Approved Lists

Search. To obtain the total list of validly published names from LPSN, readers are advised to use the general search. It allows for filtering for validly published names. It is recommended to also filter for the ☞ taxonomic category and for the publication year (which forms a part of the authority).

Browse. To obtain the total list of validly published names, LPSN users may also browse the hierarchy. Note that names that are not validly published are also contained. Names that are not validly published are placed in ☞ quotation marks.

Download. The total list of validly published genus, species and subspecies names is also available for download as CSV or Excel file. Moreover, it can be accessed programmatically via the LPSN API.

The Approved Lists of Bacterial Names are most likely not what you are actually interested in. See the next section for an explanation.

The Approved Lists of Bacterial Names are often confused with ☞ validation lists or with the total list of ☞ validly published names. However, the vast majority of names validly published under the ☞ ICNP was validly published after 1 January 1980. Accordingly, most of the validly published names of prokaryotes are not included in the Approved Lists. The Approved Lists of Bacterial Names were completed in 1980, period.

In 1975, the Bacteriological Code (1975 Revision) introduced a new concept, that of the ☞ valid publication of names of prokaryotes. The publication of the ☞ Approved Lists of Bacterial Names (Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol., 1980, 30, 225-420) was part of this concept, and set a new starting point in prokaryotic nomenclature (Rule 24a of the ☞ ICNP). The Approved Lists of Bacterial Names contain all the bacterial names having standing in nomenclature on 1 January 1980. "No further names will be added to the Approved Lists" (Rule 24a).

Reference: Skerman VBD, McGowan V, Sneath PHA. Approved Lists of Bacterial Names. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1980; 30:225-420.

The Approved Lists of Bacterial Names contain 2,212 names of genera, species or subspecies, and 124 names of higher taxa. The names included in the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names are available in the archived version and via the general search.

See also: Sneath PHA. The preparation of the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2005; 55:2247-2249.

The LPSN page on nomenclature contains links to other resources related to the Approved Lists of Bacterial Names.