Commentary: Gómez, F., Moreira, D., and López-García, P. (2010). Neoceratium gen. nov., a New Genus for All Marine Species Currently Assigned to Ceratium (Dinophyceae). Protist 161: 35-54

Abstract

The recent publication by Gomez et al. (2010) described DNA sequence studies that demonstrated a taxonomic distinction between the freshwater and marine taxa of the dinoflagellate genus Ceratium. Since the type of Ceratium is a freshwater species, a segregate genus for the marine species was therefore required. The new genus name Neoceratium was erected, with type species N. furca, and 76 additional new combinations in this genus proposed. In the discussion that accompanied the description, the authors recognized that several legitimate generic names had been proposed in the nineteenth century for different species of Ceratium, but for various reasons these names were rejected, primarily, “to avoid potential confusion derived from the use of previous subgeneric names” (Gomez et al. 2010, p. 44).We contend that the reasons for rejecting these earlier legitimate generic names, each with their type species included in Neoceratium as circumscribed by Gomez et al. (2010), were inadequate and that the name of the newly recognized genus should have been adopted from one of these historical names.