Revised 9 Feb. 2024
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Chrosomus Rafinesque 1820 chrṓma (Gr. χρῶμα), skin or color; somus, from sṓma (Gr. σῶμα), body, referring to vibrant coloration of C. erythrogaster

Subgenus Chrosomus

Chrosomus cumberlandensis (Starnes & Starnes 1978) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: upper Cumberland River drainage (Kentucky and Tennessee, USA), where it is endemic

Chrosomus eos Cope 1862 after Eos, goddess of morning-glow, allusion not explained, probably referring to bright red or yellow belly of large males

Chrosomus erythrogaster (Rafinesque 1820) erythrós (Gr. ἐρυθρός), red; gastḗr (Gr. γαστήρ), belly or stomach, “belly white with longitudinal red stripes from the pectoral fin to the tail”

Chrosomus oreas Cope 1868 from oreiás (Gr. oρειάς), of the hills, referring to its occurrence in montane and upland regions

Chrosomus saylori (Skelton 2001) in honor of Charles F. Saylor (b. 1948), Tennessee Valley Authority ichthyologist, part of crew who first collected this species, for contributions to the knowledge of southeastern USA fishes

Chrosomus tennesseensis (Starnes & Jenkins 1988) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Tennessee River drainage, USA, where it is endemic

Subgenus Pfrille Jordan 1924 German name for Phoxinus phoxinus (Phoxininae), genus of which previously included Chrosomus

Chrosomus neogaeus (Cope 1867) néos (Gr. νέος), new; gaeus, presumably from Gaī́a (Gr. Γαῖα), land or earth, i.e., New World, the “nearer ally of the European” (i.e., Old World) Phoxinus laevis (=phoxinus, Phoxininae)

Eremichthys Hubbs & Miller 1948 erēmíā (Gr. ἐρημία), desert, referring to its habitat in northwest Nevada, USA; ichthýs (Gr. ἰχθύς), fish

Eremichthys acros Hubbs & Miller 1948 acer (L.), sharp; os (L.), mouth, referring to the sharp-edged sheath on its jaws

Evarra Woolman 1894 Mexican forename that achieved some level of fame in an 1890 verse by Rudyard Kipling, “Evarra and His Gods,” which drew upon an Indian tradition of producing idols from oddly shaped stones, trees and other objects into “gods” that are recognizably in the image of the maker, who, in the verse, is named Evarra, a “maker of gods in lands beyond the sea” (Woolman did not explain his selection of the Evarra epithet; perhaps he simply gave a nice-sounding Mexican name to a uniquely Mexican fish)

Evarra bustamantei Navarro 1955 in honor of Miguel Bustamante y Septien (1790–1844), first Mexican to scientifically describe a Mexican fish, the goodeid Cyprinus (=Girardinichthys) viviparus, in 1837 [extinct by 1983 due to habitat loss]

Evarra eigenmanni Woolman 1894 patronym not identified but clearly in honor of German-born American ichthyologist Carl H. Eigenmann (1863–1927) [extinct by 1983 due to habitat loss]

Evarra tlahuacensis Meek 1902 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Tláhuac, near type locality at Chalco Lake in the Valley of Mexico [extinct by 1983 due to habitat loss]

Gila Baird & Girard 1853 allusion not explained, presumably referring to Gila River of Arizona and western New Mexico, USA, but Baird & Girard said the three taxa they included in the genus were all from the Zuni River of New Mexico; perhaps the authors believed the Zuni was part of the nearby but separate Gila basin, or selected Gila (reportedly derived from a Spanish contraction of Hah-quah-sa-eel, a Yuma Indian word meaning “running water which is salty”) as nothing more than a locally flavored name from the American Southwest

Gila alutacea (Agassiz & Pickering 1855) Latin for leather-colored or pale, referring to its brownish coloration [placed in its own genus, Acrocheilus, by many workers; acer (L.), sharp, and cheī́los (Gr. χεῖλος), lip, referring to its chisel-shaped mouth, hence the common name Chiselmouth]

Gila atraria (Girard 1856) apparently incorrect comparative of ater (L.), black (correct would be atrior or atria), referring to “nearly black or brownish black” color of sides and back, with “blackish” fins and “brownish black” sides and upper part of head

Gila brevicauda Norris, Fischer & Minckley 2003 brevis (L.), short; cauda (L.), tail, referring to its “unusually abbreviate” caudal fin

Gila coerulea (Girard 1856) apparent misspelling of caerulea (L.), dark blue (but used here to mean blue in general), its “upper regions a greyish azur” [placed in its own genus, Klamathella, by some workers; -ella (L.), diminutive suffix, referring to its occurrence in the Klamath River system of Oregon and California, USA

Gila conspersa Garman 1881 Latin for speckled, referring to brown spots on scales

Gila coriacea (Hubbs & Miller 1948) leathery, referring to how small, deeply embedded scales give its skin a “distinctly leathery texture” (formerly in the monotypic genus Moapa, endemic to headwaters of the Moapa River, Nevada, USA; moapa is a Paiute Indian word for muddy)

Gila crassicauda (Baird & Girard 1854) crassus (L.), thick, fat or stout; cauda (L.), tail, referring to its “largely developed” caudal peduncle compared with narrow caudal peduncle of Lavinia exilicauda, its presumed congener at the time

Gila cypha Miller 1946 from kyphós (Gr. κυφός), hunchbacked, referring to large scaleless hump on nape of large adults

Gila ditaenia Miller 1945 di-, (Gr. prefix), from dýo (δύο), two; taenia (L.), band or ribbon, referring to black bands above and below lateral line

Gila elegans Baird & Girard 1853 Latin for fine, elegant or select, allusion not explained; Girard (1857) wrote: “The most striking peculiarity of this species consists in its elongated and slender body, and especially its slender tail, terminated by a rather well developed and deeply furcated caudal fin. Indeed, all the fins are proportionally well developed.”

Gila eremica DeMarais 1991 –ica (L.), belonging to: erēmíā (Gr. ἐρημία), desert referring to the “severe” desert conditions where it occurs, with an average rainfall of <150 mm/year

Gila intermedia (Girard 1856) Latin for intermediate, described as intermediate between two similar species, G. pulchella (=nigrescens) and G. purpurea, “more closely related however to the former than to the latter” [treated as a synonym of G. robusta by some workers]

Gila jordani Tanner 1953 in honor of David Starr Jordan (1851–1931), “a great ichthyologist and educator, which is but a small way to show my appreciation for his and Mrs. Jordan’s many kindnesses to me while I was a student at Stanford University”

Gila minacae Meek 1902 of Miñaca, Río Yaqui basin, Chihuahua, México, type locality

Gila modesta (Garman 1881) Latin for moderate, modest or unassuming, its flanks lacking the “lustrous appearance” of G. nigrescens

Gila nigra Cope 1875 Latin for black, referring to its color (which is actually gray-brown [treated as a synonym of G. robusta by some workers]

Gila nigrescens (Girard 1856) Latin for blackish, referring to “crowded” black dots on scales and/or “almost black” color of back and sides

Gila orcuttii (Eigenmann & Eigenmann 1890) in honor of American naturalist Charles Russell Orcutt (1864–1929), who collected holotype (using a blanket as a seine!)

Gila pandora (Cope 1872) etymology not explained nor evident; Cope was unsure of the “truer affinities” of this species and mentions several genera to which it may belong, so perhaps its taxonomic ambiguity was a Pandora’s box, i.e., a source of troubles for Cope (M. H. S. Pérez, pers. comm.); another possibility: since Cope invested in silver mines in Colorado and New Mexico (ca. 1880), perhaps he named this fish for the Pandora mine and subsequent mining town (ca. 1875) just east of Telluride, Colorado, USA, 225 km away from type locality in Costilla County, Colorado

Gila pulchra (Girard 1856) Latin for beautiful or lovely, referring to the “brilliant” coloration of males (reddish or blackish-brown above, golden yellow below)

Gila purpurea (Girard 1856) Latin for purple, referring to purplish black color of back and sides

Gila robusta Baird & Girard 1853 Latin for of oak or oaken and, by extension, hard, firm or solid (but often used by ichthyologists to mean fat or stout), its body described as “very much swollen anteriorly”

Gila seminuda Cope & Yarrow 1875 semi-, from semis (L.), half; nudus (L.), bare or naked, referring to absence of ventral scales

Hesperoleucus Snyder 1913 hesperus (L.), western, referring to western North America (i.e., Oregon and California, USA), where all taxa occur; leucus, probably an abridgement of Myloleucus Cope 1872 (=Gila), a “closely related” genus

Hesperoleucus mitrulus Snyder 1913 unnecessarily masculinized spelling of mitrula (L.), turban, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to the “peculiar cup-like” (convex) shape of its scales, which presumably can be said to resemble a turban

Hesperoleucus parvipinnis Snyder 1913 parvus (L.), small; pinnis, Neo-Latin adjective of pinna (L.), fin, i.e., finned, presumably referring to its “short, rounded” fins

Hesperoleucus symmetricus (Baird & Girard 1854) Latin for symmetrical, referring to its symmetrical caudal fin, compared with asymmetrical caudal fin of Pogonichthys inaequilobus (=macrolepidotus, Pogonichthyinae), its presumed congener at the time

Hesperoleucus symmetricus serpentinus Baumsteiger & Moyle 2019 Latin for of or belonging to a serpent, referring to the serpentine rocks through which small creeks in the Red Hills region of Tuolumne County, California, USA (where this subspecies is endemic) flow

Hesperoleucus venustus Snyder 1913 Latin for pleasing or beautiful, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its “trim and well proportioned” body

Hesperoleucus venustus navarroensis Snyder 1913 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Navarro River, Mendocino County, California, USA, type locality

Hesperoleucus venustus subditus Snyder 1913 Latin for subordinate or subdued, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to its “more robust body, slightly shorter fins, fewer dorsal and anal rays, and a small number of scales in the lateral line” compared with the “trim and well proportioned” nominate form

Lavinia Girard 1854 classical feminine name, presumably chosen because Girard liked the sound of it

Lavinia exilicauda Baird & Girard 1854 exilis (L.), thin or meager; cauda (L.), tail, referring to its narrow caudal peduncle compared with thick caudal peduncle of Gila crassicauda, it presumed congener at the time

Lavinia exilicauda chi Hopkirk 1973 Pomo Indian name for this species in northern California, USA

Lavinia exilicauda harengus Girard 1856 Medieval Latin for herring, probably derived from an Old English (haéring, heringas), Old Frisian (hêreng), Old High German (hâring), or similar Anglo-Saxon or Germanic vernacular, allusion not explained; since Girard’s specimens were missing scales, he may have been referring to a herring’s proclivity to shed scales when handled

Mylopharodon Ayres 1855 mylo-, from mýlē (Gr. μύλη), mill or millstone; phar-, from phárynx (Gr. φάρυγξ), throat; odon,Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, referring to its molariform pharyngeal teeth

Mylopharodon conocephalus (Baird & Girard 1854) cone-headed, from conus (L.), from kṓnos (Gr. κῶνος), cone, and kephalḗ (Gr. κεφαλή), head, referring to rounded shape of head

Orthodon Girard 1856 orthós (Gr. ὀρθός), straight; odon,Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, referring to its erect, cultriform (knife-like) pharyngeal teeth

Orthodon microlepidotus (Ayres 1854) small-scaled, from mikrós (Gr μικρός), small, and lepidōtós (Gr. λεπιδωτός), scaly, referring to small scales, ~110 along lateral line

Ptychocheilus Agassiz 1855 ptycho-, folded; cheilus, lip, referring to skin fold behind jaws

Ptychocheilus grandis (Ayres 1854) Latin for large, reaching 1.4 m in length, the largest leuciscid (or minnow) in North America

Ptychocheilus lucius Girard 1856 Latin for pike (Lucius, Esocidae), referring to its pike-like shape

Ptychocheilus oregonensis (Richardson 1836) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Oregon, USA (the territory, not the state; type locality is probably Fort Vancouver, Washington)

Ptychocheilus umpquae Snyder 1908 of the Umpqua River and its tributaries, Oregon, USA, one of the river systems where it occurs

Relictus Hubbs & Miller 1972 Latin for relict, a relict fish, left behind when pluvial waters dried up

Relictus solitarius Hubbs & Miller 1972 Latin for alone or isolated, being the only fish in any of the lake basins in which it occurs

Siphateles Cope 1883 síphōn (Gr. σίφων), pipe or tube; atelḗs (Gr. ἀτελής), incomplete or imperfect, referring to “undeveloped” lateral line of S. vittatus (=juvenile S. bicolor)

Siphateles alvordensis (Hubbs & Miller 1972) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Alvord River basin of Oregon and Nevada (USA), where it is endemic

Siphateles bicolor (Girard 1856) bi-, from bis (L.), two, of two colors, referring to darker coloration above, white or silvery below

Siphateles bicolor columbianus (Snyder 1908) –anus (L.), belonging to: Columbia River, Oregon, USA, which at one time was connected to the Harney basin, where it is endemic

Siphateles bicolor euchila (Hubbs & Miller 1972) eū́-, a Greek (εὖ) intensive (well or very); chila, from cheī́los (Gr. χεῖλος), lip, referring to its large mouth with fleshy lips

Siphateles bicolor eurysoma (Williams & Bond 1981) eurýs (Gr. εὐρύς), wide or broad; sṓma (Gr. σῶμα), body, referring to its wider head and body compared with other subspecies

Siphateles bicolor isolata (Hubbs & Miller 1972) Latin for isolated, confined to Warm Springs Marsh, Elko County, Nevada, USA

Siphateles bicolor mohavensis Snyder 1918 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Mojave River basin, California, USA, where it is endemic

Siphateles bicolor newarkensis (Hubbs & Miller 1972) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Newark Valley and pluvial Lake Newark, Nevada, USA, where it is endemic

Siphateles bicolor obesa (Girard 1856) Latin for fat or plump, referring to chubby form of some specimens

Siphateles bicolor oregonensis (Snyder 1908) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Oregon, USA, where it is endemic to the Albert Lake basin

Siphateles bicolor pectinifer (Snyder 1917) pecten (L.), comb; –ifer, from fero (L.), to have or bear, referring to its gill rakers, which are finer and more numerous compared with S. b. obesa

Siphateles bicolor snyderi (Miller 1973) in memory of John Otterbein Snyder (1867–1943), who “pioneered in researches on freshwater fishes of western North America”

Siphateles bicolor thalassinus (Cope 1883) Latin for sea-green, from thálassa (Gr. θάλασσα), sea, referring to “light, translucent green” coloration when “fresh”

Siphateles bicolor vaccaceps (Bills & Bond 1980) vacca (L.), cow; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to Cow Head Basin, California and Nevada, USA, where it is endemic

Siphateles boraxobius (Williams & Bond 1980) –ius (L.), adjectival suffix: referring to Borax Lake, Harney County, Oregon, USA, where it is endemic; bíos (Gr. βίος), life, i.e., living in borax