Updated 26 Dec. 2024
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Hemisalanx Regan 1908 hemi-, from hḗmisys (Gr. ἥμισυς), half, referring to close affinity to Salanx (“very hard to be distinguished from it,” per Fang’s description of H. brachyrostralis

Hemisalanx brachyrostralis (Fang 1934) brachýs (Gr. βραχύς), short; rostralis (L.), of or belonging to the rostra, referring to snout “desiredly shorter” than postorbital portion of head

Neosalangichthys Fu, Li, Xia & Lei 2012 néos (Gr. νέος) new, i.e., a new genus of Salangichthys, referring to previous generic placement of N. ishikawae

Neosalangichthys ishikawae (Wakiya & Takahashi 1913) in honor of biologist Chiyomatsu Ishikawa (1861–1935), Tokyo Imperial University, for kindness in placing materials at the authors’ disposal and valuable assistance in various ways [although named after a man, “ae” is an acceptable way to form a genitive from a masculine noun that ends in “a”]

Neosalanx Wakiya & Takahashi 1937 néos (Gr. νέος) new, i.e., a new species of Salanx, type genus of family

Neosalanx anderssoni (Rendahl 1923) in honor of Johan Gunnar Andersson (1874–1960), Swedish archaeologist, paleontologist and geologist, who obtained holotype [often misspelled andersoni with a single “s”]

Neosalanx brevirostris (Pellegrin 1923) brevis (L.), short; rostris, Neo-Latin scientific adjective of rostrum (L.), snout, referring to shorter snout compared with the similar Salanx hyalocranius (=Protosalanx chinensis)

Neosalanx hubbsi Wakiya & Takahasi 1937 in honor of American ichthyologist Carl (misspelled Karl by the authors) L. Hubbs (1894–1979), University of Michigan, for “kind suggestions and valuable help in reading [the authors’] manuscript”

Neosalanx jordani Wakiya & Takahasi 1937 in honor of the late David Starr Jordan (1851–1931), ichthyologist and “esteemed friend and teacher”

Neosalanx oligodontis Chen 1956 olígos (Gr. ὀλίγος), few or scanty; odontis, Latin genitive singular of odoús (Gr. ὀδούς), tooth, referring to single row of minute teeth on premaxillary and maxillary (fewer teeth compared to congeners, but this is not mentioned in description), and/or toothless tongue, mandible and palatine

Neosalanx reganius Wakiya & Takahasi 1937 –ius (L.), adjectival suffix: English ichthyologist Charles Tate Regan (1878–1943), Natural History Museum (London), who revised the family in 1908

Neosalanx taihuensis Chen 1956 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: proposed as a subspecies of N. tangkahkeii from Lake Taihu (or Tai), Jiangsu Province, China

Neosalanx tangkahkeii (Wu 1931) in honor of Tang Kah Kei (also known as Tan Kah Kee and Chen Jiageng, 1874–1961), Chinese businessman, community leader, philanthropist, and founder of l’Université d’Amï

Parasalanx Regan 1908 pará (Gr. παρά), near, referring to similarity to and/or close affinity with Salanx, type genus of family

Parasalanx cuvieri (Valenciennes 1850) in honor of the “great naturalist” (translation) Georges Cuvier (1769–1832), who created the genus Salanx in 1816

Protosalanx Regan 1908 prṓtos (Gr. πρῶτος), first, allusion not explained, perhaps describing a Salanx (type genus of family) with dorsal fin entirely in front of anal (also the first genus keyed in Regan’s revision of the family); Fang (1934) says name indicates that Protosalanx “may be regarded as the most primitive and less specialized form” in the family

Protosalanx chinensis (Basilewsky 1855) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: China, where type locality (Gulf of Tschili, or Zhili) is situated

Salangichthys Bleeker 1860 salang, a more euphonic declension of the nominative Salanx, provisionally proposed as a new genus related to Salanx; ichthýs (Gr. ἰχθύς), fish

Salangichthys microdon (Bleeker 1860) micro-, from mikrós (Gr. μικρός), small; odon, Latinized and grammatically adjusted from the Greek nominative ὀδούς (odoús), tooth, referring to its small teeth, much smaller than Parasalanx cuvieri and Protosalanx chinensis, its presumed congeners at the time

Salanx Cuvier 1816 “Greek name of an unknown fish” (translation), apparently another of the ancient Greek fish names that Cuvier repurposed for several new genera he proposed (e.g., Synodontis, Premnas), often without any obvious connections between the ancient and modern taxa [according to FishBase, name is a Latinization of the Filipino salamga and French salangana, both referring to a kind of swallow, but this explanation has no basis in reality]

Salanx acuticeps Regan 1908 acutus (L.), sharp or pointed; –ceps (Neo-Latin), headed, referring to its “acutely pointed” snout

Salanx ariakensis Kishinouye 1902 –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: Ariake Sea, Kyushu, Japan, type locality, where they were collected from a weir

Salanx chinensis (Osbeck 1765) –ensis, Latin suffix denoting place: China, where it is endemic to the Pearl River basin [placed in Leucosoma by some workers, treated here as a synonym of Salanx]

Salanx longianalis (Regan 1908) longus (L.), long; analis (L.), anal, presumably referring to length of anal fin, with 30–32 rays, one of the longest in the genus

Salanx prognathus (Regan 1908) pro-, (L.), in front of; gnáthos (Gr. γνάθος), jaw, referring to its projecting lower jaw

Salanx reevesii (Gray 1831) in honor of naturalist John Reeves (1774– 1856), who gave to the British Museum (Natural History) many of the fishes he had illustrated by Chinese artists while working as a tea inspector in China (1812–1831), including holotype of this one