def pathway_names(pathways):
    """ Split the pathway names and descriptions
    
        Args:
            pathways (list): A list of pathway names and descriptions 
                (from a pathway abundance or coverage file)  
        
        Requires:
            None
            
        Returns:
            (dict): A dictionary of pathway names to descriptions
            
    """
    
    path_names = {}
    for path in pathways:
        # ignore stratified pathways
        if not "|" in path:
            try:
                description = path.split(":")
                name = description.pop(0)
                description=":".join(description)
            except ValueError:
                continue
            
            path_names[name]=description
        
    return path_names