Flag for Taxon: Polkadot Batfish (Ogcocephalus radiatus)
| Flagger | Content Author | Content | Reason | Flag Created | Resolved by | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mneilson-usgs | Polkadot Batfish (Ogcocephalus radiatus) |
this name is a synonym of O. cubifrons as a nomen dubium. |
Aug. 4, 2020 16:31:18 +0000 | loarie |
see comments |
Comments
Yeah, it's a bit confusing.
Should we swap with Ogcocephalus cubifrons?
The Bradbury (2003) checklist of Ogcocephalidae (https://www.calacademy.org/sites/default/files/assets/docs/ogcocephalidae.pdf) has it as incertae sedis, and lists similar information as to what Marc posted. I'll note that Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes does not list it as a valid name but still as nomen dubium, citing Bradbury 1980 and 2003. Since there's no types available, not sure if this will/can be resolved easily.
should we:
a) synonymize Ogcocephalus radiatus with O. cubifrons
or
b) deviate to maintain Ogcocephalus radiatus as distinct from O. cubifrons
as mentioned above CoF/Fishbase recognize O. cubifrons as obsolete but not a synonym of O. radiatus per say
preferences?
@kemper
@uconnbirdfish
@fredturt43
@panthalassaunited
Is there any idea of what would be the most parsimonious answer or is this a bit more complicated than it looks? If it were up to me, I'd go with O. cubifrons, being that O. radiatus is (currently) incertae sedis/nomen dubium. However, if that's not really the best course of action, then I'm not too sure what other solution to provide. Hopefully someone out there is doing the taxonomic analysis to resolve this issue.
I would definitely go with O. cubifrons. As a nomen dubium, O. radiatus has no current status. I see no value in retaining a name that is not currently in use for any known species. Also, O. radiatus is not listed in the 7th edition of the AFS list of common and scientific names, which is compiled by some very knowledgeable ichthyologists.
OK I swapped https://www.inaturalist.org/taxon_changes/114897 following fredturt43's advice
A user just added an ID of O. cubifrons to a couple of observations previously IDed as radiatus, noting that the name is obsolete. This isn't a group that I have studied before, but some preliminary research shows that both Fishbase and the CoF list radiatus, both noting it as a nomen dubium. If either source clearly said radiatus was a synonym of cubifrons, this would be easy to fix. Bradbury 1980:259 states that it is a synonym, and both sources cite this paper, but also retained the name. Not sure what to do about this.