Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Vinae smuckerata

This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion of the article below. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record.
The result of the debate was SPEEDY DELETED. jni 13:37, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Vinae smuckerata

This is a tough one. Looks like patent nonsense, and was proposed for speedy delete, but is it possible that this thing really exists and the "smuckerata" (reference to Smucker's Grape Jelly) is merely due to a scientist with a sense of humor? No google hits, but that's not surprising for an obscure species. Someone is going to have to dig deep and research this. Note there were edits to Jellyfish linking to here, which I reverted... the first edit seemed legit though.

Even if it's real (a big if), is it notable at all?

I will slap a {{CiteSources}} on it for now. -- Curps 21:58, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)

I'm going to take a chance and speedy delete this. I just don't believe it. I don't think "vinae" is good Latin for anything, sounds too much like the word for "wine" in Romance languages, I don't think "smuckerata" is the proper Latinate form (binomens are often not real Latin but they're supposed to have proper Latin endings that follow Latin rules of grammar). I'm no maven on systematic Latin but I think a genus name would be a singular noun and I don't think singular nouns end in -ae. I think it's odd that I can't get any Google hits on "vinae cnidaria" or "vinae ctenophora" or "vinae coelenterata." "Most deadly jellyfish in the world" is so notable that you'd think I'd have vaguely heard of it and you'd certainly think the scientific name for it would Google.

The jellyfish usually cited as the most deadly are the sea wasps or Cubomedusae, found on the Australian Great Barrier Reef, and if again there were a "vinae" species again you'd think "vinae cubomedusae" would Google.

And the description sounds wrong. I've never heard of a (true) jellyfish without tentacles. There are jellyfish without tentacles that do look rather like grapes, but they are the comb jellies or Ctenophora, also called sea gooseberries, which do not have nematocysts and are not venomous. I know someone who ate one to prove it. He said it basically tasted like seawater-flavored Jello. Oh, and I don't think the surface membrane of a jellyfish is ever called "epidermis."

Finally, systematists do make jokes, a worm Golfingia (found by its discoverer while golfing) being one of the knee-slappers; another named a bunch of species all after his wife Caroline by using anagrams (Cerolina, etc.) But I've never heard of a brand name being used.

And the chances that someone who can't spell "prey" or "leisure" knows about some really obscure species that is obscure despite being world-class deadly seems unlikely.

So out it goes. If someone finds a proper reference I'll apologize humbly. Text of deleted article is given below. Dpbsmith (talk) 23:48, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)

The Vinae Smuckerata, also known as the Grape Jellyfish, due to its small size and purple color, is one of the most deadly jellyfish in the world. While it has no tentacles, its epidermis is covered in powerful nematocysts. On contact these kill and adhere to it's pray, allowing the jelly to digest it at its lesure.

P. S. Re the supposed Science News citation in the history. If Science News had published such an article in 1996, the factoid would be amusing enough that I can't believe it wouldn't have found its way onto the Web by now. Dpbsmith (talk) 23:59, 8 Feb 2005 (UTC)

That citation was added by a vandal User:Zedfez, who created a patent nonsense article elsewhere shortly thereafter ("Mike scotto, king of lame-istan, mayor of sucktopia"). If someone wants to check it out, the cite was Science News, May 4, 1996 (Vol. 149, No. 18). -- Curps 02:09, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)

P. P. S. This cubomedusa species list doesn't have any "Vinae." Nothing here either. Dpbsmith (talk) 00:06, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Good call by dpbsmith. So now, D, if it turns out this was real, there will be someone else with whom you can share your embarassment. --BM 02:02, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)

This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like some other VfD subpages, is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion, or the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.