On the nomenclatural status of some species of Haplotaxidae (Clitellata) from Guinea

摘要

Our attention was recently drawn to a problem of homonymy with Villiersia d'Orbigny, 1837, a nudibranch genus, posed by Villiersia Omodeo, 1987, an oligochaete genus of the family Haplotaxidae described from the Segea cave near Kindia, Guinea (Omodeo 1987). Examination of this case of homonymy has revived an old nomenclatural issue that dates back to 1958 when several taxa of the family Haplotaxidae were first proposed in a work on the oligochaete fauna of Mount Nimba (West Africa) (Omodeo 1958). A re-examination of the nomenclatural history of these taxa shows that subsequent nomenclatural interpretations made by some were unjustified, leading to a confusing situation. The taxa concerned, as currently accepted (Reynolds & Wetzel 2020), are the following: Haplotaxis villiersi Omodeo, 1987, syn. Haplotaxis carnivorus Omodeo, 1958 (nom. nud.); Villiersia Omodeo, 1987, syn. Haplolumbriculus Omodeo, 1958 (nom. nud.), type species: Villiersia guanivora Omodeo, 1987; Villiersia guanivora Omodeo, 1987, syn. Haplolumbriculus insectivorus Omodeo, 1958 (nom. nud.); Metataxis carnivorus Omodeo, 1987, syn. Pelodrilus carnivorus Omodeo, 1958 (nom. nud.).