WoRMS name details
Echinus mammillatus Linnaeus, 1758
568965 (urn:lsid:marinespecies.org:taxname:568965)
unaccepted (incorrect subsequent spelling)
Species
marine, brackish, fresh, terrestrial
recent + fossil
(of Echinus mamillatus Linnaeus, 1758) Linnaeus, C. (1758). <i>Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis</i>. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. [iii] + 824 pp. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 664-665 [details] Available for editors
[request]
page(s): 664-665 [details] Available for editors
[request]
Kroh, A.; Mooi, R. (2026). World Echinoidea Database. Echinus mammillatus Linnaeus, 1758. Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=568965 on 2026-05-11
Date
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Nomenclature
original description
(of Echinus mamillatus Linnaeus, 1758) Linnaeus, C. (1758). <i>Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis</i>. Laurentii Salvii. Holmiae [Stockholm]. [iii] + 824 pp. , available online at https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/726886
page(s): 664-665 [details] Available for editors [request]
basis of record Mortensen, T. (1943). A Monograph of the Echinoidea. III, 3. Camarodonta. II. Echinidæ, Strongylocentrotidæ, Parasaleniidæ, Echinometridæ. 446 pp., C. A. Reitzel, Copenhagen.
page(s): 409-420 [details]
page(s): 664-665 [details] Available for editors
[request]basis of record Mortensen, T. (1943). A Monograph of the Echinoidea. III, 3. Camarodonta. II. Echinidæ, Strongylocentrotidæ, Parasaleniidæ, Echinometridæ. 446 pp., C. A. Reitzel, Copenhagen.
page(s): 409-420 [details]
From editor or global species database
Spelling This species has alternatingly been spelled mammillatus/mamillata in the literature. Linné (1758: p. 664)) established the species as Echinus mamillatus, and consistently used mamillatus/mamillata with one "m". The confusion dates back to the work of Gmelin (1778: p. 3175), who was the first to use the variant with two "m".Gramatically both variants are correct (contratry to the statement of Mortensen, 1943: p. 419): mamillatus with one "m" when the name is derived from Latin "mamilla" (= nipple), mammillatus with two "m" would be correct if the name is derived from Latin "mamma" (= breast). There are numerous other species named "mamillatus" with a single "m" in various groups ranging from nematods to insects.
Summing up, "mamillatus" is the unambiguous original spelling and is grammatically correct and thus the correct name for this species. "mammillatus", in contrast, is an incorrect subsequent spelling (nothing in Gmelin, 1778 suggests an intentional change, i.e. an emendation). [details]
