On the attribution of authorship for several elasmobranch species in Müller and Henle’s Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen
Published on 07. December 2015
On the attribution of authorship for several elasmobranch species in Müller and Henle’s Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii)
Christian M. Jones, William B. Driggers III, José I. Castro, Marcelo R. De Carvalho
INTRODUCTION:
Even in light of the recent peak in new species descriptions of elasmobranchs (summarized in White & Last, 2012), Johannes Müller and Friedrich Henle’s Systematische Beschreibung der Plagiostomen (1839–1841) stands as a major achievement in chondrichthyan taxonomy. This volume included all elasmobranch species then known as well as descriptions of 61 new species (for a total of 214 species), and established many of the family-level groups still in use today. Müller & Henle’s work, however, would not have been possible without the collaboration of other naturalists who provided specimens for examination, detailed notes, and illustrations (Müller & Henle, 1841). Four men in particular made significant enough contributions to warrant Müller & Henle attributing the authority of several species to them: Achille Valenciennes (1794–1865), Gabriel Bibron (1805–1848), Heinrich Bürger (1806–1858), and Andrew Smith (1797–1872). In nearly every case however, authority is currently placed on Müller & Henle themselves, and not the gentlemen to whom they gave credit. (…)
Zootaxa 4052 (5): 569–572