wher to find meanings of scientific names ???

[seveland]

does anyone know of a website or book that will break down scietific names? I realize names like wesseli obviously mean named after Wessel and the i is denoting male, so a name like myrnae would be feminine then? would it be named after myrn or myrna? also obvious are names like managuensis which would be named after locality, in this case lake managua. but how do I find the meaning of other names? for example, I'm pretty sure nigrofasciatus means black banded, but is there a source that would break it down and say something like , nigro from the Latin (or Greek?) word negro meaning black, and fasciatus from Latin word fascia meanin band. So where could I find the meanings and roots of words like citrinellus (I'm assuming something to do with orange) or even Amphilophus for that matter?

[Kevin Cumberton]

GREAT QUESTION!

[Philippe Burnel]

Usualy the original description of the sp includes the meaning of the name.
Sometimes it comes from latin, sometimes from greek.
Which name do you want to "translate" ?

[seveland]

Hi Phillipe. I was actually hoping to translate genus and species names of all north and central american cichlids, so about 110 names, although i do know some of them.

[MatsP]

It may not be exactly what you wanted, but http://www.fishbase.org has Etymology (i.e. origin of word) for the genera of certain fish, e.g. Geophagus.

I couldn't find any specie-name with etymology (probably because that's so many more names).

Also, the Catalogue here on this web-site sometimes has the Etymology for the genera and specie, e.g:Geophagus Abalios.

Unfortunately, neither place is complete, but you'll get some of the info that way...

Doing a google on the name can also find something useful... This finds for instance this site at Nordiska Riksmuseet in Stockholm. This site isn't complete either, but it's another source of information, both for species and genera etymology. [You have to scroll down some to find the Etymology part].

Once you have a complete list, it wouldn't hurt to post it here, for everyone elses reference...

--
Mats

[Lisachromis]

Maybe that's an idea for Juan to add to his species pages! *hint hint Juan*

[MatsP]

Maybe that's an idea for Juan to add to his species pages! *hint hint Juan*

It is on some of the pages, so I think Juan has been adding it, when possible. It's just quite hard to find this sort of stuff out, unless you actually have access to the original description of the fish [and we don't all have access to scientific libraries... ]. The species pages in the Cat-eLog on Planet Catfish has an entry for Etymology, but it's not always filled in...

--
Mats

[polleni]

Amphi = both (two?)+ Lophus = crest (Lophos, Lophion; ancient greek)

You can see more here..

http://www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aq ... mes01.html (focused on cichlids from Lake Malawi). See also next pages linked to this one..

It would be really nice to work with all the cichlid names.. if Juan is interested I would be happy to help..

[seveland]

good stuff polleni! my stepfather is actually Greek, he can speak Greek, but he couldn't look at the scientific names and tell me what they meant

MatsP , thanks, i didn't realize fishbase had Etymology of the genres.



I'm trying to make and informational webpage that will profile central and north american cichlids. this is the format i want to use for each species:

Scientific name :
pronunciation :
Etymology of specific name:
common name(s) :
average maximum size :
variations / color morphs :
temperament :
diet :
gender differences :
original description :
distribution :
pH & temperature :
habitat :
comments:
photos -


this is why I'm looking for this information also, i have wondered often myself on what some of them mean.

[polleni]

The problem is that almost all Greek words found in scientific names are used with the ancient Greek meaning of the word in mind, which is usually different than the contemporary one. For example, the word "Lophos" in modern Greek only means "hill", although it derived from the ancient Greek word which meant "crest". Actually, it meant the decorative feathers on the top of the helmets of the warriors. So it takes a bit more than speaking Greek to find your way through those scientific names. The ancient Greek language was far more "precise" than the contemporary one and this is probably the reason it is used in science extensively. Moreover, in some cases, words are used with a very specific meaning in mind, which is not the "ordinary" even in ancient Greek. Another problem is that in English, you have an "english" name for something (all organs of the body like liver, nose, eye, ear, lung, bone, teeth, mouth, body, heart, muscle, blood & skin ) but you use the Greek word for the adjective (hepatic, rhino-, ophthalmic, oto-, pneumonic, osteo-, odonto-, stomatic, somatic, cardiac, myo-, haemo- & dermato- respectively), which complicates things.. Thus, in the link above, you will notice that Michael Oliver corrected a lot of the initial explanations.. although he doesn't speak Greek (not yet anyway, but we are working on that !!)..

