Dear All, On behalf of my co-authors, I am pleased to share our recent publication in the Marine Mammal Science (open access):
Costa, APB, Wilcox LA, Sabin, RC, Rosel PE. (2023). Genetic and morphological data suggest a southeast Australian type locality for *Tursiops cymodoce* (Gray, 1846). Marine Mammal Science. https://doi.org/10.1111/mms.13062 The type locality of the nominal species *Tursiops cymodoce *(Gray, 1846) has been subject of debate. When originally described by Gray, its type locality was considered unknown, but collected during the voyage of the H.M.S. *Erebus* and *Terror* to the South Hemisphere (1839-1843). A few years later, Gray (1871) changed its type locality to the Uruguay River, which was never in the route of the H.M.S. *Erebus* and *Terror*. Was the type specimen not collected during the voyage, despite being described and illustrated in the summary of the voyage (Gray, 1846) or Gray’s later description of the type locality is incorrect? Such potential inaccuracy in details provided during the original description can lead to inaccurate nomenclature. With the recent rise in the number of recognized taxonomic units within the genus *Tursiops*, the clarification of incongruences like the one in question is of extreme importance to maintain taxonomic stability. With this aim, we extracted the DNA of the holotype of *T. cymodoce*, amplifying a 365 bp fragment of the mitochondrial control region. Comparisons with sequences from other *Tursiops* available on a public database revealed that *T. cymodoce* is more genetically similar to “*T. australis*” specimens (Burrunan dolphins), endemic to the coastal waters of southeast Australia. Additional morphological analyses of the skull of this holotype also showed similarities with Burrunan dolphins. In conclusion, we question the type locality provided by Gray (1871) for the holotype specimen *Tursiops cymodoce* (Gray, 1846). Here, we make our case to amend its type locality to southeast Australia following the Recommendation 76A.2 of the International Code on Zoological Nomenclature, wherein it states: “a statement of a type locality that is found to be erroneous should be corrected”. Best, Ana Costa
_______________________________________________ MARMAM mailing list MARMAM@lists.uvic.ca https://lists.uvic.ca/mailman/listinfo/marmam
