SCIENTIFIC CORRESPONDENCE

 

Titanoniscus, a replacement name for the South African woodlouse, Titana Budde-Lund, 1909 (Isopoda: Oniscidea)

 

 

John Ponting

Independent Researcher, Poole, UK

Correspondence

 

 

---

ABSTRACT

SIGNIFICANCE:
In any area of scientific study, it is important to be able to identify the objects being discussed. Within zoology, this applies to the identity of the species. This process is controlled by the Code of the International Commission for Zoological Nomenclature, which requires each animal to have a unique name (genus and species). When the same name is inadvertently given to a second animal, a new name must be given to the second described animal in order to retain clarity within the scientific literature. This article provides the required replacement name for a South African isopod. Isopods are an order of about 10 000 species of crustaceans, about half of which are terrestrial. These are commonly referred to as woodlice and form the suborder Oniscidea.

Keywords: Isopoda, Oniscidea, Titanidae, Titana, Titanoniscus, Titanoniscidae

---

 

 

Walker (1864)^1(p.813) named a genus of lepidopteran from Sarawak, Borneo Titana Walker, 1864. He included only a single species, Titana adelella Walker, 1864, which is therefore the type species. Meyrick (1925)^2(p.237) synonymised Titana under Lecithocera Herrich-Schäffer, 1853. Subsequently, Titana was moved to Thubana Walker, 1864, where it remains in the most recent works.³ Despite these synonymies, the name Titana Walker, 1864 remains an available lepidopteran name.

Budde-lund (1909)^4(p.65) named a genus of ligiid isopteran from Southwest Africa Titana Budde-Lund, 1909. He placed only one species in the genus, Titana mirabilis Budde-Lund, 1909, which is therefore the type species. Barnard (1932)^5(p.208) transferred this genus to the family Trichoniscidae. Verhoeff (1938)^6(p.253) created a new family Titanidae (the name was spelt incorrectly on p.256) for the genus Titana. In the latest world catalog of terrestrial isopods (Schmalfuss, 2003)^7(p.294), this genus name is still in use. It is also shown as "accepted" in Boyko et al., 2024⁸.

Titana Budde-Lund, 1909 is a junior homonym of Titana Walker, 1864 and a replacement name is required. Titanoniscus (Zoobank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:702EE5B9-3DDA-4F5A-9B35-7D61375D30EF) is hereby proposed for Titana Budde-Lund, 1909, preoccupied by Titana Walker, 1864. The name is derived by adding a suffix derived from the suborder name (-oniscus) to the original genus name. The gender is masculine and the only species is Titanoniscus mirabilis comb. n., which is therefore the type species.

When Verhoeff⁶ created the family Titanidae to hold this genus, Titana (as the only genus) was automatically the type genus. In accordance with Article 39 of the International Code for Zoological Nomenclature, the replacement name for the type genus of this family makes it necessary to amend the name of the family to Titanoniscidae nom. n. (Zoobank registration: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:46C42787-EAA5-4DF8-9EA7-3481166DC733). There are four other genera in this family^{7(p.24,82,134,211)}: Antidorcasia Kensley, 1971 (3 species), Coatonia Kensley, 1971 (1 species), Kogmania Barnard, 1932 (1 species) and Phylloniscus Purcell, 1903 (2 species).

These changes mean that the potential confusion arising from the name Titana being given to two different animals is resolved, with minimal disruption to nomenclatural stability.

 

References

1. Walker F. Tineites. List Spec Lepid Insects Colln Br Mus. 1864;29:563-835.         [ Links ]

2. Meyrick E. Lepidoptera Heterocera. Family Gelechiadae. In: Wytsman P, editor. Genera Insectorum vol. 184. Bruxelles: Louis Desmet; 1925.         [ Links ]

3. Park K-T, Bae Y-S, Kim S. Three new species of Thubana Walker, 1864 from Cambodia and Malaysian Borneo. SHILAP Rev Lepid. 2013;41(163):311-316.         [ Links ]

4. Budde-Lund G. Land-Isopoden. Denk Med-Naturw Ges Jena. 1909;14(2):53-70.         [ Links ]

5. Barnard KH. Contributions to the crustacean fauna of South Africa. Ann S Afr Mus. 1932;30(2):179-388.         [ Links ]

6. Verhoeff KW. Weltstellung der Isopoda terrestria, neue Familien derselben und neues System [World position of terrestrial isopods, new families and new system]. Zool Jahrb Syst. 1938;71(3):253-264. German.         [ Links ]

7. Schmalfuss H. World catalog of terrestrial isopods (Isopoda: Oniscidea). Stuttg Beitr Nat.kd A Biol. 2003;654:1-341.         [ Links ]

8. Boyko CB, Bruce NL, Hadfield KA, Merrin KL, Ota Poore GCB, Taiti S, editors. World marine, freshwater and terrestrial isopod crustaceans database. Titana Budde-Lund, 1909 [database on the Internet]. c2007 [updated 2023 Jul 31; cited 2024 Jul 22]. Available from: https://www.marinespecies.org/isopoda/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=249406        [ Links ]

 

 

Correspondence:
John Ponting
Email: sajs24a@phalangium.co.uk

Published: 7 March 2025