I know that it sounds Greek to you !!

[Grange]

Etymologie page:
http://aquavisie.retry.org/Database/Ety ... logie.html

[MatsP]

Etymologie page:
http://aquavisie.retry.org/Database/Ety ... logie.html

Anyone that knows dutch well enough to translate it, and that has 40 hours to spare It's a great site, but in English would make it GREAT!

--
Mats

[Grange]

On-line dictionaries:

http://lookwayup.com/free/DutchEnglishDictionary.htm

http://www.freedict.com/onldict/dut.html

[MatsP]

On-line dictionaries:

http://lookwayup.com/free/DutchEnglishDictionary.htm

http://www.freedict.com/onldict/dut.html

[I did see the smiley!] Yeah, but that doesn't really translate sentences, and if there's more than one meaning to a word [which English and Swedish has], it's still not trivial to translate using a dictionary [or even automatic translators]. It'll give you a better idea, but not quite there... My brother once looked up in a Dictionary and said "I will contain". That's a verbatim translaton of "Jag ska rymma", but it doesn't make much sense in the meaning of "I'lll run away", because "rymma" is a dual meaning word, and he got the wrong one... . You actually have to understand more than individual words to make meaningfull translations.

--
Mats

[Don Hiatt]

I did some of that myself when I was kid.
My mother used to teach scientific termonology.
That helped me.
Hericthys= Heros like fish
Parachromis=Chromis like fish
cyanoguttatus=Blue spotted
nigrofaciatum=black barred
octofaciatum=eight bars
macracanthum=big spines
citrinellum=citris colored
meeki=named after Meek
dovii=named after Dow
tetracanthus=four spines
haitiensis=coming from Haiti
managuense=coming from Managua
motaguense=coming from Motugua
labiatum=referance to the lips
trimaculatum=three spotted
ornatum=ornate

[polleni]

ichthys = fish
macra = long
mega = large / big

so "macracanthum" means long spines and not big ones..

micro (mikro) = small
para = close to
homo = similar to, common, bound to (this is a difficult one.. )
amphi = both (sides)
epi = on
apo = from
hypo = under
hippo = horse
rheo = flow
phile = loves (hydrophile; audiophile etc.) so, for instance "Philippe" = the one who loves horses; rheophile = the one who loves flow .. opposite = phobic (from Gk "Phobos" = fear)..


and so on.. if some people want to work on this, count me in.

[seveland]

I'm looking for: Caquetaia, Chuco, Nandopsis, diquis, hogaboomorus, rhytisma, zaliosus, umbrifera, grammodes (with freindly lines?), pantostictus, nematopus (nema=thread?), nebuliferum (something to do with gas or mist?), tuba, melanurus (dark, as in melanin?), and irregularis (referring to irregular shape?).

and is there a reason dovii is spelled with "v" and not "w" since it's named in honor of dow?

[seveland]

