Epatica sprialis Ginanni, nom. inval. 1757
Publication Details
Epatica sprialis Ginanni, nom. inval. 1757: 26 (as 'spirale')
Published in: [Ginanni, G.] (1755). Opere postume de Conte Giuseppe Ginanni Ravennate. Tomo primo, nel quale si contengono cento quattordici piante, che vegetano nel Mare Adiatico, da lui osservate e descritte. pp. [1-xii], [i]-xix, 1-63, pls 1-55. In Venezia [Venice]: Appresso Guglielmo Zerletti.
Type Species
A type species for this genus does not appear to have been designated.
Status of Name
This name is currently regarded as a synonym of Phyllophora crispa (Hudson) P.S.Dixon.
Source of Synonymy
Cormaci, M., Furnari, G. & Alongi, G. (2020). Flora marina bentonica del Mediterraneo: Rhodophyta - Rhodymeniophycidae I. Acrosymphytales, Bonnemaisoniales, Gelidiales,
Gigartinales, Gracilariales. Bollettino Accademia Gioenia di Scienze Naturali di Catania 53(38): 11-346, incl. 55 pls.
General Environment
This is a marine species.
Created: 07 February 2017 by M.D. Guiry.
Last updated: 09 March 2020
Verification of Data
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Nomenclatural note
Invalid: Cormaci, Furnari & Alongi (2020: 232), "It's noteworthy that according to Athanasiadis (2016: 538) P. nervosa should be a taxon distinct from P. crispa and synonym of P. spiralis (Ginanni) Athanasiadis comb. inval.. Such a combination proposed by Athanasiadis (2016: 538) is invalid because its basionym "Epatica spiralis" Ginanni is an invalid name , differently from what thought by Athanasiadis. In fact, Athanasiadis (2016: 538, Note 2 under footnote 2) stated that "... Epatica spiralis is a case of descriptio generico-specifica [Art. 38.5 of ICN (Turland et al., 2018)], since the other two species names included by Ginanni are invalid (polynomials)." But, in presenting "Epatica spiralis", Ginanni (1755: 26) did not provide his own description or diagnosis, but referred to descriptions made by Ray (1724: 47) and Bauhin & Cherler (1650-51: 795). That, renders "Epatica" an invalid genus name according to the last sentence of Art. 38.5 of ICN (Turland et al., 2018). Consequently, "Epatica spiralis" is an invalid name according to Art. 35.1 of ICN (Turland et al., 2018). Moreover, it should be noted that "Epatica spiralis" is an invalid name also according to Art. 23.6 (a) of ICN (Turland et al., 2018) that states as follows: "The following designations are not to be regarded as species names: (a) Designations consisting of a generic name followed by a phrase name (Linnaean "nomen specificum legitimum") commonly of one or more nouns and associated adjectives in the ablative case, but also including any single-word phrase names in works in which phrase names of two or more words predominate". In fact, the last sentence of the above Article, not present in the previous Melbourne Code (McNeill et al., 2012), is applicable to Ginnani's (1755) paper. [The above nomenclatural conclusions derive from a fruitful exchange of views with John McNeill and William Woelkerling, here both acknowledged]. Finally, if we considered Phyllophora spiralis as the name of a new species described by Athanasiadis, such a name should be invalid because the type indicated by Athanasiadis (2016: 538 Notes [1], as "lectotype") is an illustration and not a specimen as required by Art. 40.4 of ICN (Turland et al., 2018)." - (09 March 2020) - M.D. Guiry
Linking to this page: https://www.algaebase.org/search/species/detail/?species_id=163028
Citing AlgaeBase
Cite this record as:
M.D. Guiry in Guiry, M.D. & Guiry, G.M. 09 March 2020. AlgaeBase. World-wide electronic publication, National University of Ireland, Galway. https://www.algaebase.org; searched on 28 June 2025
