OPINIONS RENDERED BY THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION ON ZOOLOGICAL NOMENCLATURE Opinions 68 to 77 OPINION 68 The Type Species of Pleuronectes Linn^us, 1758A Summary. — Fleming, 1828, p. 196, does not designate the type of Pleuronectes. Statement of case. — Chancellor David Starr Jordan has submitted the following case for opinion : THE TYPE OF PLEURONECTES L. The Linnaean genus Pleuronectes, containing many species, was subdivided by Rafinesque, 1810, Indice d'lttiologia Siciliana, pp. 14-15, and by Cuvier, 1817, Le Regne Animal, vol. 2, pp. 218-224. In neither case was the name Pleuro-nectes applied to any one of these subdivisions. Such application to a restricted group was first made by Fleming, 1828, pp. 196-199 (History of British Animals). He recognizes four genera of flounders, Pleuronectes, Solea (Rafinesque), Platessa (Cuvier), and Hippoglossus (Cuvier). The types of the last three genera are clearly Pleuronectes solea L., Pleuronectes platessa L., and Pleuronectes hippoglossus L. As to Pleuronectes Fleming says : "Gen. XLVI. Pleuronectes. Turbot. Mouth entire; teeth numerous, slender. Lateral line curved. Eyes on the left side." The five species named represent five modern genera, all allies of the turbot. Pleuronectes maximus L. is the type of the genus Psetta Swainson. The first species named by Fleming is " 96, P. maximus. Common Turbot." Under the rules of the Zoological Congress, does this act of Fleming restrict the name of Pleuronectes to the Turbot group ? In this case later usage has made Pleuronectes maximus L., the Turbot, the type. Or does Fleming fail to fix the type? In this case we go on to Bleeker, 1862, pp. 422-429 (Versl. en Mededeel. Kon. Akad. Wetens. Amsterdam), who makes Pleuronectes synonymous with Platessa Cuvier, the type being Pleuronectes platessa L. In this Bleeker has been followed by common usage. Discussion. — It is to be noticed that Doctor Jordan does not ask the Commission to determine the type of Pleuronectes, but only whether Fleming in 1828 does, or does not, fix the type of this genus. Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. 73, No. 1
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