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Pelophylax lessonae
Pool Frog
Kleiner Wasserfrosch
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Subspecies
No subspecies are recognized.


Synonyms
Rana esculenta Linnaeus, 1758 (name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus; see note below)
Ranaria esculenta (Linnaeus, 1758)
Pelophylax esculentus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Rana viridis Linnaeus, 1761 (name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus)
Rana esculenta viridis (Linnaeus, 1761)
Rana vulgaris Lacepede, 1788 (replacement name for Rana esculenta Linnaeus, 1758)
Rana alpina Fitzinger, 1826 (nec Laurenti, 1768) (nomen nudum, not available; probably a name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus)
Rana esculenta alpina (Fitzinger, 1826)
Rana hispanica Fitzinger, 1826 (nomen nudum, not available; could also be identical to Pelophylax perezi)
Rana maritima Risso, 1826 (nomen dubium; probably a name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus)
Rana bosci Bory de Saint-Vincent, 1828 (nomen dubium; rejected by ICZN; probably a name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus)
Rana viridis Eichwald, 1830 (nec Linnaeus, 1761, neque Dumeril et Bibron, 1841, neque Bedriaga, 1883) (nomen nudum, not available)
Rana hispanica Bonaparte, 1839 (nec Fitzinger, 1826) (nomen dubium; probably a name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus)
Rana esculenta hispanica (Bonaparte, 1839)
Pelophylax hispanicus (Bonaparte, 1839)
Rana fluviatilis Bonaparte, 1840 (nomen dubium; probably a name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus)
Rana taurica Bonaparte, 1840 (published in synonymy, as a synonym of Rana esculenta Linnaeus, 1758, not available)
Rana viridis Dumeril et Bibron, 1841 (nec Linnaeus, 1761, neque Eichwald, 1830, neque Bedriaga, 1883) (described in synonymy, not available)
Rana esculenta lineata Massalongo, 1854 (nomen dubium; probably a name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus) (nec Schneider, 1799)
Rana esculenta vulgaris Massalongo, 1854 (nomen dubium; probably a name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus) (nec Lacepede, 1788)
Rana esculenta roseovirescens Massalongo, 1854 (nomen dubium; probably a name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus)
Rana esculenta marmorata Massalongo, 1854 (nomen dubium; probably a name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus)
Rana agrorum Gistel, 1868 (nomen dubium; probably a name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus)
Rana esculenta sylvaticus Koch, 1872 (nec LeConte, 1825; probably the oldest available name for the non-hybrid, but junior primary homonym, thus invalid)
Rana meridionalis Lataste, 1876 (published in synonymy, not available)
Rana esculenta acutirostris Lessona, 1877 (nec Fatio, 1872, thus junior primary homonym, not available)
Rana esculenta obtusirostris Lessona, 1877 (nec Fatio, 1872, thus junior primary homonym, not available)
Rana esculenta lessonae Camerano, 1882
Rana lessonae (Camerano, 1882)
Hylarana lessonae (Camerano, 1882)
Pelophylax lessonae (Camerano, 1882)
Rana esculenta viridis Bedriaga, 1883 (nec Linnaeus, 1761, neque Eichwald, 1830, neque Dumeril et Bibron, 1841) (nomen dubium; rather a synonym of Pelophylax ridibunda?)
Rana esculenta lessonae immaculata Camerano, 1884 (nec Prazak, 1898) (infrasubspecific, excluded name)
Rana esculenta lessonae nigrovittata Camerano, 1884 (infrasubspecific, excluded name)
Rana esculenta castanea Prazak, 1898
Rana esculenta meridionalis Prazak, 1898
Rana esculenta concolor Prazak, 1898 (nomen dubium; probably a name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus)
Rana esculenta immaculata Prazak, 1898 (nec Camerano, 1884) (nomen dubium; probably a name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus)
Rana esculenta grisescens Prazak, 1898 (nomen dubium; probably a name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus)
Rana esculenta paulopunctata Prazak, 1898 (nomen dubium; probably a name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus)
Rana esculenta rubiginosa Prazak, 1898 (nomen dubium; probably a name for a hybrid between Pelophylax lessonae and Pelophylax ridibundus)
Rana esculenta bolkayi Fejervary, 1909
Rana lessonae pannonica Karaman, 1948
Rana esculenta hungarica Toutain, 1966 (nomen nudum, not available; could also be a synonym of Pelophylax ridibundus)
Rana lessonae bergeri Guenther (in Engelmann, Fritzsche, Guenther, Obst), 1986
Rana bergeri (Guenther (in Engelmann, Fritzsche, Guenther, Obst), 1986)
Hylarana bergeri (Guenther (in Engelmann, Fritzsche, Guenther, Obst), 1986)
Pelophylax bergeri (Guenther (in Engelmann, Fritzsche, Guenther, Obst), 1986)
Rana esculenta lessonai auct. (misspelling)

Note: the present species is well known for the fact that it frequently hybridizes with another water frog species, Pelophylax ridibundus. According to the nomenclatural rules names given to hybrid specimens are excluded from nomenclature, but names given to species originated by hybrid speciation are not excluded from nomenclature. This distinction is important, because many names were given to hybrid specimens: e.g. the oldest name is Rana esculenta, and this has been given to a hybrid specimen. Most of the hybrid specimens occur in areas where one or both parental species are present, and thus originate by matings between the parental species, or by mating of the hybrid with one of the parental species. Thus, the hybrid specimens always originate de novo by crossing and therefore are typical hybrid specimens that cannot receive scientific names. However, there are also reports of stable "hybrid populations" that persist without back-crossing with their parental species. Unfortunately, these populations have not yet been fully studied and their true nature is therefore still uncertain. These populations would indeed qualify as new species originated by hybrid speciation and specimens of these populations could indeed serve as types for nomenclature. What consequences does this have for nomenclature? The non-hybrid species would of course retain their names, i.e. Pelophylax ridibundus and Pelophylax lessonae, because these names are the oldest non-preoccupied names given to undoubtedly non-hybrid specimens. The self-sustaining hybrid populations (if they can be confirmed) have each evolved independently by hybrid speciation and thus cannot be "lumped" into a single "hybrid species". Rather, each of these populations has its own origin and thus is a true species of its own. Therefore, each stable hybrid population has to receive its own scientific binominal name and all of the names above that have been given to hybrid specimens have to be revised whether they may apply to one of these species. Currently, the nature of the seemingly self-sustaining hybrid populations is unclear and their status and names cannot currently be revised. Therefore, for the time being, I consider all names given to hybrids as excluded from zoological nomenclature. These names are listed here in the synonymy.


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