here's a better translator: http://babelfish.altavista.com/




Cichlidae -from Greek word kichle, which simply means a kind of fish

Vieja - Spanish, vieja = old woman
Aequidens - Latin, aequus, equal, equally + Latin, dens, dentis = teeth
Amphilophus - crested on both sides: Greek, amphi = on both sides + Greek, lophos = crest
Archocentrus - Greek, archo = anus + Greek, kentron = sting (LOL , stinging ass? I'm think)
Caquetaia - from Caquueta river
Cryptoheros- hidden hero- From Greek, Krypto = hide, cover, conceal; Greek, heros=hero
Cichlasoma - Greek, kichle = wrasse or type of fish + Greek, soma = body
Chuco
Geophagus - eartheater -Greek, gea = the earth + Greek, phagein = to eat
Hypsophrys - Greek : hypselos = high, ophrys = eyebrow
Herichthys - Greek, eri = very, a lot + Greek, ichthys = fish
Herotilapia - hero-fish - Hero comes from Greek word heros meaning hero or warrior; tilapia is from Bechuana, African native word thiape = fish
Parachromis - Greek, para = the side of + Greek, chromis = a fish, perhaps a perch
Neetroplus - Greek, neos = new + Greek, etrapelos = stiff; refered to the stiff anal fins rays characteristic of these fishes
Nandopsis
Petenia - Taken from lake Peten in Guatemala
Theraps - means "keeper"
Paraneetroplus - means "similar to Theraps" :Greek, para = near, similar + Greek, etrapelos = stiff; refered to the stiff anal fins rays characteristic of these fishes
Thorichthys - Greek, thoros, ou = semen, ichthys = fish (semen fish allrighty then)
Tomocichla - Greek, tomo = portion, cut + Greek, kichle = wrasse

