I noticed today that the subspecies listed under Hesperoleucus venustus are inconsistent, as H. v. subditus is instead listed as H. symmetricus subditus:
The two species were until recently considered conspecific, and the taxonomy of this genus is still messy and subject to change, so I wasn’t sure if this was intentional or pending taxonomic consensus. Is broken nested hierarchy allowed in the iNat system under any circumstances, or should these inconsistencies be flagged by default?
I’d guess that was unintentional, but I avoid vertebrate taxonomy like the plague. There’s some unnamed subspecies under H. symmetricus so things are, well, fishy. Best to flag the taxon and ask around (I can tag the most recent editor of that taxon).
Thank you for flagging.The organization is kind of complicated so I’ll share my understanding of how it should be changed in case anyone would like to reference it.
Based on the paper describing the split, H. symmetricus ssp. 2 (Tomales Roach), should be merged with Hesperoleucus venustus subditus (Monterey Roach) and officially renamed the Southern Coastal Roach, though Monterey Roach and Tomales Roach can remain additional names.
The nominate subspecies H. s. symmetricus should be added and the Red Hills Roach should be renamed from H. symmetricus ssp. 3 to H. s. serpentinus.