Nomen nudum

In taxonomy, a nomen nudum ('naked name'; plural nomina nuda) is a designation^[2] which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be one, but it has not been published with an adequate description. This makes it a "bare" or "naked" name, which cannot be accepted as it stands.^[3] A largely equivalent but much less frequently used term is nomen tantum ("name only"). Sometimes, "nomina nuda" is erroneously considered a synonym for the term "unavailable names". However, not all unavailable names are nomina nuda which applies to published names, i.e. any published name that does not fulfill the requirements of Article 12 (if published before 1931) or Article 13 (if published after 1930).^[4]