RE: proper use of *sp* designations

["Brian R. Watters" <bwatters at sk_sympatico.ca>]

Barry Cooper wrote:

>
> Eric,
>
> I support your position. If there is any doubt, the fish should not be
> placed in a particular species. However, in the case of the N.
> rubripinnis
> TZ 85/28, the collector (Seegers) did do so, so others were obliged to
> follow his nomenclature. However, if you now look in Killifishes of the
> World (Old World Killis II) by Seegers, you will see that he is
> designating
> this fish as N. sp. aff. rubripinnis TZ 85/28. Clearly he is
> having second
> thoughts. As far as I am aware, no data has been legitimately published
> deciding upon the true identity of the fish. The bottom line,
> nevertheless,
> is that if hobbyists are rigorous about correctly labelling fish,
> and about
> not allowing them to accidentally hybridize, this will still not be a
> problem. In other words, keep the various populations and collection
> locations separate, and no problem will occur. Fish maintained as N.
> rubripinnis TZ 85/28 (or the other locations, probably the same fish, one
> of which is our 97 collection from a quite distant site, still in
> the same
> drainage) will still be the "correct" fish. For this particular fish, a
> beauty by the way, I think it would be appropriate to follow the
> designation N. sp. aff. rubripinnis TZ 85/28 until a paper appears in the
> literature clarifying the name.
>
> Brian Watters might want to add his opinion, too.
>

I agree with this and there is not much more that I can add.

The true identity of the two N. sp. aff. rubripinnis populations (TAN 97/27
and KTZ 85/28) from the Mbwemkuru River system has yet to be determined for
sure. The fact that the KTZ 85/28 population does not cross-breed with the
TZ 83/5 (Mbezi River) population may suggest that the two represent distinct
species but that, in itself, is not conclusive evidence. Until we know more
about the distribution of the two we can say very little for sure. There are
plenty of problems such as this still to solve and that is one of the
reasons we keep going back to East Africa.
__________________________________________
Brian R. Watters
University of Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 0A2, Canada
Ph: (306) 584-9161 (home); (306) 585-4663 (work)
Fax: (306) 585-5433
E-mail: bwatters at sk_sympatico.ca

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References:

• Re: proper use of *sp* designations
• From: Barry Cooper <bjc3 at cornell_edu>

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