Updated 20 Sept. 2023
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Chirocentrodon Günther 1868 cheír or cheirós (Gr. χείρ, genitive χειρός), hand, homologous to the pectoral fin, probably referring to long pectoral fins of C. taeniatus (=bleekerianus), as long as head; kéntron (Gr. κέντρον), Latinized centrum, prickle or sharp point; odon, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, probably referring to “strong” canine teeth on lower jaw and/or “large” maxillary teeth, “extending nearly to the vertical from the hind margin of the eye”

Chirocentrodon bleekerianus (Poey 1867) -[i]anus (L.) belonging to: patronym not identified but clearly in honor of Dutch army surgeon and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker (1819–1878)

Ilisha Richardson 1846 Latinization of ilish, Bengali vernacular usually applied to another clupeiform, Tenualosa ilisha (Clupeidae)

Ilisha africana (Bloch 1795) –ica (L.), belonging to: Africa, referring to its distribution along the west coast of Africa (Senegal to Angola)

Ilisha amazonica (Miranda Ribeiro 1920) –ica (L.), belonging to: referring to its distribution in the Amazon River basin

Ilisha compressa Randall 1994 Latin for squeezed or pressed together, referring to its thin body

Ilisha elongata (Anonymous [Bennett] 1830) Latin for prolonged, referring to its slender body

Ilisha filigera (Valenciennes 1847) filum (L.), thread; –gera, Latin suffix meaning to bear or carry, presumably referring to extended caudal-fin filament (at least on a small specimen examined by Valenciennes)

Ilisha fuerthii (Steindachner 1875) in honor of Ignatius Fürth, Austrian Consul at Panama, who donated many “rare mammals and fish” (translation) to the Naturhistorisches Museum (Vienna), including presumably holotype of this herring

Ilisha kampeni (Weber & de Beaufort 1913) in honor of Dutch herpetologist-ichthyologist Pieter Nicolaas van Kampen (1878–1937), who collected many specimens (and presumably this one) for Weber and de Beaufort from the research steamer Gier

Ilisha lunula Kailola 1986 diminutive of luna (L.), moon, i.e., crescent, referring to its strongly lunate, extended caudal fin

Ilisha macrogaster Bleeker 1866 macro-, from makrós (Gr. μaκρóς), long or large; gastḗr (Gr. γαστήρ), belly, probably referring to larger number of ventral scutes (36–37) compared with 27 on I. micropus (=melastoma)

Ilisha megaloptera (Swainson 1839) large-finned, from mégas (Gr. μέγας), big, and ptera, from pterón (Gr. πτερόν) or ptéryx (πτέρυξ), referring to its long anal fin (a characteristic of the genus, hence “Longfin Herrings”)

Ilisha melastoma (Bloch & Schneider 1801) mélas (Gr. μέλας), black; stóma (Gr. στόμα), mouth, described as having a black mouth (“rictu nigro”)

Ilisha novacula (Valenciennes 1847) Latin for razor, similar in shape to the Razorfish, Cyprinus (=Pelecus) cultratus, a Eurasian leuciscid

Ilisha obfuscata Wongratana 1983 Latin for obscured, probably referring to its being discovered among type series of I. filigera and Pellona micropus (=I. melastoma)

Ilisha pristigastroides (Bleeker 1852) –oides, Neo-Latin from eī́dos (Gr. εἶδος), form or shape: referring to strong resemblance to Pristigaster tartoor (=Opisthopterus tardoore)

Ilisha sirishai Seshagiri Rao 1975 in honor of A. V. S. Sirisha, daughter of Seshagiri Rao’s cousin, “who is keen in learning about fishes” [preferably spelled sirishae since name honors a female, but ICZN 32.5.1 forbids such a correction]

Ilisha striatula Wongratana 1983 diminutive of striatus (L.), furrowed, i.e., marked with small striae, referring to discontinuous vertical striae on scales, with a distinct gap across the center of each scale

Neoopisthopterus Hildebrand 1948 néos (Gr. νέος), new, i.e., a new Opisthopterus, referring to the close relationship between the two genera

Neoopisthopterus cubanus Hildebrand 1948 –anus (L.), belonging to: referring to type locality near Havana, Cuba

Neoopisthopterus tropicus (Hildebrand 1946) Latin for tropical, presumably referring to its tropical distribution (described from the coast of northern Peru)

Odontognathus Lacepède 1800 odontos, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the nominative odoús (Gr. ὀδούς), tooth; gnathus, Latinized from gnáthos (Gr. γνάθος), jaw, probably referring to long, serrated blade on sides of upper jaw of O. mucronatus, extending beyond eye in adults

Odontognathus compressus Meek & Hildebrand 1923 Latin for squeezed or pressed together, referring to its “very strongly compressed” body

