Lacepdde (1803) for two species, Silurus inermis Linnaeus (1766) and Ageneiosus 

 armatus Lacep^de (1803). The epithet inermis is discussed in greater detail below. 

 Ferraris (1988) summarized the confused history of the latter name and several 

 replacement names, and his analysis is, in part, paraphrased here. 



Lacepdde's (1803) creation of the genus Ageneiosus was not accompanied by 

 the designation of a type species, despite acceptance of A. armatus as the type 

 species by most subsequent authors. The original description oi armatus is highly 

 problematic, however, because it included two species in its synonymy; Silurus 

 militaris, a synonym of the ariid catfish Osteogeneiosus militaris (as noted by Cuvier 

 and Valenciennes in 1840, and Eigenmann and Eigenmann in 1890), and a species 

 misidentified as Silurus militaris Linnaeus by Bloch (1794, p. 19, fig. 362). Bloch's 

 militaris, therefore, represents a junior primary homonym of Silurus militaris 

 Linnaeus (1766). Based on the errors made by Lacepdde and Bloch, Cuvier and 

 Valenciennes (1840) applied the name Ageneiosus militaris to the species figured by 

 Bloch, an action which Ferraris (1988) regarded as an unwarranted replacement 

 name; hence, the name is a junior objective synonym of A. armatus Lacepdde. 

 Ferraris (1988) explicitly designated the specimen described and figured by Bloch as 

 a lectotype of ^4. armatus, but he made no attempt to estabhsh an acceptable 

 identification of the taxon involved. As judged from the description and illustration 

 accompanying Bloch's (1794) account, his use of the name militaris was applied to 

 the species with the currently accepted name Ageneiosus brevifilis. 



The first designation of a type species of Ageneiosus was that of Bleeker 

 (1862:14), as "Ageneiosus militaris Blkr (nee Val.) = Silurus militaris Bl[och]." 

 However, as noted by Ferraris (1988), Bleeker's designation cannot be interpreted 

 as a proposal for a new name, inasmuch as he had previously recognized 

 Valenciennes' (in Cuvier and Valenciennes 1840) attempt to solve the 

 nomenclatural problem, by his statement "Ageneiosus militaris CV = ... Silurus 



