Kanttekening bij Korniushin’s systeem der Sphaeriidae

The Ukrainean scientist Alexei V. Korniushin, disciple of the wellknown splitting Starabogatov-School of Leningrad (at present St. Petersburg) proposes a new system of his Pisidioidea (= Sphaeriidae of Western authors). It is mainly based on his own accurate anatomical research (mantle muscles, gills with broodsacs, structure kidneys). This leads him to the construction of cladograms which should reflect phylogenetic relationship. Each ’traditional’ species is elevated to genus- or subgenusrank. Many more species, 30 – 40% of the known number, are predicted to be discovered. Above the species, Korniushin distinguishes sections, subgenera, genera, subfamiliae, familae and superfamiliae. Korniushin' s hypothesis is interesting, but needs confirmation by other disciplines (genetics, biochemistry, paleontology, zoogeography) before its nomenclaturial fixation. whereas there is, in general, a trend to simplify the Sphaeriid system to the essential, the East-European malacologists are complicating the matter considerably.