THE CERION (MOLLUSCA: GASTROPODA: PULMONATA: CERIONIDAE) TAXA OF CHARLES JOHNSON MAYNARD AND THEIR TYPE SPECIMENS

Abstract

Charles Johnson Maynard (1845–1929) was a self-educated naturalist, teacher, and dealer in natural history specimens and materials who conducted extensive field work throughout Florida, the Bahamas, and the Cayman Islands. He published prolifically on the fauna, flora, and anthropology of these areas. His publications included descriptions of 248 of the 587 validly proposed species-level taxa within Cerionidae, a family of terrestrial gastropods endemic to the islands of the tropical western Atlantic. After his death, his collection of Cerionidae was purchased jointly by the Museum of Comparative Zoology (MCZ) and the United States National Museum, with the presumed primary types remaining at the MCZ and the remainder of the collection divided between these two museums and a few other institutions. In this work, we provide 1) a revised collation of Maynard's publications dealing with Cerionidae, 2) a chronological listing of species-level taxa proposed in these works, 3) a determination of the number and status of name-bearing type specimens for each taxon within the context of the most recent edition of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, and 4) when necessary, the selection of a lectotype (for 185 taxa) or the designation of a neotype (for eight taxa) from among specimens in these museums to restrict the name-bearing type for each taxon to a single specimen, which is illustrated. Type material could not be located for three of the 248 species-level taxa proposed by Maynard. In these instances, neo-types are proposed to make these three taxa objective junior synonyms of other taxa. Strict application of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature contradicts the authorship, publication date, and type status of name-bearing types for a significant number of Maynard's taxa that had been previously reported in the literature.