NO. 5 OPINIONS 98 TO 104 



OPINION 100 



Suspension of Rules, Spirifcr and Syriin/ofhyris 



SUMMARY. — Under Suspension of the Rules the genotype of Spirifcr 

 Sowerby, 1816, is fixed as .limxiia slriala Martin, and the genotype of Syriii(io- 

 thyris Winchell, 1863, is fixed as Syriiii/dthyris lypti Winchell (=: Spirifcr 

 cartcri Hall). 



Statement of Case. — Miss llelen M. Miiir Wood has submitted 

 the following case for opinion inidcr Suspension of the Rules: 



The peniis Spirifcr was first named and described by James Sowerby, 

 Feb. I, 1816, in Mineral Conchology, Vol. 11, p. 41. The only species mentioned 

 is "Spirifcr cuspidafus" [Anomia ciispidata of \V. Martin, 1798, Trans. Linn. 

 Soc, Vol. 4, p. 45]. In his discussion of Spirifcr Sowerby writes: "this genus 

 will comprehend nearly all the shells retained as Tcrcbratiila by Lamarck which 

 have a triangular foramen and not a perforation at the apex of the beak as the 

 character of that genus requires. The several individuals in which I have dis- 

 covered spiral appendages bear a considerable affinity to each other " 



He adds in a footnote, " I gave a paper sometime since to the Linnean Society 

 on the construction of this tubular cartilage which almost fills the shells . . . . " 



" .... I conceive that all those in Martin's division of Anomitac d. d. 

 (Martin's outlines and p. 243) which he describes as having both valves convex 

 and a large trigonal foramen belong to this genus and also perliaps those of 

 his next section with a small foramen . . . . " [This refers to Petrificata 

 Derbiensia of Martin, 1809, p. 9, and includes the following species of Martin : 

 first, Anomitcs trigonalis, triangularis, striaius, subconicus, cuspidafus; 

 secondly, acutus, rotundus, glabcr, rcsupinatus, and lincatus.] 



In December 1814 and February 1815 James Sowerby had read a paper 

 before the Linnean Society entitled " Some Account of the Spiral tubes or 

 ligaments in the genus Tcrcbratiila of Lamarck as observed in several species 

 of fossil shells." This paper which did not appear in print until 1818 (Trans. 

 Linn. Soc, Vol. 12, p. 514) contained an account and figures of the spires in 

 Anomia, Tcrebratula striata of Martin (Petrificata Derliiensia, 1809, pi. 23, 

 figs. I and 2) and is referred to in the footnote in the Mineral Conchology. 

 Sowerby states, p. 515: "I suspect Anontia cuspidata .... with the beak of 

 the perforated valve lengthened and reverse may have a similar construction 

 within as well as Anomia suhconica of Martin tab. 47." A footnote on the 

 same page, added at the time of publication, referring to Anomia cuspidata. 

 states " Figured since the reading of this paper as Spirifcr cuspidata in Mineral 

 Conchology tab. 120." 



From the preceding it follows (i) that Spirifcr was neither named nor 

 diagnosed before February 1816 (Min. Conch.), (2) that the diagnostic char- 

 acter by which the genus was distinguished from Tcrebratula was the shape of 

 the foramen, (3) that the possession of si)ires by species so distinguished was 

 inferred in the case of Spirifcr cuspidatus, (4) that the only species actually 

 named as Spirifcr was Anomia cuspidata Martin, which therefore is the geno- 

 type (monotypic). 



