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Curiosities of Biological Nomenclature
Mark Isaak
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Wordplay: Unusual Letter Combinations

Abcichthys Whitley, 1927 (fish)
Barleeiidae (marine snail) The pair of double letters, though unusual, would not be particularly noteworthy, except the family is part of the superfamily Rissooidea, with a completely different pair of double letters.
Closterocerus coffeellae Ihering, 1914 (parasitic wasp) Three consecutive doubled letters.
Betonica abchasica, Cyclamen abchasicum, Helleborus abchasicus (paeonia plants from Republic of Georgia) "abc" combination.
Xyzzors Inglis, 1966 (nematode)
Mnoonema Motschoulsky, 1863 (wasp)
Limnophilidae (caddisfly), Limnophora (fly), Limnopithecus (Miocene fossil primate), Prumnopitys Philippi, 1860 (conifer), Semnopithecus (langur monkey), Thamnophis (garter snake), Thamnophilidae (antbirds) - "mnop" combination.
Pnyxia (fly)
Zaa Baillon, 1887 (Bignoniaceae)
Zyx Smit, 1953 (flea)
Zyxmyia (fly)
Borealosuchus threeensis Brochu et al., 2012 (Cretaceous/Eocene crocodyliform) Named for exit 3 of the New Jersey Turnpike.
Brachinus aabaaba Erwin, 1970 (carabid)
Ajaia ajaja Linnaeus, 1758 (roseate spoonbill)
Coccophagus ishiii (aphelinid wasp) from Japan.
Helobdella nununununojensis Siddall, 2001 (leech) from Nununununoj, a Quechua placename, "The Place of Very Bare Breasts", from nunu, nipple.
Khoikhoiiinae (subfamily of braconid wasp) Likely named after the Khoikhoi people of southwestern Africa. I cannot explain why there are three consecutive i's rather than two.
Lagynodes ooii Dessart, 1982 (ceraphronid wasp)
Leaia Jones, 1862 (fossil crustacean, family Leaiidae)
Ninini (a tribe of bugs in the Cyminae subfamily)
Saurodon leaae Hays, 1830 (fossil fish) a name introduced in synonymy of Saurodon lanciformis Harlan, 1824
Centuriavis lioae Ksepka et al. 2022 (Miocene pheasant) Named after Suzanne Lio.
Semicytherura miii (Ishizaki, 1969) (ostracod)

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