Authorship and date of publication of Pseudosphromenus dayi.

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J. South Asian nat. Hist., ISSN 1022-0828. April, 1994. Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 31-33.
© Wildlife Heritage Trust of Sri Lanka, 95 Cotta Road, Colombo 8, Sri Lanka.
Authorship and date of publication of
Pseudosphromenus dayi (Pisces : Belontiidae)
Maurice Kottelat*
Pseudosphromenus dayi is a belontiid fish whose name commonly appears in the
aquarium literature. It is a distinctive species of relatively small size and its most
obvious diagnostic characters are details of the colouration and colour pattern
which are not always very distinct, especially in old or alcohol preserved
museum specimens. The species, which is apparently endemic to Kerala, India,
is usually overlooked by Indian authors (e.g. Jayaram, 1980) or is considered as
a synonym of P. cupanus (e.g. Talwar & Jhingran, 1990:1003). The two species are
definitively distinct and this has been widely recognized by aquarists (see, e.g.,
Linke, 1990; Vierke, 1986). Several authors have cited authorship and publication
dates for this species, but in such an inconsistent way that I suspected that none
of them had actually tried to find the original description. For example, Axelrod
& Schultz (1983:554) gave the name as "Macropodus dayi (W. Kohler, 1909) in Blat.
Aquar.- Terrark. 20: 331", and Vierke (1986: 77) quoted the names as
"Pseudosphromenus dayi (Stansch, 1913?) " and stated: "A valid first description
by Kohler (1909) is lacking; first (?) valid description is by K. Stansch (1913): "Die
Labyrinthfische," Braunschweig, pp. 12-14" (my translation).
In order to resolve this confusion, I have looked into the relevant source
literature and found the following sequence of references, significant for solving
the problem:
Poenicke (1908) published a note in which he announced the import of a new
aquarium fish which he considered intermediate between Polyacanthus cupanus
and Ctenops vittatus. He gave no locality information but added that the speci
mens had been sent to Kohler for identification.
The first use of the name was by Kohler (1908: 395) in a paper on bubble-nest
building belontiids in which he stated: "Dabei have ich so ziemlich alle Arten bis
auf die zu allerletzt importierte Poly acanthus cupanus- Varietat, fur die ich, da sie
noch nicht benannt ist, den Namen var. dayi vorschlage, weil sie von Day zuerst
beschrieben wurde, zur Fortpflanzung gebracht" (I managed to bring to repro
* Route de Fregiecourt 96c, Case postale 57, 2952 Cornol, Switzerland.

