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WoRMS name details

Spongia fistulosa Linnaeus, 1759

267169  (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:267169)

 unaccepted (original misspelling of species name)
Species
marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
recent only
Linnaeus, C. (1759). Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus II. Editio decima, reformata. - pp. [1-4], 825-1384. Holmiæ. (L. Salvii)., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/587267 [details] OpenAccess publication
Nomenclature Van Soest (2025: 25) discussed the names Spongia fistulosa and Spongia fistularis.
"The original species name, Spongia...  
Nomenclature Van Soest (2025: 25) discussed the names Spongia fistulosa and Spongia fistularis.
"The original species name, Spongia fistulosa is problematic for three reasons: Linnaeus’ 10th edition of the Systema Naturae (i.e. Linnaeus, 1759) is the only time he used the name, as he dropped the name entirely in the 12th and the 13th editions, presumably because Pallas (1766) assigned the name as a synonym of his Spongia fistularis (currently accepted as the common Caribbean species Aplysina fistularis). Linnaeus apparently accepted Pallas’ name without further resistance. The second problem is that Pallas insisted that Spongia fistularis (including Linnaeus’ S. fistulosa) occurred in the ‘Mare Americanum’, whereas Linnaeus changed this locality in the later editions (1767 and 1791) and stated that it occurred in the ‘Oceano indico’. The third problem is that the name is a senior secondary homonym of Euspongia irregularis var. fistulosa Von Lendenfeld, 1889. The first mention of the species is found in Linnaeus (1737b: 480), with the definition ‘Spongia simplex tubulosa’, which is in contrast with the two-tubed image in the reference he gives for it, viz. Sloane (1707: 62, pl. 23 fig. 2, here reproduced in Fig. 13A) with ‘description’ as ‘Spongia dura sive spuria major alba fistulosa, fibris crassioribus‘ (i.e. a hard sponge with whitish fistules and thick fibers) from Jamaica, still preserved in the Natural History Museum, London, as Sloane Vegetable Substance no. 185. The Sloane reference was repeated in Van Royen (1740: 522). Ditto in Linnaeus (1753b: 1170), but here Linnaeus added the name Spongia fistulosa and he noted ‘Habitat in mari ad Antillas’. Pallas (1766: 385, sp. 232) changed the name to S. fistularis and the definition to ‘Spongia tubulosa simplex attenuata rigida, extus tuberculosa’ (i.e. single tubular sponge, hard and narrow, with external tubercles). He cited Sloane (1707), but a different specimen (‘Spongia dura seu spuria maxima ramosa fistulosa’, i.e. a hard or spurious sponge with very large ramose fistules) and a different image (pl. 24 fig. 1, here reproduced as Fig. 13B) compared to Linnaeus’ (1737b), specimen still preserved in the Natural History Museum, London, as Sloane Vegetable Substance no. 128. He also cited Linnaeus 1759 and Seba (1758: pl. 95 figs 1 and 7). More images were published by Esper (1791c) and these were discussed in Ehlers (1870: 13). Pallas’ descriptive notes and cited images leave little doubt that this sponge is what is currently understood as Aplysina fistularis. This is definitely not a species that is known to occur in the East Indies, whereas for unknown reasons Linnaeus (1767) and (1791) - using S. fistularis and omitting the name S. fistulosa - insisted that its habitat was the Indian Ocean. Linnaeus’ acceptance of Pallas’ renaming of this species must be construed as an admission of misspelling of the originally intended name, even though it is not explained by Linnaeus. ICZN art. 33.2.3.1 stipulates that the corrected name fistularis when it is in prevailing use can be maintained if authorship is attributed to the original author and year. Thus, the species name Aplysina fistularis is not to be attributed to Pallas but to Linnaeus 1759. [details]
de Voogd, N.J.; Alvarez, B.; Boury-Esnault, N.; Cárdenas, P.; Díaz, M.-C.; Dohrmann, M.; Downey, R.; Goodwin, C.; Hajdu, E.; Hooper, J.N.A.; Kelly, M.; Klautau, M.; Lim, S.C.; Manconi, R.; Morrow, C.; Pinheiro, U.; Pisera, A.B.; Ríos, P.; Rützler, K.; Schönberg, C.; Turner, T.; Vacelet, J.; van Soest, R.W.M.; Xavier, J. (2025). World Porifera Database. Spongia fistulosa Linnaeus, 1759. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=267169 on 2025-07-11
Date
action
by
2008-01-11 18:33:49Z
created
2010-12-21 16:06:54Z
changed
2022-04-30 14:09:19Z
changed
2025-05-27 10:51:36Z
changed

