History of a marine, Cainozoic gastropod taxon, Conus antidiluvianus Bruguière, 1792 and its nomenclatural implications

More than two centuries of discussions and conflicting opinions have not led to general agreement or consensus on the identity of the gastropod species Conus antidiluvianus Bruguière, 1792, nowadays assigned to the genus Conilithes Swainson, 1840. An extensive survey of the nomenclatural history of this taxon is given. To establish a future non-controversial stability in nomenclature the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature will be requested to set aside the existing non-distinctive lectotype under their plenary power and designate a neotype which accords with prevailing usage. We suggest a specimen, from the northern Italian Piacenzian, of C. antidiluvianus in the sense of Brocchi (1814), who was the first author to illustrate the species after Bruguière’s original description.