Name the fish

Friday, November 2nd, 2007 Subscribe To Our Feed

What’s in a name?

Aquarium hobbyists normally use common names to refer to fish. Common names are sometimes given to fish on the basis of some
immediately apparent feature, so this can lead to different names being used for the same fish.

There is unlikely to be much confusion when purchasing fish such as neon tetras under their common name. However, if you
intend to research information on more unusual species, it would be useful to be familiar with their scientific names.

Scientific names are generally in Latin, and they aren’t exactly short and sweet. If that isn’t bad enough, names frequently
change as a result of new research and discoveries that may result in changes in their classification.

However, it is necessary to use scientific names to identify all living organisms can vary widely, and are also different
in every language.

For instance, the Zebra Danio is often know as the Zebrafish. There is also the striking Zebra plec/peckoltia from South
America (and a few similar species also being sold as “zebra/plec”). Then there are the Zebra cichlids of Lake Malawi
(of which there are several), and the Convict cichlid – which is also known as the Zebra cichlid.

How Scientific Names are Defined?

Scientific names conform to a universally accepted system whereby organisms are categorised under logical groups, according
to their similarity. This naming system has a single unique name for each species to avoid any doubt about which is being
discussed.

These names normally consist of two parts: the generic or genus name, and the specific or species name. A subspecies may
have a third part to the name.

There are two main reasons for the “two part” or “binomial” form of a scientific name:

* Because of the huge number of species of animal life and the need for each to have a unique name, a name consisting of
two parts allows names to be maintained at a relatively short length.

* The first part of the name also conveys information about the relationship of the species to others; it is the generic
portion or genus to which the species belongs. The second part of the name is the specific name and must be unique for that
genus (that is, it must be the only member of that genus with that part of the name).

Anyone can name a species, as long as they follow a set of universally accepted rules, and on the assumption that the
species dose not already have a name.

The three most important rules are:

* The name must be unique

* The name and description must be formally published in a way that is widely available.

* A specimen must be chosen to be the standard for that name, and lodged in a permanent collection where it is available to
other researchers for examination.

Although we may find scientific names confusing and difficult to pronounce, they allow positive identification of any
species we may wish to learn more about.

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