P2.59 in SICB 2001 Annual Meeting & Exhibition, Final Program and Abstracts, p.101

Managing taxonomic synonyms
ARDELEAN, A.*; FAUTIN, D.G.; HUNSINGER, K., adorian@ukans.edu

Multiple names that refer to a single species (synonyms) and more than one species being referred to by the same name (homonyms) bedevil taxonomy. They produce ambiguity about the entity under discussion. We demonstrate an electronic application that helps organize information about synonyms and homonyms. Output from it can be used to generate synonym lists for taxonomic monographs. We illustrate its utility in testing taxonomic and biogeographic hypotheses. This research was supported by NSF grants DEB-9521819 and DEB-9978106 to DGF (in the program Partnerships to Enhance Expertise in Taxonomy), and OCE-0003970 to DGF and R. W. Buddemeier (in the National Ocean Partnership Program).

P3.1 in SICB 2001 Annual Meeting & Exhibition, Final Program and Abstracts, p.131

Corallimorpharia is an order of Anthozoa (phylum Cnidaria) that is currently considered equivalent in rank to Scleractinia (hard corals) and Actiniaria (sea anemones). Rather than being an independent order, Corallimorpharia has been hypothesized to be part of Scleractinia or Actiniaria. Morphological evidence supports corallimorpharians as more closely related to scleractinians. Published sequence data for mitochondrial 16S rDNA and nuclear 18S rDNA support the position of corallimorpharians within the scleractinian clade, but data from nuclear 28S rDNA support them being more closely related to actiniarians. Differences in taxon sampling and methods of analysis, and small sample sizes have contributed to problems with comparing among molecular analyses. We sequenced the nuclear 28S ribosomal RNA gene and the mitochondrial 16S ribosomal gene from representatives from most hexacorallian orders. Our preliminary parsimony analyses do not support a corallimorpharian clade. This research was supported by NSF grant DEB95-21819 (PEET) to DGF.