coeruleopunctatus - blue spotted: coerulea= blue ; punctata/punctatum= spotted
alfari - in honor of A. Alfaro
altifrons - tall forehead: alti-, a prefix indicating the characteristic of being tall; frons = forehead
amarillo - Amarillo = yellow (Spanish); In reference to the overall color of the fish.
bussingi - after William Bussing
calobrensis - refers to being from Rio Calobre, Panama.
citrinellus- lemon like, refering to the lemon like yellow color of the fish.
diquis - from Diquis, Costa Rica
hogaboomorus - named after the two brothers George and Peter Hogaboom, who collected the type material together with the autors Carr & Giovanoli
labiatus - labia has to do with the lips
longimanus - Long hands, ( pectoral fins.)
lyonsi - named after Dr. William G. (Bill) Lyons
macracanthus- Large spined
margaritifer - Latin margarita, "a pearl," hence pertaining to pearls, being pearly
nourissati - After one of the discoverers of the species for science and hobby, the great french cichlid aquarist Jean Claude Nourissat (1941-2003).
rhytisma - from Greek: interrupted, towards the interrupted link concerning the flank
robertsoni - named after the owner of a rubber plantation Cameroun, Dr. Robertson
rostratus - rostrata/rostratum = beaked
sagittae - from Latin "sagitta", meaning arrow, hich refers to the slender shape of this species
trimaculatus - three spots
urophthalmus - uro - from the Greek oura, "a tail"; opthalmic = Of or relating to the eye - I think this refers to the eyespot on the tail
xiloaensis - After the type locality in lake Xiloa, Nicaragua.
zaliosus - zale" (wave) and "ios" (arrow);
centrarchus - refers to similarity in body shape to north american sunfish, the Centrarchids. Centrarchid means scaled gill cover.
octofasciatus - I'm guessing it means 8 bars
panamensis - from Panama
spinosissimus - The most spiny.
umbrifera
godmanni - named after Frederick DuCane Godmann
intermedium - inter means within (I think), medium is middle
microphthalmus - micro=small + opthalmus=eye
atromaculatum - atro-: a prefix conveying the sense of "blackish or very dark,"; maculated means spotted; so atromaculatum means "bearing dark spots"
beani - named after ichthyologist Tarleton Hoffmann Bean
grammodes - linked with lines
istlanum - refers to type locallity - Rio Ixtla at Puente de Ixtla, Morelos, México
salvini - named after O. Salvin
altoflavus - alto = high (Latin) + flavus = yellow (Latin); In comparisson with ots closest relative; C. nanoluteus, as being of higher body and with more yellow.
cutteri
myrnae - named in honor of the director of the zoological museum of the university of Costa Rica, Myrna Lopez Sanchez
nanoluteus - Greek : nano = small, luteus = golden
nigrofasciatus - negro means black, fasciated means striped or barred from Greek word fascia
sajica - in honor of Salvador Jimenez Canossa, director of library of Costa Rica
septemfasciatus - seven stripes(or bars): septem = 7 ; from fascia means "barred"
spilurus- From the Latin spilurus = 'with spots on the tail'
crassilabris thick lipped: Latin crassus, "thick,"; labris from Latin root Labr-, referring a "lip"
bartoni - Named by the author after his brother the ichthyologist Barton A. Bean (1860-1947).
bocourti - In honour of ichthyologist Bocourt
carpintis - Refers to the type locality at Laguna del Carpintero (Carpenter's lagoon) at the mouth of the Rio Pánuco drainage.
cyanoguttatus - cyano- refers to the color cyan (bluish-green); Guttatus is Latin for "speckled"; so means with cyan speckles
deppii - named to the collector Ferdinand Deppe
labridens - labrum = lip (Latin) and dens = tooth(Latin); in reference to the easily visible tooth they hold in the upper lips, visible even in live specimens.
minckleyi - named after Dr. Wendel Lee(W.L) Minckley
pantostictus- everywhere spotted
pearsei - named to the American zoologist Athur Sparry Pearse
steindachneri - In honor of Franz Steindachner, the Austrian ichthyologist, (1834-1919)
tamasopoensis - from Rio Tomasapo in mexico
multispinosa - many spines
nicaraguensis - from Nicaragua
haitiensis - from Haiti
ramsdeni - to the collector Charles T. Ramsden
tetracanthus - four spines (thorns): prefix tetra- means four; acantha = thorn
vombergae - to the zoologist Mia vom mount
nematopus - "with threadlike feet" - referring to the long ventral fins of this species; "nematos" (thread) and "podos" (leg, extremity; pod=foot).
dovii - after Captain Dow; see explanation for godmanni
friedrichsthalii - to the Austrian collector baron von Friedrichsthal
loisellei - after Paul Loiselle
managuensis - after Rio Managua which is in Honduras
motaguensis - After Lake Motagua in Nicaragua
bulleri
gibbiceps - With a hump on the head
nebuliferum
omonti
splendida- splendid (shining, beautiful)
coeruleus - coerulea= blue
irregulare - irregular
lentiginosus - lentiginosus: freckled, spotted
wesseli - after Rusty Wessel
affinis - Neighbouring; related.
aureus - color of gold
callolepis - beautiful scales - callo from the Greek kallos, "beautiful,"; lepis: in compound words referring to a scale
helleri - named for the Austrian Karl Bartholomäus Heller
maculipinnis - spotted fins
meeki - afetr american ichthyologist Seth E. Meek
pasionis - Rio de la Pasion (Guatemala)
socolofi - after Ross Socolof
asfraci - After the ASsociation FRAnce CIchlid.
sieboldii - named for the German zoologist Carl Theodor seriousness von Siebold
tuba - apparantly, after the musical instrument. i think they may be referring to the "trumpet shape"
argentea - The latin word for silver is argentum (hence the abbreviation of Ag for silver on the periodic table)... argentea = silver fish.
bifasciatus - bi means two or both, fasciated mean striped - guessing menas striped on both sides
breidohri - honor of the collector Hans-Günther Breidohr
fenestratus - windowed? : fenestra is latin for window or sill
guttulatus - with broad speckles? :Guttatus is Latin for "speckled"; Latin word "latus " = broad, wide, extensive
hartwegi - after amercian Norman E. Hartweg
heterospila - with derogatory spot
maculicauda - spotted tail: macula = spot, cauda=tail
melanurus - I'm thinking referring to being dark, think melanin
regani - Named after Charles Tate Regan (1878-1943), British ichthyologist that got to be director of the British Museum of Natural History (1927 to 1938).
synspila - with amalgamated spot
tuyrense - from Rio Tuyra, Panama
ufermanni - After Alfred Ufermann, German Aquarist.
zonatus - Banded

[MatsP]

and is there a reason dovii is spelled with "v" and not "w" since it's named in honor of dow?

W doesn't exist in the latin alphabet.

--
Mats

[Grange]

Caquetaia — from Caqueta river;

Amphilophus zaliosus — "zale" (wave) and "ios" (arrow);

Amphilophus alfari — in honor of A. Alfaro;

Neetroplus nematopus— "nematos" (thread) and "podos" (leg, extremity).