Abstract
Monogenea van Beneden, 1858 is the most appropriate name to apply to the class of Platyhelminthes comprising the monogenean flatworms. Monogenoidea sensu Bychowsky (1937) is considered an emendation of Monogenea van Beneden, 1858. Arguments that support the use of Monogenoidea as the valid name of the class are based on erroneous assumptions of authorship and of “priority” and “rank”, as defined in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a document that does not apply to taxa above the family level. In the absence of defined rules, names for higher taxa should be based on a combination of priority, stability and consensus among specialists, with stability and consensus the most important considerations. The priority of Monogenoidea versus Monogenea is questionable, and both nomenclatural stability and consensus among specialists favour the use of Monogenea rather than Monogenoidea.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Beneden, P.-J.van (1858) Mémoire sur les vers intestinaux. Mémoire qui a obtenu de l'Institut de France (Académie des Sciences) le Grand Prix des Sciences physiques pour l'année 1853. Comptes Rendus des Séances de l'Académie des Sciences, Supplément, 2, 1–376.
Beverley-Burton, M. (1984) Monogenea and Turbellaria. In: Margolis, L. & Kabata, Z. (Eds.) Guide to the parasites of fishes of Canada. Part I. Canadian Special Publication of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 74, 5–209.
Beverley-Burton, M. & Klassen, G.J. (1990) New approaches to the systematics of the ancyrocephalid Monogenea from nearctic freshwater fishes. Journal of Parasitology, 76, 1–21.
Blackwelder, R.E. (1967) Taxonomy. A text and reference book. New York: Wiley, 698 pp.
Boeger, W.A. & Kritsky, D.C. (1989) Phylogeny, coevolution, and revision of the Hexabothriidae Price, 1942 (Monogenea). International Journal for Parasitology, 19, 425–440.
Boeger, W.A. & Kritsky, D.C. (1993) Phylogeny and a revised classification of the Monogenoidea Bychowsky, 1937 (Platyhelminthes). Systematic Parasitology, 26, 1–32.
Brooks, D.R. (1989) A summary of the database pertaining to the phylogeny of the major groups of parasitic platyhelminths, with a revised classification. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 67, 714–720.
Brothers, D.J. (1983) Nomenclature at the ordinal and higher levels. Systematic Zoology, 32, 34–42.
Bychowsky, B.E. (1937)[Ontogenesis and phylogenetic interrelationships of parasitic flatworms]. Izvestia Akademia Nauk SSSR, Ser. Biologiya, 4, 1353–1383.[In Russian; English translation edited by Simmons, J.E. (1981), Virginia Institute of Marine Science Translation Series No. 26. Gloucester Point: Virginia Institute of Marine Science, 37 pp.]
Bychowsky, B.E. (1957) [Monogenetic trematodes. Their systematics and phylogeny]. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo Akademii Nauk SSSR. [In Russian; English translation edited by Hargis, W.J. Jr (1961) Virginia Institute of Marine Science Translation Series No. 1. Washington: American Institute of Biological Sciences, 627 pp.]
Carus, J.V. (1863) Räderthiere, Würmer, Echinodermen, Coelenteraten und Protozoen. In: Peters, W.C.H., Carus, J.V. & Gerstaecker, C.E.A. (Eds.) Handbuch der Zoologie, 2, 422–600.
Corliss, J.O. (1972) Common sense and courtesy in nomenclatural taxonomy. Systematic Zoology, 21, 117–122.
Dawes, B. (1946) The Trematoda, with special reference to British and other European forms. Cambridge: University Press, 644 pp.
Dundee, H.A. (1989) Higher category name usage for amphibians and reptiles. Systematic Zoology, 38, 398–406.
Ehlers, U. (1985) Das phylogenetische System der Plathelminthes. Stuttgart: Gustav Fischer Verlag, 317 pp.
Euzet, L., & Prost, M. (1981) Report of the meeting on “Monogenea: problems of systematics, biology and ecology”. In: Ślusarski, W. (Ed.) Review of Advances in Parasitology. Warsaw: PWN-Polish Scientific Publishers, 1,003–1,004.
Gusev, A.V. (1978) Some controversial problems in classification of monogeneans. Folia Parasitologica, 25, 323–331.
Hemming, F. (Ed.) (1953) Copenhagen decisions on zoological nomenclature, additions to, and modifications of the Règles internationales de la nomenclature zoologique. Approved and adopted by the Fourteenth International Congress of Zoology, Copenhagen, August, 1953. London: International Trust for Zoological Nomenclature, 135 pp.
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature (1985) International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Third edition. London: British Museum (Natural History), 338 pp.
Justine, J.-L. (1991) Cladistic study in the Monogenea (Platyhelminthes), based upon a parsimony analysis of spermiogenetic and spermatozoal ultrastructural characters. International Journal for Parasitology, 21, 821–838.
Kritsky, D.C. & Boeger, W.A. (1989) The phylogenetic status of the Ancyrocephalidae Bychowsky, 1937 (Monogenea: Dactylogyroidea). Journal of Parasitology, 75, 207–211.
Kritsky, D.C. & Boeger, W.A. (1991) Neotropical Monogenea. 16. New species of oviparous Gyrodactylidea with proposal of Nothogyrodactylus gen. n. (Oogyrodactylidae). Journal of the Helminthological Society of Washington, 58, 7–15.
Kritsky, D.C., Boeger, W.A. & VanEvery, L.R. (1992) Neotropical Monogenoidea. 17. Anacanthorus Mizelle and Price, 1965 (Dactylogyridae, Anacanthorinae) from characoid fishes of the Central Amazon. Journal of the Helminthological Society of Washington, 59, 25–51.
Kritsky, D.C. & Thatcher, V.E. (1983) Neotropical Monogenea. 5. Five new species from the Aruanã, Osteoglossum bicirrosum Vandelli, a freshwater teleost from Brazil, with the proposal of Gonocleithrum n. gen. (Dactylogyridae: Ancyrocephalinae). Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 96, 581–597.
Lebedev, B.I. (1988) Monogenea in the light of new evidence and their position among platyhelminths. Angewandte Parasitologie, 29, 149–167.
Malmberg, G. (1990) On the ontogeny of the haptor and the evolution of the Monogenea. Systematic Parasitology, 17, 1–65.
Odhner, T. (1912) Homologien der weiblichen Genitalwege bei den Trematoden und Cestoden. Nebst Bemerkungen zum natürlichen System der monogenen Trematoden. Zoologischer Anzeiger, 39, 337–351.
Price, E.W. (1937) North American monogenetic trematodes. I. The superfamily Gyrodactyloidea. Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences, 27, 114–130, 146–164.
Rohde, K. (1990) Phylogeny of Platyhelminthes, with special reference to parasitic groups. International Journal for Parasitology, 20, 979–1007.
Sproston, N.G. (1946) A synopsis of the monogenetic trematodes. Transactions of the Zoological Society, 25, 185–600.
Yamaguti, S. (1963) Systema helminthum. IV. Monogenea and Aspidocotylea. New York: Interscience Publishers, 699 pp.
Yochelson, E.L. (1971) Phylum and class nomenclature in systematics. Systematic Zoology, 20, 245–249.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wheeler, T.A., Chisholm, L.A. Monogenea versus Monogenoidea: the case for stability in nomenclature. Syst Parasitol 30, 159–164 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00010466
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00010466