On the conflict between science and ethics: the case of the moggel, Labeo umbratus (Teleostei: Cyprinidae) from South Africa.

Recent molecular evidence showed that Labeo umbratus comprises two allopatrically distributed genetic lineages, a northern lineage confined to the Orange-Vaal River system where this species was originally described and a southern lineage with three geographically separated haplogroups (western, central and eastern) distributed across multiple isolated southward-draining river systems in the Cape Fold, Amatola-Winterberg Highlands, and the Southern Temperate Highveld freshwater ecoregions of South Africa. Detailed morphological examination supported recognition of the eastern haplogroup, distributed from the Sundays to the Nahoon River system, as a distinct species. Although a name proposed in 1861 exists for this haplogroup, originally described from the Kat River, a branch of the Great Fish River system, it is derogatory and offensive to the indigenous people of South Africa and has not been adopted in subsequent taxonomic literature. We see no nomenclatural stability in resurrecting a name that is both offensive and long forgotten, and we argue that retaining such a name undermines universality because it conflicts with ethical and cultural acceptance in the region of endemism. Accordingly, we reject the use of this derogatory name and instead provide a new name, Labeo ngqikai, for the species to ensure both nomenclatural stability and cultural sensitivity. The epithet ngqikai honours King Ngqika, the third paramount chief of the native inhabitants of the Kat River valley, from where the species was originally described.