Abraliopsis morisii vs. Abraliopsis pfefferi (Cephalopoda: Enoploteuthidae): which is the right name?

Until the publication of the English translation of Kir Nesis' "Cephalopods of the World" (1987) the binomen Abraliopsis morisii (Vérany 1839) had been universally used to indicate the only species of the genus known to live in the Mediterranean. Nesis' revision of the genus Abraliopsis dismissed the binomen A. morisii ( Vérany, 1839) on the basis that within it there were included more than one species. Also, Nesis indicated that Abraliopsis pfefferi Joubin, 1896 was the only Mediterranean species and one of the two North Atlantic species. Despite it being impossible to examine Vérany's type specimen because of its probable loss, the re-examination of the original description of A. morisii (Vérany 1839) is indeed sufficient to recognise its identity with A. pfefferi Joubin, 1896 and to distinguish it from the other North Atlantic Abraliopsis species, namely A. atlantica Nesis, 1982. Hence A. morisii (Vérany 1839) is the valid binomen to indicate one of the two Atlantic species and the only Mediterranean species of Abraliopsis, whereas A. pfefferi Joubin, 1896 is just a junior synonym of the former and should not be used.