Revised 30 March 2023
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Saccopharynx Mitchill 1824 saccus (L.), bag; phárynx (Gr. φάρυγξ), throat, referring to “pouch-like” throat of species later named S. flagellum (=ampullaceus)

Saccopharynx ampullaceus (Harwood 1827) Latin for bottle-shaped, referring to how its body can inflate like a sac or leathern bottle

Saccopharynx berteli Tighe & Nielsen 2000 in honor of the late Erik (“Bertel”) Bertelsen (1912–1993), Danish fisheries biologist and ichthyologist, for his many contributions to the knowledge of deep-sea fishes

Saccopharynx harrisoni Beebe 1932 in honor of American philanthropist Harrison Williams (1873–1953), who supported some of Beebe’s oceanographic expeditions, including one during which holotype was collected

Saccopharynx hjorti Bertin 1938 in honor of Norwegian oceanographer Johan Hjort (1869–1948), who, with British oceanographer John Murray (1841–1914), led the Michael Sars Expedition (1910) during which holotype was collected, and whose 1912 book The Depth of the Ocean (written with Murray) is cited several times by Bertin

Saccopharynx lavenbergi Nielsen & Bertelsen 1985 in honor of ichthyologist Robert J. Lavenberg, Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, for his contributions to oceanic ichthyology and for making material from his museum available to the authors

Saccopharynx paucovertebratis Nielsen & Bertelsen 1985 paucus (L.), few or scanty; vertebratis, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of vertebra (L.), backbone, referring to smaller number of vertebrae (155) compared with congeners

Saccopharynx ramosus Nielsen & Bertelsen 1985 Latin for branched, referring to branched filaments on posterior third of body

Saccopharynx schmidti Bertin 1934 in memory of Danish biologist Johannes Schmidt (1877–1933), Director, Carlsberg Laboratory (Copenhagen) and leader of the Dana fishery research cruises (Schmidt also discovered that European Eel Anguilla anguilla migrate to the Sargasso Sea to spawn)

Saccopharynx thalassa Nielsen & Bertelsen 1985 named for the French research vessel Thalassa (from thálassa [Gr. θάλασσα], sea), from which holotype was collected

Saccopharynx trilobatus Nielsen & Bertelsen 1985 tri– (L.), three; lobatus (L.), lobed, referring to triple-lobed luminous organ at end of tail