Sepia flagellata Curtiss 1938

Abstract

<i>Sepia flagellata</i> Curtiss, 1938, an unavailable name based on a hypothetical concept <p> <b>Original description (p. 188).</b> “The <i>feé árava</i>, as the Indians call it, is said to be a twelve-armed species of cuttle that comes out of the ocean at night, and feeds on turds, small rats, and other nasty things. I never saw one, and it may be a fable; but many Indians, whose words proved true in other matters, assured me that there was such a creature. The words <i>feé árava</i> mean merely <i>striped cuttle</i>, the word <i>árava</i> meaning a stripe or weal, like the mark left by a whip. (<i>Sepia flagellata</i>. (Seaside, near Tautira.))”.</p> <p> <b>Identity.</b> To the best of our knowledge, there is no known cephalopod species with twelve arms. Furthermore, Curtiss himself seems to have suspected that this entity was based on folklore, a conclusion supported by the additional notes on this animal’s habits. Article 1.3.1 of the <i>International Code of Zoological Nomenclature</i> (ICZN 1999: 3) makes it clear that “hypothetical concepts” are excluded from the provisions of zoological nomenclature. As such the name <i>Sepia flagellata</i> is not an available name and does not enter into zoological nomenclature.</p>Published as part of <i>Low, Martyn E. Y. & Tan, Siong Kiat, 2014, On the identities of the molluscan names described in A Short Zoology of Ta h i t i in the Society Islands by Anthony Curtiss in 1938 (Mollusca: Cephalopoda, Gastropoda), pp. 394-400 in Zootaxa 3764 (3)</i> on page 396, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3764.3.9, <a href="http://zenodo.org/record/226594">http://zenodo.org/record/226594</a&gt