Diomedea spadicea

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With the application of exulans Linnaeus to the large subantarctic member of the Wandering Albatross complex, the next-senior names spadicea J. F. Gmelin, 1789, adusta Tschudi, 1856 and dabbenena Mathews, 1929 come into potential contention for the smaller temperate zone forms. Of these names, dabbenena, a nomen novum for Diomedea chionoptera alexanderi Dabbene, 1926 (preoccupied), has been the only one taken up, coming into prevailing use over the last 50 years for the small wandering albatrosses breeding on Tristan da Cunha, Gough and Inaccessible Islands in the South Atlantic (Murphy 1936; Clancey 1968; Condon 1975; Blakers et al. 1984; Bourne 1989, 1999; Carboneras 1992; Medway 1993; Prince et al. 1997; Gales 1998; Nunn 1998; Robertson & Gales 1998; Walker & Elliott 1999; BirdLife International 2000; Neves et al. 2000; Ryan 2000; Ryan et al. 2001; Thompson & Hamer 2000; Croxall & Wood 2002; Cuthbert et al. 2003, 2004, 2005; Brooke 2004; Burg & Croxall 2004; Cuthbert & Sommer 2004; Penhallurick & Wink 2004; Alderman et al. 2005; Clements 2007; Dénes & Silveira 2007; Onley & Scofield 2007; Password 2007; Wilcox & Donlan 2007; Chambers et al. 2009; Gill et al. 2010: 65; Dickinson & Remsen 2013; Gill & Donsker 2016). As recorded by Dabbene (1926: 338 – 339) in his description of alexanderi, its two syntypes from 38 ° 30´S and 56 ° W in the South Atlantic are small, with wing 600 mm and culmen 152 – 160 mm, and match members of the Wandering Albatross complex breeding on those islands. The name dabbenena was originally introduced conditionally (and unavailably) by Mathews (1929), to replace alexanderi Dabbene if the prospective prior homonym Thalassogeron chrysostoma alexanderi Mathews, 1916 was ever included in the genus Diomedea. This step was taken implicitly by Murphy (1936) before 1961 (Article 59.3 of the Code), thereby permitting use of dabbenena under Articles 11.5.1 and 15.1 of the Code