NO. 7 OPINIONS 115 TQ I23 29 



OPINION 120 



The Status of Achat iints. iSio 



SUMMARY. — .icliatiniis, 1810, is emendation of and therefore objective 

 synonym of Acliatiiia, 1799; the designation of ccbra as type of Acliatiiius 

 contravenes Article 301/ and c. .Iclnitiiiiis, 1810, invalidates any later use of 

 Achatimis in a different sense. 



Statement of case. — The following case has heen submitted for 

 Opinion by Dr. H. A. Pilsbry and Dr. H. Burrington Baker of the 

 Philadelphia Academy of Natural Sciences : 



Wliat is the status of emendations of generic names? 



(i) Can an emended form be used as a valid name of a genus if 



(a) the original form is preoccupied or 



(b) if the emendation has a different generic type? 



(2) Can an emendation preoccupy a new generic name of later date? 

 Case I. Can Achatinus Montfort be used as the name of a genus? The fol- 

 lowing names arc included in this problem : 



Achatina Lamarck, 1799, June or July; ]\iem. Soc. Hist. Nat. Paris, p. 75, 

 monotype Bulla achatina L., 1758, Syst. Nat., X, p. 728. 



Achatinus Montfort, 1810, Conchyl. System., II, pp. 418, 419, emendation of 

 Achatina, but with type by original [definitej designation (p. 419),. 

 .-]. ::cbra = BiiUunts ::chra Bruguiere, 1792, Encycl. meth., I, p. 357, 

 no. 100. 



Cochlitoina- Ferussac, 182 1, Hist. N. g. et p. Moll., Table Limagons, p. 28, 

 type designated by Pilsbry, 1904, Man. Conch., 2nd ser., 17, p. 78, Bntinius 

 zebra Brug. 



Achatimis Montfort is undoubtedly an emendation of Achatina Lamarck be- 

 cause (a) Montfort almost always changed generic names so as to give 

 them a masculine ending, and (b) he included "Achatina zebra Roissy " 

 in the synonymy of his type species. 



The types of Achatina Lamarck and Achatinus Montfort are now placed in 

 separate genera. Can Achatinus be used for the African genus of pulmonale 

 snails (typified by Bulimus zebra Brug.) or must the name become Cochtilonia 

 Ferussac? 



Discussion of case. — The Secretary has verified the following 

 references : 



Achatina Lamarck, 1799, Mem. Soc. Hist. nat. Paris, p. 75, mt. (Article 30f ) 

 and tat. (Article sod) Bulla achatina Linn. 



Montfort, 1810, Conch. Syst., vol. 2, pp. 418-420, referring to the 

 vernacular name " L'Agathinc " (|uotes a generic name, Achatinus. 

 gives a generic diagnosis and adds " Espccc scri'ant dc type an r/ciirc, 

 Agathine cebre, Achatinus ::cbra," with liibliographic references and 

 technical and vernacular names. 



