Short and sweet: an analysis of the length of parasite species names

Uncovering Rotifera, Cladocera and Copepoda name length patterns for enhanced scientific communication

The motivations for describing species are multifaceted and extend beyond the scientific disciplines, promoting public engagement and enhancing biodiversity communication. We delve into the practices of naming species of Rotifera, Diplostraca (= Cladocera) and Copepoda, underpinning the effects of time, taxon group and the lengths of genus names on the length of specific names. Our investigation revolves around a comprehensive dataset comprising 6319 names described between 1758 and 2021 of Rotifers, Cladocera and Copepoda. The overall annual average hovers around a mean length of slightly over 10 and 8 letters, respectively, for genus names and specific names, although it varied noticeably across taxa. Notably, our findings reveal no substantial temporal variation in the length of specific names over the years of description. We found a positive although not significant relationship between the length of specific and genus names, suggesting that longer genus names may influence the choice of longer specific names. We support the recommendation by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature and existing related publications on this topic, to prioritize short names, emphasizing the importance of concise and ultimately the use of mnemonic names assigned to zooplankton species.

Biases in parasite biodiversity research: why some helminth species attract more research than others

As the number of known and described parasite species grows every year, one might ask: how much do we actually know about these species beyond the fact they exist? For free-living taxa, research effort is biased toward a small subset of species based on their properties or human-centric factors. Here, using a large data set on over 2500 helminth parasite species described in the past two decades, we test the importance of several predictors on two measures of research effort: the number of times a species description is cited following its publication, and the number of times a species' name is mentioned in the scientific literature. Our analysis highlights some taxonomic biases: for instance, descriptions of acanthocephalans and nematodes tend to receive more citations than those of other helminths, and species of cestodes are less frequently mentioned in the literature than other helminths. We also found that helminths infecting host species of conservation concern receive less research attention, perhaps because of the constraints associated with research on threatened animals, while those infecting host species of human use receive greater research effort. Intriguingly, we found that species originally described by many co-authors subsequently attract more research effort than those described by one or few authors, and that research effort correlates negatively with the human population size of the country where a species was discovered, but not with its economic strength, measured by its gross domestic product. Overall, our findings reveal that we have conducted very little research, or none at all, on the majority of helminth parasite species following their discovery. The biases in study effort we identify have serious implications for future research into parasite biodiversity and conservation.

Taxonomic practice, creativity and fashion: what’s in a spider name?

There is a secret pleasure in naming new species. Besides traditional etymologies recalling the sampling locality, habitat or morphology of the species, names may be tributes to some meaningful person, pop culture references and even exercises of enigmatography. Using a dataset of 48 464 spider etymologies, we tested the hypothesis that species names given by taxonomists are deeply influenced by their cultural background. Specifically, we asked whether naming practices change through space or have changed through time. In absolute terms, etymologies referring to morphology were the most frequently used. In relative terms, references to morphology peaked in 1850–1900 and then began to decline, with a parallel increase in etymologies dedicated to people and geography. We also observed a dramatic increase in etymologies referring to pop culture and other cultural aspects in 2000–2020, especially in Europe and the Americas. While such fashionable names often carry no biological information regarding the species itself, they help give visibility to taxonomy, a discipline currently facing a profound crisis in academia. Taxonomy is among the most unchanged disciplines across the last centuries in terms of tools, rules and writing style. Yet, our analysis suggests that taxonomists remain deeply influenced by their living time and space.