Re: Is this a juvenile Berghia coerulescens?

Dear Miquel,

Thanks for the nice photos which show the rhinophores very clearly.

Concerning the variations in Latinised words I guess we can blame human individuality rather than human failings. These days IT people want to force us into complete conformity so that database searching becomes 'faultless'. I some times miss the days when I could scan down a list and my brain would pick up the variations and mispellings which computers still can't do easily.

Another interesting site is Botanical Epithets which lists lots of plant species names with meanings and the latin root which is useful in changing endings to match gender etc. I have listed below some of the words for blue or deep blue and I am sure there are many more. You can see there that the oe - ae vowel was transcribed in both ways. However in Zoological Nomenclature the spelling used by the original author is the valid spelling except in a few special cases.

caelestinus, caelestini, caelestinum, caelestis, caelestis, caeleste, caelicolor, caelicolores, coelestinus, coelestina, coelestinum, coelestis, coelestis, coeleste, coeruleus, coerulea, coeruleum, caeruleus, caerulea, caeruleum.

The site you mention, on pronunciation, reminds me of many funny occasions I have witnessed at scientific gatherings, where everybody pronounces scientific names with their own unique pronuciations, sometimes developed from school latin, but usually from the way their own language pronounces vowels and consonants. It can be quite confusing for a while. I often get told by amateur helpers that they are embarrassed to use scientific names because their pronunciation is silly. I just tell them that when 10 malacologists meet there will up to 12 different pronunciations for the same name.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman