Revised 17 Oct. 2024
PDF version (with illustrations and additional information)

Dallia Bean 1880 –ia (L. suffix), belonging to: malacologist and explorer William Healey Dall (1845–1927), United States Coast Survey, for contributions to the zoology of Alaska, USA (where D. pectoralis occurs)

Dallia admirabilis Chereshnev 1980 Latin for admirable or wonderful (or “astonishing or miraculous” per the published English translation of the original Russian text), allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its discovery in the Amguema River basin (Chukotka, Russia), a “considerable distance” from the typical D. pectoralis and representing the westernmost occurrence of the genus on the Asian continent [treated as a synonym of D. pectoralis by some workers]

Dallia delicatissima Smitt 1881 Latin for most delectable; according to Finnish explorer Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld (1832–1901), who led voyage during which holotype was collected, and made Smitt’s name available in a popular account of the expedition, an “exceedingly delicious” fish, a “veritable delicacy, in taste somewhat resembling eel, but finer and more fleshy” (translations) [treated as a synonym of D. pectoralis by some workers]

Dallia pectoralis Bean 1880 Latin for pectoral, allusion not explained, presumably referring to its “rounded and many-rayed” pectoral fins

Esox Linnaeus 1758 from the Esox of Pliny, a large fish from the Rhine River of Europe
(possibly a salmon), applied by Aldrovandi, Artedi and Linnaeus to pikes (the common name is probably from the Anglo-Norman pike, a staff having a point or spike, presumably referring to the fish’s long body and pointed snout)

Esox americanus Gmelin 1789 –icus (L.), belonging to: America (described from Long Island, New York), distinguishing it from the circumpolar E. lucius

Esox americanus vermiculatus Lesueur 1846 Latin for vermiculate (with wavy lines and marks), referring to “narrow, winding” vermiculations on sides, “closer and tighter” on females (translations)

Esox aquitanicus Denys, Dettai, Persat, Hautecoeur & Keith 2014 –icus (L.), belonging to: Aquitaine, region of southwestern France, where type locality (Adour drainage, Estampon, Saint-Gor), is situated

Esox cisalpinus Bianco & Delmastro 2011 cis– (L.), on this side; alpinus (L.), alpine or of the Alps, referring to its distribution on one side (the Italian) of the Alps

Esox lucius Linnaeus 1758 Latin name for this species, dating to at least the Mosella of Ausonius (ca. 310–ca. 395)

Esox masquinongy Mitchill 1824 Native American name for this species, from the Ojibway (Chippewa) mask, ugly, and kinongé, fish [since Mitchill used a vernacular name and did not propose a binomial, this name is technically unavailable; first available usage appears to be Jordan 1885 but prevailing usage may apply]

Esox niger Lesueur 1818 Latin for dark or black, referring to its juvenile coloration

Esox reichertii Dybowski 1869 patronym not identified, probably in honor of Dybowski’s anatomy professor Karl Bogislaus Reichert (1811– 1883), a Baltic German embryologist and histologist

Novumbra Schultz 1929 novus (L.), new, i.e., a new Umbra or mudminnow

Novumbra hubbsi Schultz 1929 in honor of American ichthyologist Carl L. Hubbs (1894–1979), who read Schultz’ manuscript, offered “valuable” suggestions and literature references, and loaned specimens for comparisons

Umbra Kramer 1777 Latin for in the shade, allusion not explained; according to Valenciennes (1846), name refers to a belief among early naturalists that U. krameri is rarely seen because it “preferably lives in underground caves where light does not penetrate” (translation)

Umbra krameri Walbaum 1792 in honor of German physician–naturalist Wilhelm Heinrich Kramer (d. 1765), who proposed the genus and this species (as “Umbra umra”) in a pre-Linnaean publication (1756)

Umbra limi (Kirtland 1840) genitive of limus (L.), mud, described from a creek in Ohio (USA), where it “uniformly dwells in soft mud” (it is known to bury itself in mud or sand to avoid capture, hence the vernacular name “mudminnow”)

Umbra pygmaea (DeKay 1842) from pygmaī́os (Gr. πυγμαῖος), small or dwarf, referring to small size (~25.4 mm) of type specimens (now lost), described as a “pigmy dace”