On the identity of Calcarina spengleri (Gmelin 1791)

摘要

Calcarinids are a group of larger benthic foraminifera that show a high degree of inter- and intra-specific variability. Because of this, the status of several species has long been unclear. In this paper, we discuss the identity of Calcarina spengleri (Gmelin 1791) in comparison with three species with which it has been confused: Calcarina mayori Cushman 1924, C. gaudichaudii d'Orbigny 1840 and C. hispida Brady 1876. We conclude that the neotype, as designated by Hansen for Nautilus spengleri Gmelin, 1791 belongs to Calcarina hispida. This makes C. hispida a junior synonym of C. spengleri. We propose conserving the prevalent usage of C. hispida and the pre-1981 common use of C. spengleri, by assigning a new neotype for Nautilus spengleri. A formal proposal has been sent to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature.