TAXONOMIC HISTORY
The following summary of synonymies and references for Notophthalmus viridescens follows that given by Mecham (1967):
- Notophthalmus viridescens (Rafinesque)
- Triturus (Diemictylus) viridescens Rafinesque, 1820:5. Type locality, "in Lake George, Lake Champlain, the springs and brooks of the neighborhood." No type designated and collector not given. Diemictylus proposed as a subgenus.
- Triturus (Notophthalmus) miniatus Rafinesque, 1820:5. Type-locality, "states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Vermont, etc."; restricted to "borders of Lake Champlain" by Schmidt, 1953:24. Type not designated and collector not given. Description based on eft stage. Notophthalmus proposed as a subgenus.
- Notopthalmus viridescens: Baird, 1850:284.
- Diemyctylus viridescens: Hallowell, 1856:11.
- Notophthalma viridescens: Gray, 1858:138.
- Triton viridescens: Strauch, 1870:50.
- Molge viridescens: Boulenger, 1882:21.
- Notophthalmus viridescens: Gill, 1907:256.
- Diemictylus viridescens: Gill, 1907:256. Given as a synonym of Notophthalmus viridescens.
Rafinesque is credited as the first author to name the Eastern Newt in 1820, where he described the adult and eft stages as separate species belonging to the genus Triturus : Triturus (Diemictylus) viridescens (1820:5, line 8) and Triturus (Notophthalmus) miniatus (1820:5, lines 26-27). However, his name appears in parenthesis since the names he designated are not the currently accepted scientific name for the species. His two proposed subgenera were nonetheless the earliest names applicable to the Eastern Newts and both admissible as the generic name when subsequent authors (preceded by colons) revised to form a new genus based on the union of the two subgenera, which in fact represented the same species. By the International Rules on Zoological Nomenclaure,
"A genus formed by the union of two or more genera or subgenera takes the oldest valid generic or subgeneric name of its components. If the names are of the same date, that selected by the first reviser shall stand."
Thus, selection of the "first reviser" takes precedence over line priority (i.e. Diemictylus first mentioned by Rafinesque in line 8 while Notophthalmus first appeared in lines 25-26 on the same page of the same 1820 published account). The first reviser happened to be Baird (1850:284), who selected Notophthalmus (with an invalid spelling change to Notopthalmus) and synonymized with it the name Diemictylus, six years before Hallowell (1856:11) chose Diemictylus (with an invalid spelling change to Diemyctylus). Baird's selection was upheld by Gray (1858:138) who erraneously spelled it as Notophthalma. The specific name viridescens was given a separate consideration from the generic name and determined to be a senior synonym of miniatus on grounds both of line priority and of first reviser. For a summary of the nomenclatural history of the Eastern Newt, see Smith (1953).
ETYMOLOGY
The specific name viridescens (Latin, viridis, "green") refers to the greenish color often found in the adults of this species. The supspecific name dorsalis (directly from Latin, "pertaining to the back") presumably alludes to the broken red lines on the dorsum of the broken-striped newt. The type locality for the central newt is in the state of Louisiana, hence the subspecific name louisianensis. The peninsula newt is often found inhabiting beds of water hyacinths (Piaropus), yielding the name piaropicola (Mecham 1967).
