Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 January 2018
In this paper, we study families of singular surfaces in ℂ3 parametrised by $\mathcal {A}$-finitely determined map germs. We consider the topological triviality and Whitney equisingularity of an unfolding F of a finitely determined map germ f : (ℂ2, 0) → (ℂ3, 0). We investigate the following question: topological triviality implies Whitney equisingularity of the unfolding F? We provide a complete answer to this question, by giving counterexamples showing how the conjecture can be false.