Charles Stokes

In an address to the Royal Geographical Society on 22 May 1854, the Earl of Ellesmere, its then President, said: In May and June 1854, Sotheby's sold off Stokes' library and his scientific collections in separate dedicated auctions; which suggests that both were of substantial size. In November 1854, the Royal Society did no more than note the fact that Stokes had died.

Taxa described He described the following taxa: Actinoceras bigsbii, A. lyonii and A. simmsii (Stokes 1840), three species of extinct cephalopods in genus Actinoceras Asaphus platycephalus (Stokes 1824), an extinct species of trilobite in genus Asaphus Caryophyllia smithii (Stokes & Broderip 1828), a species of solitary coral Huronia (Stokes 1824), an extinct genus of cephalopods

In a letter of 1846 to Royal Navy Captain Sir James Ross, Stokes described two species which Ross had dredged from Antarctic waters: Hornera lateralis (genus Hornera, a Bryozoan, in family Horneridae, in suborder Cancellata); and Primnoa rossii (genus Primnoa, a soft coral). It is unclear as to what those species (which may or may not have been elsewhere described and named) might be.

Taxa named in honour It has long been customary for zoologists when describing a new taxon to explain why they have chosen a name for a genus or an epithet for a species. Several species with the epithet stokesi or stokesii may have been named in honour of Charles Stokes. All the species listed in this section were described by his contemporaries, often by people who he is known to have known, and all were within his areas of interest. In every case, it would be necessary to consult the original scientific papers to be sure.

This attribution is certain:

Hemicidaris stokesii (Wright 1857), an extinct sea urchin in genus Hemicidaris

These attributions seem plausible:

Acinophyllum stokesi (Milne-Edwards & Haime 1851 = Columnaria stokesi Milne-Edwards & Haime not 1906, Diphyphyllum stokesi Milne-Edwards & Haime not 1897, Lithostrotion stokesi Milne-Edwards & Haime 1858), Palaeophyllum stokesi Milne-Edwards & Haime 1851) Dichocoenia stokesi (Milne-Edwards & Haime 1848), a stony coral Goniopora stokesi (Milne-Edwards & Haime 1851), a colonial stony coral Mellitella stokesii (Agassiz 1841 = Echinoglycus stokesii Agassiz 1841, Encope stokesii Agassiz 1841, Mellita stokesii Agassiz 1841), a sea urchin in genus Mellitella in family Mellitidae in suborder in order Clypeasteroida Notopocorystes stokesii (Mantell 1844 = Corystes stokesii, Palaeocorystes stokesii), an extinct crab in genus Notopocorystes in family Raninidae Phacops stokesii (Milne-Edwards 1851 ?= Calymene macrophthalama Murchison), a trilobite; assigned both to Phacops and to Calymene, genus uncertain Platytrochus stokesii (Milne-Edwards & Haime 1848 = Turbiniola stokesii Lea 1833)), an extinct stony coral Proetus stokesi (Murchison n.d.), a trilobite Proetus stokesii (Murchison 1839 = Asaphus stokesii Murchison 1839, Forbesia stokesii M'Coy 1855), a trilobite Trigonotreta stokesi (Koenig 1825 = Spirifer stokesii, Spiriferina stokesi), an extinct articulate brachiopod Warburgella stokesii (Murchison 1839 ?=Proetus stokesi Reed n.d.), a trilobite Zaphrentis stokesi (Milne-Edwards & Haime 1851), an extinct coral in genus Zaphrentis possibly in order Rugosa

Places named in honour

In 1826, Royal Navy captain and explorer John Franklin named Point Stokes , a headland in Yukon in the Arctic Sea, in Stokes' honour.

It is not clear why Stokes Mountain and Stokes Range in Nunavut, Canada were so named. They may or may not have been named in honour of Charles Stokes.

Publications