Odontognathus mucronatus Lacepède 1800 Latin for pointed, referring to sharp scutes (spiny scales) on chest and belly

Odontognathus panamensis (Steindachner 1876) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Panama, type locality

Opisthopterus Gill 1861 ópisthen (Gr. ὄπισθεν), behind; Latinized from pterón (Gr. πτερόν) or ptéryx (Gr. πτέρυξ), wing or fin, referring to posterior placement of dorsal fin of O. tardoore compared with dorsal fin of Pristigaster cayuga

Opisthopterus dovii (Günther 1868) in honor of John Melmoth Dow (1827–1892), Panama Railroad Company, American ship captain and amateur naturalist, who presented holotype to British Museum (Natural History) [“w” Latinized as a “v”]

Opisthopterus effulgens (Regan 1903) Latin for glittering or flashing, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to “silvery” sides and belly

Opisthopterus equatorialis Hildebrand 1946 Latin for equatorial, referring to type locality in the Gulf of Guayaquil, off Puerto Pizarro, Peru, just south of the equator

Opisthopterus macrops (Günther 1867) macro-, from makrós (Gr. μaκρóς), long or large; ṓps (Gr. ὤψ), eye, 1/3 length of head

Opisthopterus tardoore (Cuvier 1829) derived from tardoor or tartoor, vernacular for this species in Puducherry, India (type locality)

Opisthopterus valenciennesi Bleeker 1872 in honor of French zoologist Achille Valenciennes (1794–1865), who described the species in 1847 but used a preoccupied name, Pristigaster tartoor (=O. tardoore)

Pellona Valenciennes 1847 Spanish name of Pellona flavipinnis in Buenos Aires, apparently from pelón, Spanish for bald, referring to its caducous (easily shed) scales

Pellona altamazonica Cope 1872 –ica (L.), belonging to: altus (L.), high, referring to its occurrence high up the Amazon basin, “at a great distance from salt water”

Pellona castelnaeana Valenciennes 1847 –ana (L.), belonging to: French naturalist Francisco de Castelnau (1810–1880), who collected in Brazil and “reported” (translation) this species to Valenciennes

Pellona dayi Wongratana 1983 in honor of Francis Day (1829–1889), Inspector-General of Fisheries in India, who collected some of the paratypes and whose “Fishes of India” series (1875–1888) inspired Wongratana and many others

Pellona ditchela Valenciennes 1847 Latinization of Ditchelée, a name this species was reportedly called at Visakhapatnam (type locality) on the coast of Coromandel, India

Pellona flavipinnis (Valenciennes 1837) flavus (L.), yellow; pinnis, Neo-Latin adjective of pinna (L.), fin, i.e., finned, presumably referring to its yellowish-to-greenish tail

Pellona harroweri (Fowler 1917) in honor of anthropologist and amateur entomologist David E. Harrower (1890–1970), a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia (where Fowler worked), who collected holotype

Pellona mayrinki (Pinto 1972) in honor of Wilson Mayrink (1925–2017), physician, parasitologist and biology department chair at Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil)

Pliosteostoma Norman 1923 pli-, from pleíōn (Gr. πλείων), more; osteo-, from ostéon (Gr. ὀστέον), bone; stóma (Gr. στόμα), mouth, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to distinct toothed hypomaxillary bone between hind tip of premaxilla and lower bulge of maxilla blade

Pliosteostoma lutipinnis (Jordan & Gilbert 1882) luteus (L.), yellow; pinnis, Neo-Latin adjective of pinna (L.), fin, i.e., finned, referring to golden yellow on basal portions of caudal and anal fins, and yellow blotch on middle of first rays of pectoral and dorsal fins

Pristigaster Cuvier 1816 pristós (Gr. πριστός), serrated; gastḗr (Gr. γαστήρ), belly, referring to saw-like scutes on ventral surface

Pristigaster cayana Cuvier 1829 –ana (L.), belonging to: Cayenne (French Guiana), type locality

Pristigaster whiteheadi Menezes & de Pinna 2000 in honor of the late Peter J. P. Whitehead (1930–1993), British Museum (Natural History), “who contributed more than any other individual to the knowledge of clupeomorph fishes, [and] also for suggesting that there might be two different species of Pristigaster”

Raconda Gray 1831 presumably a local name for R. russeliana in India

Raconda russeliana Gray 1831 -[i]ana (L.), belonging to: patronym not identified but likely in honor of surgeon-herpetologist Patrick Russell (1726–1805), who provided many specimens from India to the British Museum (Natural History), or his half-brother Alexander Russell (1715–1768), who also collected in India [Gray consistently misspelled the name with one “l”]