Corrections to the nomenclature of sawskates (Rajiformes, Sclerorhynchoidei)

Abstract

The sawskates, suborder Sclerorhynchoidei Cappetta, 1980, are divided into five families currently known as Ischyrhizidae Cope, 1875, Sclerorhynchidae Arambourg, 1952, Schizorhizidae Kirkland & Aguillón-Martínez, 2002 (stat. nov.), Ptychotrygonidae Kriwet et al., 2009, and Onchopristidae Villalobos-Segura et al., 2021. For Sclerorhynchidae in particular, there are misconceptions about its authorship and priority. Recent authors (e.g., Martill & Ibrahim 2012; Cook et al. 2014; Delgadillo-Escobar et al. 2015; Amalfitano et al. 2017; Van der Laan 2018; Sternes & Shimada 2019) have misattributed the authorship to Cappetta (1974). However, it was originally named as Sclerorhynchinae by Arambourg (1952) and the authorship should be attributed to him under the Principle of Coordination. It is also predated by Ganopristidae Arambourg, 1940, which has priority since the type genera are considered synonyms. Additionally, the spelling of Onchopristis numidus is here emended to O. numida to fix a grammatical error.