K'O'ITELAT
duction all species except the recently-imported variety of Polyacanthus cupav uc
for which I recommend the name var. dayi, because it has been firrt described Dy
Day"). The name was not used again and I can find no other mention of this fish
under that or any other name in this paper. As a description or an indication (in
the sense of Article 12 (b) of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature
(ICZN) 1985 edition) is lacking, the name is a nomen nudum and is not available
from this paper.
There is no paper by Kohler on p. 331 of volume 20 of Blatter fur Aquarien-
und Terrarienkunde (as quoted, e.g. by Axelrod & Schultz, 1983: 554). There is
merely an anonymous report of a society meeting during which a teacher
Lehmann presented a communication. Anon. (1909) briefly reports that Lehmann
had been breeding the Polyacanthus recently imported for which Kohler had
proposed the name P. cupanus var. dayi. Again, there is neither description nor
indication and the name is not available; the only reference is to Kohler (1908), so
that there is no explicit reference to an explicit description and this is not an
indication.
The next use of the name is by Engmann (1909:476) who referred to Kohler's
recommendation that the fish be named Polyacanthus dayi but stated that he
preferred to call it "Polyacanthus cupanus var. von Malakka" awaiting examina
tion by scientists (he mentions in the introduction that specimens have been sent
to the British Museum, London, for identification; in 1911, in the same journal
there is a statement that C.T. Regan had identified them as P. cupanus). Engmann
also gives the locality of the specimens as Malakka. Polyacanthus cupanus var. dayi
is here published as a junior synonym of cupanus and, according to ICZN Article
11 (e) it may be treated as an available name only if "prior to 1961 it has been
treated as an available name and either adopted as the name of the taxon or
treated as a senior homonym."
Steche (1914, p. 394 and pi. 7 opposite p. 316) published an illustration of the
taxon and used the name "var. dayi" for it. This satisfies the conditions of Article
11 (e) of the Code and makes the name available. I did not search for additional
subsequent uses of the name prior to 1961 but undoubtedly they are numerous;
Steche is apparently the first one. There are at least two editions of Steche; I have
seen a volume dated 1925 without apparent difference. In any event, dates of
publication of subsequent usages are irrelevant so long as publication took place
prior to 1961.
Engmann (1909) is therefore technically author of the name Polyacanthus
cupanus var. dayi as he is responsible for the conditions which make it available.
Engmann's locality information for this species (Malacca) was evidently errone
ous; the data originates apparently from a breeder and not from the importer.
Many papers later in aquarium journals seem to imply that the fish actually
originated from Cochin. I have collected it in the vicinity of Kottayam, in Kerala,
India. The paper being not a scientific publication but a note in an aquarium
journal, there is no list of examined specimens, and therefore no clear designation
of type material; but the mention (p. 473) that Wolterstoff had sent specimens
(which Engmann had not seen) to an unnamed person in the British Museum,
London, is enough to make these specimens syntypes of the species (ICZN,
Article 72 (b) (iii)). I have not received from the Museum of Natural History,
London, a reply to my request for information on the whereabouts of these types.
32 J. South Asia n nat. Hist.

A u t h o r s h ip o f Pse u d o s p h ro m en u s d a yi
It was probably this species that Day (1865:135) described but did not name:
"In one specimen of an inch in length and having one spine in the dorsal and one ray
in the anal less than in any of the others, the colour differs, being of a beautiful rose
colour and rather dark brown along the back and base of the anal fin. Two deep black
horizontal lines pass one from above the orbit direct to the caudal, and a second from
the angle of the mouth, through the eye to the caudal. Head and cheeks spotted."
Literature cited
Anon, 1909. Ein nestbauendes Polyacanthus-Weibchen. Blatter fur Aquarien- und
Terrarienkunde 20: 331.
Axelrod, H. R. & L. P. Schultz. 1983. Handbook of tropical aquarium fishes. TFH Publ.,
Neptune City. 718 pp.
Day, F. 1865. The fishes of Malabar. Bernard Quaritch, London, xxxii+294 pp.
Engmann, P. 1909. Polyacanthus cupanus var. Blatter fur Aquarien-und Terrarienkunde 20:
473-476.
Jayaram, K.C. 1981. The freshwater fishes of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Burma and Sri
Lanka: a handbook. Zoological Survey of India, Calcutta, xxii+475 pp, 13 pis.
Kohler, W. 1908. Untersuchungen liber das Schaumnest und den Schaumnestbau der
Osphromeniden. Blatter fur Aquarien- und Terrarienkunde 19: 392-396.
Linke, H. 1990. Labyrintfische - Farbe in Aquarium. Tetra-Verlag, Melle, 174 pp.
Poenicke, K. 1908. Die letzte Neuheit. Blatter fur Aquarien-und Terrarienkunde 19: 286-
287.
Steche, O. 1914. Die Fische [von Alfred Brehm, unter Mitwirkung von Viktor Franz,
neubearbeitet von Otto Steche]. Vol.3 - in O. zur Strassen (ed.), Brehms Tierleben -
Allgemeine Kunde des Tierreichs, 4th edition. Bibliographisches Institut, Leipzig.
xxiv+590 pp.
Talwar, P. K. & A.G. Jhingran. 1991. Inland fishes of India and adjacent countries. Oxford
& IBH Publ. Co., New Delhi. 1:1-542; 2: 5 43-1158.
Vierke, J. 1986. Labyrinthfische Arten-Haltung-Zucht. Kosmos Franckh, Stuttgart. 128 pp.
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