The scientific name of the Mediterranean Mytilus is Mytilus galloprovincialis, with Lamarck being reported as the creator. I wonder where this name comes from, in particular what is the (supposed) connection to the Gallia province?
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This mussel, indigenous to the Mediterranean but since spread across the globe by human activity, was first described in:
M. Chevalier de Lamarck, Histoire naturelle des animaux sans vertèbres, Tome sixième, 1re partie, (Paris: February - June 1819), p. 126 (online)
There the French name is given as "Moule de Provence". Provence is a region in the south of France, bordering the Mediterranean. In Roman times it was part of a province called first Gallia Transalpina, then Gallia Narbonensis, but commonly known simply as "Provincia" (= province), from which we get the French name.
galliaprovincialis is simply the Latin version of "de Provence", referring to the place where the mussel was originally found according to Lamarck's description: near Martigues in Provence, a small town in the vicinity of Marseille.
