot’s collection should be preserved in the Muséum d’histoire naturelle, Genève; however, no syntypes of this taxon were found in this museum (I. Löbl, pers. comm.). The type locality of Olivier’s species is Spain (‘Il se trouve en Espagne, sur les eaux douces & stagnantes’). It is quite clear that Gyrinus striatus Olivier denotes one of the two Aulonogyrus species known from Europe: A. striatus or A. concinnus – both have been recorded from Spain. However, the two species are externally very similar and the description of this taxon does not allow a safe attribution to one of the two species. This is why the two names striatus published by Olivier in 1792 and 1795 as well as the name striatus published by Fabricius in 1792 are nomina dubia. Designation of neotypes. As shown above, the identity of the species described by Fabricius and Olivier is not clear, and thus the stability of nomenclature is threatened. In accordance with Article 75.3 of the ICZN (1999) we state the need to clarify the identity of these species and hereby designate the neotype for each of the taxa under consideration. The identity of the taxa is in accordance with the description of Aulonogyrus striatus by Hඈඅආൾඇ (1987: 60 ff; see below as well for differentiating characters of A. concinnus ).

Neotype of Gyrinus striatus Fabricius, 1792 : The neotype is a male with the following label dates: ‘ 19.5.2006 Algeria, Oued Medjerda, nr Souk -Ahras city’, ‘ 36.2447N 7.9573E, 530 m (Google Earth Pro), S. Bouzid leg. (V40)’ [printed], ‘ Aulonogyrus striatus F., Fery det. 2007’ [printed].

We have added a red printed label ‘ Neotype, Gyrinus striatus Fabricius, 1792 , Fery & Hájek des. 2020’ (see Figs 2, 2a ). The neotype (ex CHF) will be stored in the ZMUK.

Problems would come up, if it is found that the work of Oඅංඏංൾඋ (1792) was published before that of Fൺൻඋංർංඎඌ (1792). In this case Fabricius’ name would become a junior homonym of Olivier’s name, but the latter would be still a nomen dubium. In this case it will not be possible to apply Article 23.9 of the ICZN to give the Fabricius name precedence over that of Olivier because Olivier’s name was used as valid after 1899, e.g. by Hൾඒൽൾඇ et al. (1906: 123) and Zൺංඍඓൾඏ (1908: 122) (both giving 1791 as the publishing date for Olivier’s work). Furthermore, it cannot be excluded that in this case someone selects a specimen of Aulonogyrus concinnus from Spain for designating a neotype of this taxon and by this Klug’s name would become a junior subjective synonym of Olivier’s name. To avoid the possible confusion and destabilisation of the nomenclature, we also hereby designate a specimen from Spain as neotype for the taxon named Gyrinus striatus Olivier, 1792: 701 .

Neotype of Gyrinus striatus Olivier, 1792 and G. striatus Olivier, 1795 : The neotype is a male with the following label dates: ‘ 23.6.2018 (E) Granada, ca. 1 km SW Lentegi, 36.831N 3.683W, 350m, (Google Earth Pro), brook, Fery leg.’ [printed], ‘ Aulonogyrus striatus F., Fery det.2018’ [printed]. We have added a red printed label ‘ Neotype, Gyrinus striatus Olivier, 1792 , Fery & Hájek des. 2020’ (see Figs 3, 3a ). Additionally, we have added a printed label ‘ Aulonogyrus striatus ( Fabricius, 1792) , Fery & Hájek det. 2020’. The neotype (ex CHF) will be stored in the MNBG.Additionally, we designate simultaneously the same specimen as neotype of Gyrinus striatus Olivier, 1795: 11 which makes both Olivier names objective synonyms. Accordingly, we have added another red printed label ‘ Neotype, Gyrinus striatus Olivier, 1795 , Fery & Hájek des. 2020’ (see Fig. 3a ).

Gyrinus striatus Fabricius is now a senior subjective synonym of both G. striatus Olivier, 1792 syn. nov. and G. striatus Olivier, 1795 syn. nov.

Figures

Figs 1–3: Habitus of Aulonogyrus striatus (Fabricius, 1792). 1 – specimen in the coll. Fabricius; 2 – neotype of Gyrinus striatus Fabricius 1792; 3 – neotype of Gyrinus striatus Olivier, 1792 and of Gyrinus striatus Olivier, 1795. 1a–3a – respective labels.