Flag for Taxon: Puerto Rican Tree Snail (Caracolus caracolla)
| Flagger | Content Author | Content | Reason | Flag Created | Resolved by | Resolution |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| thomaseverest | Puerto Rican Tree Snail (Caracolus caracolla) |
caracolla or carocolla? |
Nov. 27, 2021 05:45:33 +0000 | loarie |
see comments |
Comments
"Carocolla" seems odd to me after "Caracolus" since I imagine they're both from "caracol" in one way or another. But MB does link to the original (down at the bottom) in Linnaeus, where it's caro-
https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886#page/791/mode/1up
In the zoology museum of my campus (UPRRP), the specimens of the species are labeled as Caracolus caracolla, even the ones that are from before this century. We’ve brought this very same topic up before, and some thought it may have been a mistake to write carocolla, since it just isn’t used. Even typing “Caracolus carocolla” into a search engine will have it suggest you use caracolla instead.
So sounds like we should change to "carocolla"?
Authority is unambiguous, caro- . I guess there's no ICZN bylaw to get around it? Feels like this one is above my pay grade lol.
I wouldn’t change it. Caracolus caracolla is used, while Caracolus carocolla is not. There isn’t a single specimen in the Zoology Museum that uses the carocolla version, not even the oldest ones from many decades past. They’re all under Caracolus caracolla. I recently went through the collection to check which ones have misspellings in their label info and made an excel document, just checked and there isn’t a single carocolla. It’s all C. caracolla.
If this was indeed an error, I would think it would be best to change it as soon as possible. But I am not familiar with this group so I am happy to simply add a deviation from MB.
Here are both spellings on labels for a Naturalis specimen.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Naturalis_Biodiversity_Center_-ZMA.MOLL.396294-Caracolus_caracolla(Linnaeus,1758)-Pleurodontidae-_Mollusc_shell.jpeg
If Linnaeus made a spelling or typographical error, which "carocol" would seem to be, there's gotta be some rule that says he can be corrected? Agree with tomenthurium that there are reasons for leaving this as is--I'd run it by one of those mollusca listservs, is it molluscalist?, with all the ppl who know nomenclatural arcana, before changing....
MB says "carocolla" but they don't really link to the original description. Internet seems to lean "caracolla". Wikipedia has both. Thoughts? @tomenthurium @ritirene @susanhewitt @stevemaldonadosilvestrini @ginsengandsoon
https://www.molluscabase.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1018129