Heteromurus cf. major

What the name stands for

Three different things share one name. A culture is not a species, and a species is not the animals in your tub. Keeping them apart is how this site avoids repeating the trade's mistakes.

1. The culture

   A lineage kept in tubs and passed between keepers under one name. The name comes from the trade.

   Name type

   Historical label

   The origin of this stock is not documented.

2. The species it matches

   The working identification, and how it was reached.

   Heteromurus cf. major

   Name form

   cf. (compare with) It looks like this species but has not been confirmed. cf. does not confirm a name.

   How sure

   Tentative A best guess that needs checking.

3. The animals checked

   No specimen has been examined. The name rests on the trade label.

   Basis

   Trade label only

   Review

   Reviewed by a curator

Care advice follows the working identification. Check it against what you see.

What would settle it

• What do the published descriptions say about species that only have a hobby name here?

  Identification Open

  Why it matters. Several pages are stubs because no description was read for this site. Their identification traits, size and range are therefore blank.

  What would help. The original and modern descriptions of each species, with measured lengths and diagnostic characters, added with proper citations.

• Which species is this culture, checked by a specialist?

  Identification Needs a voucher specimen

  Why it matters. Hobby cultures are mostly named from a seller's label or a photograph. A wrong name spreads from seller to keeper and then into care advice.

  What would help. Preserved vouchers from the culture in 80 to 95 percent ethanol, mounted specimens examined by a springtail specialist, and a DNA barcode where a reference exists. Deposit the voucher with a museum or a university collection.

Related

• Species page for the working identification Heteromurus cf. major