INTERNATIONAL CODE OF ZOOLOGICAL
NOMENCLATURE
ICZN
There are several species of animals in the world. Their common names vary
from place to place.
The people having the different languages may name the same animal
differently.
Sometimes, the same common name is given to two different species in
different regions.
For example in the United States the “threadworm” usually refers to
Strongyloides stercoralis, while in England the same name has been given to
Enterobius vermicularis.
In order to prevent confusion, a system of scientific
names has been worked out by “ Linnaeus” and
published in “ Systema Natura” in 1758.
Subsequently in 1904 a permanent commission-“ The international
commission of zoological nomenclature” was formed.
A complete transcript of international code for zoological nomenclature was
adopted by the Xth international congress of zoology in July 1958 and was
published in 1961.
This code established rules for naming animal species and for indicating
their relationship
The animal parasites are named according to the international code of
zoological nomenclature basing on binomial nomenclature of Linnaeus.
when organisms are examined, it is seen that they form natural group
with morphological and biological features in common.
Kingdom Animalia Animalia (Animals)
Subkingdom Protozoa Bilateria
Phylum Apicomplexa Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda ( insect and related species)
class Sporozoa Insecta (insects)
(ia) subclass Coccidia Pterigota (winged insects
(ida) order Eucoccidiorida Diptera (True fly)
(ina) suborder Eimeriina Cyclorrhapha (Higher flies)
(oidea) superfamily Oestroidea (Bot flies)
(idea) family Sarcocystidae Oestridae
(inae) Subfamily- Oestrinae
Genus Toxoplasma (Nicolle and Manceaux, 1908) Oestrus
Species gondii ovis (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subspecies
In the system of binomial nomenclature, each species is given two names.
The first name is called generic name and the second is specific name for a
single species.
The generic and specific names are often derived from Latin or Greek but
they may also be based on the names of persons , localities etc.
The name of the family is formed by adding –idae and the subfamily-inae
to the root of the name of the genus. But there are no consistent endings in
the higher groups. E.g. (order ends in ida, suborder-idea, superfamily ends
in oidea)
The generic name starts with a capital letter, while the species name with a
small letter, except those species names derived from the name of a person
which may begin with a capital or a small letter. (Leishmania donovani)
Generic species and subspecies names are printed in italics. When these are
written they are underlined. If printed by any method which lacks italics, it
should be underlined.
The name of the person who first named the species and the date when he
did it can also be written with the species name. If it is desired so, the
author’s name follows the scientific name followed by the year or date
separated by comas.
e.g Taenea, Linnaeus, 1758
If a species is transferred to other than the original genus the name of the
first auther is placed in parenthesis followed by the new auther’s name.
e.g. the common sheep and goat tapeworm called Taenia expansa
by rudolphi in 1805 but in 1891 Blanchard created a new genus Moniezia
for it. So, it can be written as Moniezia expansa (rudolphi,
1805),Blanchard
Although the concepts of binomial nomenclature are comparatively simple. It
has got some practical difficulties or limitations.
e.g. sometimes different names for a particular species of parasite have
been suggested by different workers. Here the law of priority comes
into force.
For example: Fasciolopsis buski (Lankestar 1857) has priority over F.
crassum (Cobbold, 1860). However, to avoid conflict and dispute some of the
specific or generic names are now considered as synonyms of others.
e.g. Paragonimus westermani
syn- P. ringeri
Hymenolepis nana
Syn- H. fraterna
Nomenclature basing on different aspects
• 1. Basing on the name of the scientist or discover:
• The name of a particular species of parasite can be given as per the name
of the scientist
• e.g. Leishmania donovani
• Orientobilhauzia datti
• Eimeria leukarti (found in equine)
• Trypanosoma evansi (Griffith Evans ,1880)
Basing on the name of a place:
e.g. E. bombayansis
E. brasiliensis
E. bareillye
Basing on the name of the country
e.g. Schistosoma indicum
Basing on the shape of organism
e.g. E. ellipsoidalis
Basing on the site(seat ) of predilection:
e.g. Schistosoma nasalis
Diactophyma renale
Fasciola hepatica
Basing on the type of host:
e.g. Toxocara canis
STANDARDISED NOMENCLATURE OF ANIMAL PARASITIC DISEASES
(SNOAPAD)
In 1988, the expert committee appointed by the world association for the advancement of veterinary
Parasitology (WAAVP) formulated a uniform and proper terminology to express animal parasitic disease or
infections as follows:
The suffix-osis (plural –oses) is to be added to the name of the parasitic genera by omitting the last one or two
letters
e.g. Trypanosoma - trypanosomosis
Fasciola- fasciolosis
Taenia- taeniosis
Ascarids- ascariosis
Hypoderma- hypodermosis
Where the taxa ends with “X”
Pulex - pulicosis
Demodex - demodicosis
In some case the disease name is formed from the full generic name
e.g. Hepatozoon - hepatozoonosis
Leucocytozoon - leucocytozoonosis
Multiceps-multicepsosis
Non-specific nomenclature of parasitic diseases :
Basis Name of the scientist/ Name of the disease
country/ others
Name of the scientist Carolos Chagas Changes disease
Country Africa African sleeping sickness
Clinical sign Cyanotic discolouration of Black head
head region of turkey
Parasitic stage Cysticercus Cysticercosis
Season Winter Winter coccidiosis
Profession Dhobi Dhobi itch
Comparison Similarity with elephant leg Elephantiasis
Some terms are also being used presently, which are not formed from
the taxonomic names of the parasites
e.g. Plasmodium infection –Malaria
Trypanosomosis in camel- Surra
Coenarus cerebralis infection - Gid
Infection with larvae of dipterous fly - Myiasis
Infection with Echinococcus granulosus cyst - Hydatidosis,