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Nomenclature

original description Linnaeus, C. (1759). Systema naturæ per regna tria naturæ, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus II. Editio decima, reformata. - pp. [1-4], 825-1384. Holmiæ. (L. Salvii)., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/587267 [details] OpenAccess publication

basis of record Van Soest, R.W.M. (2025). Typification of Porifera described in the 10th edition of Linnaeus' Systema Naturae, volume II, 1759. <em>Zootaxa.</em> 5638(1): 1-65., available online at https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5638.1.1
page(s): 25 [details] Available for editors  PDF available [request]

Other

additional source Bowerbank, J.S. (1864). A Monograph of the British Spongiadae.Volume 1. (Ray Society: London): i-xx, 1-290, pls I-XXXVII. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/1883085
page(s): 210 [details] OpenAccess publication

additional source Wiedenmayer, F. (1977). Shallow-water sponges of the western Bahamas. <em>Experientia Supplementum.</em> 28: 1-287, pls 1-43.
page(s): 64 [details] Available for editors  PDF available [request]

additional source Pallas, P. S. (1766). Elenchus zoophytorum sistens generum adumbrationes generaliores et specierum cognitarum succintas descriptiones, cum selectis auctorum synonymis. [List of zoophytes containing general outlines of genera and brief descriptions of known species, with selected synonyms of the authors.]. <em>Fransiscum Varrentrapp, Hagae.</em> 451 pp., available online at https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/6019361
page(s): 385 [details] OpenAccess publication

 
 Present  Present in aphia/obis/gbif/idigbio   Inaccurate  Introduced: alien  Containing type locality 
   

From editor or global species database
Nomenclature Van Soest (2025: 25) discussed the names Spongia fistulosa and Spongia fistularis.
"The original species name, Spongia fistulosa is problematic for three reasons: Linnaeus’ 10th edition of the Systema Naturae (i.e. Linnaeus, 1759) is the only time he used the name, as he dropped the name entirely in the 12th and the 13th editions, presumably because Pallas (1766) assigned the name as a synonym of his Spongia fistularis (currently accepted as the common Caribbean species Aplysina fistularis). Linnaeus apparently accepted Pallas’ name without further resistance. The second problem is that Pallas insisted that Spongia fistularis (including Linnaeus’ S. fistulosa) occurred in the ‘Mare Americanum’, whereas Linnaeus changed this locality in the later editions (1767 and 1791) and stated that it occurred in the ‘Oceano indico’. The third problem is that the name is a senior secondary homonym of Euspongia irregularis var. fistulosa Von Lendenfeld, 1889. The first mention of the species is found in Linnaeus (1737b: 480), with the definition ‘Spongia simplex tubulosa’, which is in contrast with the two-tubed image in the reference he gives for it, viz. Sloane (1707: 62, pl. 23 fig. 2, here reproduced in Fig. 13A) with ‘description’ as ‘Spongia dura sive spuria major alba fistulosa, fibris crassioribus‘ (i.e. a hard sponge with whitish fistules and thick fibers) from Jamaica, still preserved in the Natural History Museum, London, as Sloane Vegetable Substance no. 185. The Sloane reference was repeated in Van Royen (1740: 522). Ditto in Linnaeus (1753b: 1170), but here Linnaeus added the name Spongia fistulosa and he noted ‘Habitat in mari ad Antillas’. Pallas (1766: 385, sp. 232) changed the name to S. fistularis and the definition to ‘Spongia tubulosa simplex attenuata rigida, extus tuberculosa’ (i.e. single tubular sponge, hard and narrow, with external tubercles). He cited Sloane (1707), but a different specimen (‘Spongia dura seu spuria maxima ramosa fistulosa’, i.e. a hard or spurious sponge with very large ramose fistules) and a different image (pl. 24 fig. 1, here reproduced as Fig. 13B) compared to Linnaeus’ (1737b), specimen still preserved in the Natural History Museum, London, as Sloane Vegetable Substance no. 128. He also cited Linnaeus 1759 and Seba (1758: pl. 95 figs 1 and 7). More images were published by Esper (1791c) and these were discussed in Ehlers (1870: 13). Pallas’ descriptive notes and cited images leave little doubt that this sponge is what is currently understood as Aplysina fistularis. This is definitely not a species that is known to occur in the East Indies, whereas for unknown reasons Linnaeus (1767) and (1791) - using S. fistularis and omitting the name S. fistulosa - insisted that its habitat was the Indian Ocean. Linnaeus’ acceptance of Pallas’ renaming of this species must be construed as an admission of misspelling of the originally intended name, even though it is not explained by Linnaeus. ICZN art. 33.2.3.1 stipulates that the corrected name fistularis when it is in prevailing use can be maintained if authorship is attributed to the original author and year. Thus, the species name Aplysina fistularis is not to be attributed to Pallas but to Linnaeus 1759. [details]


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