Amphidinium herdmanii Kofoid & Swezy 1921
Publication Details
Amphidinium herdmanii Kofoid & Swezy 1921: 143, text fig. U, 2 (as 'herdmani')
Published in: Kofoid, C.A. & Swezy, O. (1921). The free-living unarmored Dinoflagellata. Memoirs of the University of California 5: i-viii, 1-562.
Original description: 
Type Species
The type species (holotype) of the genus Amphidinium is Amphidinium operculatum Claparède & Lachmann.
Status of Name
This name is of an entity that is currently accepted taxonomically.
Type Information
Type locality: On sandy beach, Port Erin, Isle of Man, Irish Sea; (INA 1996)
Eponomy
Named for Sir William Abbott Herdman, University of Liverpool.
General Environment
This is a marine species.
Created: 07 May 2002 by M.D. Guiry.
Last updated: 25 June 2024
Verification of Data
Users are responsible for verifying the accuracy of information before use, as noted on the website Content page.
Nomenclatural note
Robin Raine writes (7 November 2011): 'Sir William Abbott Herdman was a marine scientist of note, holding a senior position in the University of Liverpool and he became an FRS in the 1890s. Recently, sparked by an interest in literature review from a 4th year, I got copies of his annual reports of the Liverpool Marine Biology Committee of 1912 and 1913 where he refers to brown patches on Isle of Man sands and high densities of Amphidinium operculatum. He had published this "properly" in 1911 [in Nature and J. Linn. Soc. (Zool.)] but it is in the annual reports where there are a lot of drawings It is these references which are quoted by Kofoid (Kofoid and Swezy 1921 p.143), who on the basis of certain differences between their idea of A. operculatum and the diagrams of (W.A.) Herdman in the annual reports renamed the species described and drawn by (W.A.) Herman as A. herdmani (sic).
E.C. (Catherine) Herdman was William Herdman's daughter. Within the dinoflagellate world she is probably better known for her Amphidinium descriptions from Port Erin sands published from 1922-1924. This series contained descriptions of quite a few new dinoflagellate species.
There is no mention of Catherine Herdman in Kofoid's A. herdmani sp. nov. page. It is full of references to William's work. Unless Kofoid was familiar with the existence of Catherine, and/or was big buddy-buddies with William, or there is a letter floating around by Kofoid to William saying he named the species after Catherine, then, surely, Kofoid was naming the species after William, and therefore "herdmanii" is the correct epithet.' - (07 November 2011) - M.D. Guiry
Linking to this page: https://www.algaebase.org/search/species/detail/?species_id=52085
Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
G.M. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 25 June 2024. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 26 May 2025
