Nomenclatural reassessment of Justitia desmaresti (Crustacea, Decapoda, Palinuridae) from the lower Eocene of Bolca (Verona, NE Italy)

A close examination of the available literature and documentation concerning the nomenclatural history of the Eocene palinurid, Justitia desmaresti, indicates that the authorship of this taxon should be attributed to Secrétan (1975) and not to Massalongo (1854), as recently stated by Garassino & Novati (2001). As a consequence of the reassessment, we propose here the designation of the lectotype from the syntypes originally figured by Secrétan (1975). An exhaustive list of synonyms summarizing the nomenclatural history of the taxon is also given.