By Donna M. Recktenwalt
You know why it’s important to use the correct latin names and collection codes for the fish you keep, especially when buying, selling, or trading them. You’ve even gotten comfortable recognizing those names in print, and to some extent, when spoken by others. But you haven’t yet reached the point where you know what those names mean, or feel comfortable enough to try to use them yourself.
The scientific naming convention need not be daunting. Scientific names are based on Latin and Greek root words, and although they seem long and unwieldy, most provide either a partial description of the subject, or honor some person. Scientific names are usually printed in italics, with the first part of the name capitalized and the second not, thus Aphyosemion gardneri.
Given knowledge of some of the Latin and Greek roots and suffixes, we can begin to demystify some of the scientific names and to understand not only what the names are telling us, but how to pronounce them.
Pronunciation and Definitions
Many scientific names can be adequately pronounced using the general phonetic rule that each syllable is pronounced separately, and the basic rules are fairly simple. In emphasis, the second to the last major syllable is emphasized, for example, Pterophyllum is “tear-o-FILL-um.” Usually, the prime vowel of the emphasized syllable has a long sound, thus columnaris is “col-um-NAIR-iss”. The letter “y” is often used as a vowel, pronounced as a short “i” (as in “if”); a vowel followed by a double consonant often has a short vowel sound, thus “phylla” is pronounced “fill-a.” In Latin, “a” before “t” is pronounced as in “lay”; in Greek, it’s pronounced as in “jaw.” Thus we have variatus, “var-i-A-tus”; and echinodermata, “eh-kinn-o-derm-ah-ta.”
And don’t worry too much about mispronouncing names; as one expert has commented, errors in pronunciation or variations in dialect are hardly critical, as long as the conversants comprehend the subject under discussion.
Many fish names provide a descriptive verbal shorthand, or provide an indication of the biotope where the species was originally found. Aphyosemion, for instance, means “small fish with a flag,” referring to its high-carried dorsal. Bivittatum means “with two stripes;” calliurum, “with a beautiful tail;” coeruleum, “blue;” and filamentosum, “with filaments.” Deltaense means “from the delta,” where the fish was originally found; cameronense, “from Cameroon;” and australe “from a southern area”. If the term was australensis, it would indicate that the species came from Australia (“ense” or “ensis” means “coming from”).
In some cases, the name honors a person. Thus we have the species names innessi, axelroddi, weberi, schioetzi, and whitei, among others. An “i” or “ii”ex tension to the person’s proper name indicates that the honoree was a man; if the extension is “a” or “ae,” the honoree was female.
The following lists provide initial guidelines to the pronunciation of some of the more common names, and a basic reference for some of the more commonly seen root words and suffixes
Name / Pronunciation
Aphyosemion — Af-e-oh-SEE-mee-ahn.
Aplocheilichtyhs — Ah-ploh-kye-LIC-th-iss
Aplocheilus — Ah-ploh-KYE-luss
Bivittatum — Bigh-vit-TAY-tum
calliurum — kal-lee-OOR-um
coeruleum — see-ROO-lee-um
Cynolebias — Sy-no-LEE-bee-ass
Cyprinidon — See-PREE-no-don
deltaense — del-tah-EN-see
Epiplatys — Ay-pee-PLAH-tiss
filamentosum — Fil-ah-men-TOH-sum
Fundulus — FUN-doo-luss
Fundulopanchax — Fun-doo-loh-PAN-chax
Nothobranchius — Noth-oh-BRANK-ee-us
Plataplochilus — Plat-ah-ploh-KEE-luss
Procatopus — Pro-kah-TOH-puss
Pterolebias — TAY-roh-LEE-bee-ass
Rachovia — Rah-KOH-vee-ah
Roloffia — Roh-LOFF-ee-ah
Rivulus — REE-vu-luss
Numbers
hemi, semi – half
pent – five
mono, uni – one
hexa, sex – six
di, bi – two
octo – eight
tri – three
deca – ten
tetra, quadri – four
Descriptions and Markings
cypri, pulcher – beautiful
fasciatus – banded
ichthys – fish
lineatus – lined
marmoratus – marbled
notatus – marked
ocellatus – with an eye-spot
stigmata, maculatus – spotted
variatus – mottled
variegatus – variable
vittatus, taeniatus – striped
Size, Shape, Body Description
acanth – spine
brevi, brachy – short
caudo, uro – tail
cephalo – head
corpor, soma – body
derma – skin
dorsi, noto – back
gaster – stomach
-issima, -tatos – “the most”
labio, chilo – lip
lepis – scale
longi – long
macro – large
mega – great
micro – small
multi, poly – many
nano – dwarf
odont – tooth
ophthalmop – eye
oto – ear
pauci, oligo – few
pector, sterni – breast
phyllum – leaf-like
pinni, pinniss, ptero – fins
plani, platy – flat
pulcher, call, bell – beautiful
rostrum, rhino – nose
stoma – mouth
ventro – belly
Color
albi, leuco – white
argent, argyro – silver
aur, aurat, chryso – gold
cerule, cyano – blue
flamme, pyrrho – flame
flav, xantho, galb, lute, thapsino – yellow
fuse, brunne – brown
nigri, melan – black
rose, rhodo – rose
rubi, rubr, erythro – red
viridi, chloro – green
References:
Nguyen, Thuan. e-mail correspondence, March 17, 1997.
Maurus, Walt. “Pro-nun-see-a-shun,” Freshwater and Marine Aquarium, April 1987.
Maurus, Walt. “The Piscatorial Verbiphile,” Freshwater and Marine Aquarium, November 1990.
Speice, Paul. Column ‘Guppies to Groupers,’ “The Art of Talking Fish,” Parts 2, 3, and 5. Freshwater and Marine
Aquarium, April, May, and July1986.
— GCKA Newsletter, February 1998