Dear Taxonomists,

There is no question in my mind that in these days, the country from which specimens were collected should be entitled to receive and curate a set of types when new taxa are named. However, there should be some assurance that the country is question has a program that adheres to the principle that such types are the property of science, not just to themselves. There should not be any political issues involved when an investigator attempts to obtain loans or gain access to the collections as part of his/her research.

Forgive me for being uninformed, but it would be helpful to know where in Mexico one deposits type material. I have a mostly completed manuscript on deep-sea polychaetes from hydrothermal ventfields in the Gulf of California collected as part of NSF supported Alvin dives. It is not clear to me where in Mexico a set of types from this collection should be deposited, or which invertebrate curator should be contacted. I am aware that a cooperative U.S./Mexico program has been established to deal with these issues, but no one has ever told me where to submit a set of types.