Doweld • (2464) Conserve Trichomonas
TAXON 65 (5) • October 2016: 1166–1167
PR O P O S A L S TO CO N S E R V E O R R E J E C T N A M E S
Edited by John McNeill, Scott A. Redhead & John H. Wiersema
(2464) Proposal to conserve the name Trichomonas with that spelling
(Algae: Euglenophycota: Trichomonadophyceae)
Alexander B. Doweld
National Institute of Carpology (Gaertnerian Institution), 21 Konenkowa Street, 127560 Moscow, Russian Federation;
[email protected]
DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.12705/655.18
(2464)Trichomonas Donné in Compt. Rend. Hebd. Séances Acad.
Sci. 3: 386. 19−26 Sep 1836 [& in J. Débats Polit. Littérr.
1836(24 Sep): 3. 24 Sep 1836] (‘Trico‑monas’), orth. cons. prop.
Typus: T. vaginalis Donné.
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When Donné originally published this generic name for a microorganism in 1836 in a report to the French Academy of Sciences in
Paris, which was reported almost simultaneously (Donné, l.c.), it
was awkwardly spelled as “Trico-monas” with a hyphen and incorrect transliteration of the Greek prefix tricho- (θρίξ – thríks, “hair”).
Version of Record
Doweld • (2464) Conserve Trichomonas
TAXON 65 (5) • October 2016: 1166–1167
This original spelling was soon modified either by deletion of the
hyphen to “Tricomonas” (Hayes in Amer. J. Med. Sci. 21: 223. 1837;
Adams in London Med. Gaz. 20: 639. 1837) or by amendment of the
classical Greek transliteration of the prefix from the initial corrupted
form “trico” to “tricho”, viz. “Tricho-monas” (Turpin in Gaz. Méd.
Paris 1837: 367. 1837). Thereafter Ehrenberg (Infusionsthierchen:
331, 545. 1838) deleted the hyphen from the modified generic name
“Tricho-monas” to “Trichomonas”, and thereby established the spelling that has entered solidly into the literature (Dujardin in Compt.
Rend. Hebd. Séances Acad. Sci. 11: 285. 1840 & Hist. Nat. Zoophyt.:
300. 1841; Agassiz, Nomencl. Zool.: 376. 1846; Scanzoni & Kölliker
in Compt. Rend. Hebd. Séances Acad. Sci. 40: 1076. 1855; Küchenmeister, Anim. & Veg. Parasit. Human Body 1: 6. 1857; Kent, Man.
Infus.: 308. 1881; etc.). With a few exceptions (e.g., Schmidt, Encyclop.
Gesammt. Med., ed. 2, 8: 559. 1849) usage of “Tricomonas” was discontinued and the dehyphenated form “Trichomonas” prevailed in the
literature and as such stands now in modern treatises (Grassé, Traité
Zool. 1(1): 757. 1952; Reichenow in Doflein, Lehrb. Protozoenk., ed.
6: 610. 1953; Sukhanova in Alimov, Protisty 1: 367. 2001; Brugerolle
& Lee in Lee & al., Illustr. Guide Protozoa, ed. 2: 1209. 2002; Hampl
& al. in Int. J. Syst. Evol. Microbiol. 56: 306. 2005). Now almost all
authors follow Ehrenberg’s change of spelling, and hence it is desirable to conserve the name with the established spelling.
The genus Trichomonas is now considered a so-called “ambiregnal” microorganism, i.e., belonging to the group of flagellates
governed by both the botanical and zoological codes, as the class
Trichomonadophyceae Silva (in Regnum Veg. 103: 89. 1980) of the
phylum Euglenophycota K.I. Meyer (Razmn. Rast.: 14. 1937 “Eugleno‑
phyta”) in botany and commonly as the order Trichomonadida Kirby
(in J. Parasitol. 33: 224. 1947) of the phylum Parabasalia Brugerolle &
J.J. Lee (Protista) in zoology (Brugerolle & Lee, l.c. 2002). In 1986 the
International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature was asked by
its Executive Secretary to use its plenary powers to “rule that correct
spelling of the genus Trichomonas Donné, 1836 is Trichomonas” (in
Bull. Zool. Nomencl. 43: 218. 1986). The ICZN issued unanimously
Opinion 1447 (in Bull. Zool. Nomencl. 44: 201. 1987) that the spelling
“Trichomonas” was confirmed as solely correct, and was therefore
placed on the Official List of Generic Names in Zoology. Since Art.
60.1 of the ICN (McNeill & al. in Regnum Veg. 154. 2012) does not
allow the omission of hyphens from generic names as a “correction”, it
requires a conservation procedure to permit this (see Art. 60 Note 3).
The conservation of the spelling “Trichomonas” in botanical nomenclature would ensure uniformity of the treatment of the nomenclature
of this “ambiregnal” genus in zoology and botany.
The precise date and place of publication of “Trico-monas”
remains partially unresolved. In the early 19th century, in addition
to official publications of the reports of the sessions of the French
Academy of Sciences in its well-known Comptes rendus hebdoma‑
daires des séances de l’Académie des Sciences, brief reports or just
summaries of the sessions also normally appeared promptly in various
major Paris newspapers (e.g., Journal des débats politiques et lit‑
téraires, La Presse, Le Siècle, etc.). At present it is firmly established
by documentation that the printed issues of the Comptes rendus were
received (presented) at the next session of Academy, i.e., the issue with
Donné’s paper on Trico-monas was received on 26 September 1836.
This is later than the brief report published in Journal des débats (24
September 1836) with the microorganism named and described. In
other Paris newspapers containing a report of the session of the French
Academy for 19th August, 1836 the microorganism was described,
but not named: Gazette médicale de Paris (Sér. 2, 4: 619–620. 24 Sep
1836), La Presse (1836: 2. 21 September 1836), and Le Siècle (1836: 3.
21 September 1836). But at present we do not have any documentary
evidence that issues of Comptes rendus were not published shortly
after the session at which the paper was read and before presentation
at the next session, i.e., in our case shortly after 19 September 1836
and preceding the publication in Journal des débats on 24 September
1836. In such a case, with the possibility that publication in the newspaper was first, it is cited above along with the regular citation from
Comptes rendus with its established range of publication dates, as
there appear to be no more available archival documents to establish
unequivocally the first place of publication.
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