Abstract
Rowleyella Lewis, 1971, established for a genus of fleas, was found to be a junior homonym of the brachiopod genus Rowleyella Weller, 1911 and is therefore replaced by Waynella nom. nov., a substitute that preserves the meaning of the original name. The four previously included nominal species, viz., Rowleyella arborea Lewis, 1971 (type-species), R. gongshanensis Gong and Duan, 1989, R. nujiangensis Lin and Xie, 1990 and R. fugongensis Gong and Li, 2020, are accordingly now to be called Waynella arborea (Lewis, 1971) n. comb., W. gongshanensis (Gong and Duan, 1989) n. comb., W. nujiangensis (Lin and Xie, 1990) n. comb. and W. fugongensis (Gong and Li, 2020) n. comb., respectively.
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Introduction
The flea genus Rowleyella (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae) was first erected by Dr. Robert E. Lewis (1971) in connection with his description of the type species Rowleyella arborea, Lewis, 1971, which had been collected from squirrels in Nepal. Three other species of Rowleyella have been described since then: R. gongshanensis Gong and Duan, 1989, R. nujiangensis Lin and Xie, 1990 and R. fugongensis Gong and Li, 2020 (Gong and Duan, 1989; Lin and Xie, 1990; Gong and Li, 2020).
Although still in current use as a valid, accepted name (e.g., Gong and Li, 2020), Rowleyella Lewis, 1971 is a junior homonym of Rowleyella Weller, 1911 (Athyridida: Meristidae), a name applied to a genus of fossil meristelloid athyridid brachiopods (Weller, 1911; Alvarez and Brunton, 1995; Copper, 1996). Because it has no available and potentially valid synonyms, Rowleyella Lewis, 1971 requires a new replacement name, or nomen novum, under Article 60.3 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN; International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature, 1999). Dr. Lewis, the original describer of this genus of fleas, died in 2017 (Eckerlin, 2017), so it is not possible to apply paragraph 3 of the ICZN’s Appendix A (Code of Ethics) and extend to him the courtesy of coining the needed nomen novum. Instead, a suitable replacement name is established here. According to Lewis’ (1971) original description of the genus, the name Rowleyella honors his esteemed colleague Dr. Wayne A. Rowley. To preserve this meaning, the new replacement name Waynella nom. nov. is proposed here by the author. It is derived by eliding Dr. Rowley’s first name, Wayn(e), with the original generic name’s Latin feminine suffix ‘-ella’.
References
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The author is deeply indebted to the editorial board for its kind assistance and to the anonymous reviewer for revising the manuscript.
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Li, MS. Waynella nom. nov. (Siphonaptera: Ceratophyllidae), a new replacement name for Rowleyella Lewis, 1971, a junior homonym of Rowleyella Weller, 1911 (Brachiopoda: Meristidae). Syst Parasitol 100, 631–632 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-023-10112-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11230-023-10112-5