Common Eider

SCI Name:  Somateria mollissima
Protonym:  Anas mollissima Syst.Nat.ed.10 p.124
Taxonomy:  Anseriformes / Anatidae / Somateria
Taxonomy Code:  comeid
Type Locality:  northern Europe; restricted to island of Gotland by Linnaeus, 1761, Fauna Svecica, ed. 2, p. 41.
Author:  Linnaeus
Publish Year:  1758
IUCN Status:  Near Threatened

DEFINITIONS

SOMATERIA
(Anatidae; Ϯ King Eider S. spectabilis) Gr. σωμα sōma, σωματος sōmatos  body; εριον erion  wool. The down used to line the nests of the Common Eider was formerly collected commercially; "Genus SOMATERIA, Leach, (Eider).   Species 1. SOMATERIA SPECTABILIS, (King Eider).  A pair only of this species was shot, in about lat. 72º.  Several were seen as high as 74º, mixing with Cuthbert's Eider. It is generally named King Duck. The trachea of this bird resembles that of the Anus [sic] Moschata. See Plate 14, fig. 1 and 2.  Latham.    Species 2. SOMATERIA, (Cuthbert's Eider), commonly named the Eider Duck.  Many of these were shot in the months of June and July, between lat. 71º and 74º." (Leach 1819); "Somateria Leach, in Ross, Voy. Disc. 2, 1819, p. 154, App., p. xlviii. Type, by monotypy, Anas spectabilis Linné.¹  ...  ¹ Of the two included species, one is listed only in the vernacular, the other has a valid binomial name and may be accepted as a monotypic type." (Peters 1931, I, 179). 
Var. Sommateria, Samoteria.   
Synon. Arctonetta, Eider, Erionetta, Ganza, Lampronetta, Platypus.

mollissima / mollissimus
L. mollissimus  very soft  < super. mollis  soft.
● "61. ANAS.  ...  mollissima.  12. A. rostro cylindrico, cera postice bifida rugosa. Fn. svec. 94.  Anas plumis mollissimis. Barth. act. I. p. 90. Worm. mus. 310. Will. orn. 277. Raj. av. 141.  Anas magna nigra & alba. Edw. av. 98. t. 98.  Habitat in Europa boreali, pelagica. It. gotl. 213. deplumatur in nido: plumis mollissimis, præstantissimis, pretiosissimis.  Mas albus, subtus posticeque niger. Femina grisea." (Linnaeus 1758) (Somateria).

SUBSPECIES

Common Eider (Eurasian)
SCI Name: Somateria mollissima mollissima
mollissima / mollissimus
L. mollissimus  very soft  < super. mollis  soft.
● "61. ANAS.  ...  mollissima.  12. A. rostro cylindrico, cera postice bifida rugosa. Fn. svec. 94.  Anas plumis mollissimis. Barth. act. I. p. 90. Worm. mus. 310. Will. orn. 277. Raj. av. 141.  Anas magna nigra & alba. Edw. av. 98. t. 98.  Habitat in Europa boreali, pelagica. It. gotl. 213. deplumatur in nido: plumis mollissimis, præstantissimis, pretiosissimis.  Mas albus, subtus posticeque niger. Femina grisea." (Linnaeus 1758) (Somateria).

Common Eider (Faeroe Is.)
SCI Name: Somateria mollissima faeroeensis
faeroeensis / faeroensis
Færoe or Faroe Is. (Danish Færøerne), North Atlantic Ocean.

Common Eider (Pacific)
SCI Name: Somateria mollissima v-nigrum
SOMATERIA
(Anatidae; Ϯ King Eider S. spectabilis) Gr. σωμα sōma, σωματος sōmatos  body; εριον erion  wool. The down used to line the nests of the Common Eider was formerly collected commercially; "Genus SOMATERIA, Leach, (Eider).   Species 1. SOMATERIA SPECTABILIS, (King Eider).  A pair only of this species was shot, in about lat. 72º.  Several were seen as high as 74º, mixing with Cuthbert's Eider. It is generally named King Duck. The trachea of this bird resembles that of the Anus [sic] Moschata. See Plate 14, fig. 1 and 2.  Latham.    Species 2. SOMATERIA, (Cuthbert's Eider), commonly named the Eider Duck.  Many of these were shot in the months of June and July, between lat. 71º and 74º." (Leach 1819); "Somateria Leach, in Ross, Voy. Disc. 2, 1819, p. 154, App., p. xlviii. Type, by monotypy, Anas spectabilis Linné.¹  ...  ¹ Of the two included species, one is listed only in the vernacular, the other has a valid binomial name and may be accepted as a monotypic type." (Peters 1931, I, 179). 
Var. Sommateria, Samoteria.   
Synon. Arctonetta, Eider, Erionetta, Ganza, Lampronetta, Platypus.

Common Eider (Dresser's)
SCI Name: Somateria mollissima dresseri
dresseri
Henry Eeles Dresser (1838-1915) English traveller, ornithologist, oologist (subsp. Atlapetes leucopterus, syn. Lagopus lagopus scotica, syn. Merops boehmi, subsp. Poecile palustris, subsp. Prunella fulvescens (ex Accentor fulvescens pallidus Dresser, 1895), subsp. Sitta tephronota, subsp. Somateria mollissima, syn. Sturnus vulgaris porphyronotus).

Common Eider (Northern)
SCI Name: Somateria mollissima borealis
borealis
L. borealis  northern  < boreas  north wind, north  < Gr. βορεας boreas  north wind, north. This epithet refers not only to northern latitudes but also to a distribution or range north of previously known forms.
● King George Bay, Alaska; ex “Boreal Sandpiper” of Latham 1785 (syn. Aphriza virgata).
● Carolina; ex “American Buzzard” of Latham 1781, and “Red-tailed Falcon” of Pennant 1785 (subsp. Buteo jamaicensis).
● Erroneous TL. Northern United States (= South Carolina) (Leuconotopicus).
● Erroneous TL. "Kamtschatka" (= Princes I., Java); ex “Rusty-headed Warbler” of Latham 1783 (syn. Orthotomus sepium).
● Erroneous TL. Iceland (= Norway) (subsp. Poecile montanus).

Common Eider (Hudson Bay)
SCI Name: Somateria mollissima sedentaria
sedentaria / sedentarius
L. sedentarius sedentary, sitting < sedere to sit.