Nullipora Lamarck, 1801, nom. rejic.

Lectotype species: Nullipora nodulosa Lamarck

Publication details: Lamarck, 1801: 374

Currently accepted name for the type species: Phymatolithon calcareum (Pallas) W.H.Adey & D.L.McKibbin ex Woelkering & L.M.Irvine

Original publication: Lamarck, J.B. de (1801). Systeme des Animaux sans vertebres, ou tableau général des classes, des ordres et des genres de ces animaux; Présentant leurs caractères essentiels et leur distribution, d'après la considération de leurs rapports naturels et de leur organisation, et suivant l'arrangement établi dans les galeries du Muséum d'Hist. Naturelle, parmi leurs dépouilles conservées. Précédé du discours d'ouverture du Cours de Zoologie, donné dans le Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle l'an 8 de la République.. pp. i-viii, 1-432. Paris: Chez l'Auteur, au Muséum d'Hist[oire] Naturelle; Chez Derteville, Libraire, rue du Battoir n° 16, quartier de l'Odéon..

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Type designated in: Nardo, G.D. (1834). De corallinis ac nulliporis auct. Isis von Oken 1834(1): 673-675.

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Precise date of publication: 1801 (more precise date not determined) The requirements for valid publication are specified in the ICBN (International Code of Botanical Nomenclature).

Description: No description is provided as this name is currently in synonymy.

Information kindly contributed by Wm. J. Woelkerling but may now be outdated.

Taxonomic status: This name is currently regarded as a synonym of Phymatolithon.

Comments: Seven generic names are based on Millepora polymorpha Linnaeus and thus are ultimately typified by the type of Millepora calcarea Pallas. Chronologically these are Apora Gunnerus (1768), Nullipora Lamarck (1801), Agardhina Nardo (1834), Agardhia Meneghini (1838), Juergensia Reichenbach (1841), Phymatolithon Foslie (1898) and Eleutherospora Heydrich (1900). Because Phymatolithon is a conserved name, it automatically takes precedence over the other six names, which must be rejected under ICBN Art. 14.4, irrespective of when they were validly published. Separate entries for each name are provided in AlgaeBase

An account of the epitype specimen of Millepora calcarea Pallas, the correct name for Millepora polymorpha Linnaeus, is provided by Woelkerling & Irvine (1986, as Phymatolithon calcareum).

Changes in the ICBN necessitated an update (Spencer et al. 2009: 253) to the original typification (Woelkerling & Irvine 1986 58) of Millepora calcarea; the species is now lectotypified by an illustration (Ellis 1755, Tab. 27, Fig. C) cited in the protologue (Pallas 1766: 265) and epitypified by BM 000562555 (Algal Box Collection 1626) housed in the Natural History Museum , London. Further information is provided in the AlgaeBase entry for Phymatolithon. 

Nomenclatural note

The ICBN rules cited below are those adopted by the Seventeenth International Botanical Congress, Vienna, Austria, July 2005 (McNeill et al. 2006).

The nomenclature associated with the name Nullipora is rather complicated. Lamarck (1801: 374) established Nullipora for four species but did not designate a type. Woelkerling & Irvine (1986: 66-67) determined, however, that Nullipora nodulosa Lamarck, one of the four species originally included by Lamarck, is a superfluous substitute name (ICBN Art 52) for Millepora polymorpha Linnaeus (1767: 1285). Lamarck (1801) listed Millepora polymorpha in the synonymy of Nullipora nodulosa and also cited the illustration published by Ellis (1755, Tab. 27, Fig. C, as Corallium pumilum album Ellis) that is now the lectotype of Millepora polymorpha (see Spencer et al. 2009: 253; also see comments below).

The earlier generic name Apora Gunnerus (1768) (see AlgaeBase entry for Apora) also is typified by the type of Millepora polymorpha Linnaeus and thus the generic name Apora has nomenclatural priority (ICBN Art 11.3) over Nullipora. As a result, Nullipora is a superfluous substitute name (ICBN Art 52) for Apora, and the type of Apora also is the type of Nullipora (ICBN Art. 7.5). Bosc (1803a: 496; 1803b: 564) also had cited Millepora polymorpha Linnaeus as the type species of Nullipora,but without formally making the combination Nullipora polymorpha.

Apora (Gunnerus 1768), in turn, is a formally rejected name in favour of Phymatolithon Foslie (1898), which is formally conserved under ICBN Art. 14. Phymatolithon, also typified by the type of Millepora polymorpha, is listed in the Nomina Generica Conservanda (ICBN Appendix III, A9), and in accordance with ICBN Art. 14.4, Phymatolithon is conserved against all other generic names based on the same type, including Nullipora.

Millepora polymorpha Linnaeus is itself a superfluous substitute name for Millepora calcarea Pallas (1766: 265) and thus is illegitimate under ICBN Art. 52 (see Woelkerling & Irvine 1986 for further information). Consequently, Millepora polymorpha is automatically typified (ICBN Art. 7.5) by the type of M. calcarea, the name that ought to have been adopted under the rules.The end result is that the type of M. calcarea is also the type of M. polymorpha and of Nullipora nodulosa, and thus typifies Nullipora (ICBN Art. 10.1)..

The current correct name (see ICBN Appendix VII for definition of a correct name) for Millepora calcarea is Phymatolithon calcareum (Pallas) Adey & McKibbin (1970: 100). For further information, see the AlgaeBase entry for Phymatolithon.
- (26 August 2009)

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Contributors
Some of the descriptions included in AlgaeBase were originally from the unpublished Encyclopedia of Algal Genera, organised in the 1990s by Dr Bruce Parker on behalf of the Phycological Society of America (PSA) and intended to be published in CD format. These AlgaeBase descriptions are now being continually updated, and each current contributor is identified above. The PSA and AlgaeBase warmly acknowledge the generosity of all past and present contributors and particularly the work of Dr Parker.

Descriptions of chrysophyte genera were subsequently published in J. Kristiansen & H.R. Preisig (eds.). 2001. Encyclopedia of Chrysophyte Genera. Bibliotheca Phycologica 110: 1-260.

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Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 17 December 2022. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 18 June 2025