Updated 17 July 2023 PDF version (with illustrations and additional information) Dussumieria Valenciennes 1847 -ia (L. suffix), pertaining to: Jean-Jacques Dussumier (1792–1883), French voyager and merchant who collected zoological specimens from southeastern Asia and the Indian Ocean, in “gratitude for the sacrifices that he made with great zeal to serve ichthyology” and for mentioning “in […]
Revised 20 April 2024 PDF version (with illustrations and additional information) Alosa Linck 1790 from alausa, Latin name for A. alosa from the river Moselle in Germany, but in this case presumably tautonymous with Clupea alosa Linnaeus 1758 (no species mentioned) Alosa agone (Scopoli 1786) presumably from agoni, Italian for shad (described from Lago Maggiore, […]
Updated 16 April 2024 PDF version (with illustrations and additional information) Subfamily MORMYRINAE Bonaparte 1831 Boulengeromyrus Taverne & Géry 1968 in honor of Belgian-born British ichthyologist-herpetologist George A. Boulenger (1858–1937), British Museum (Natural History), who described 70 currently valid species of mormyrids; –myrus, conventional termination for generic names of elephantfishes, abridgement of Mormyrus, type genus […]
Revised 28 Feb. 2023 PDF version (with illustrations and additional infor-mation) Arapaima Müller 1843 presumably derived from warapaima, local (Carib language) name for species of the genus among the Macushi indigenous people of southern Guyana, northern Brazil and eastern Venezuela [predates Sudis arapaima Valenciennes 1847 and therefore is not tautonymous with it] Arapaima agassizi (Valenciennes […]
Updated 16 Jan. 2024 PDF version (with illustrations and additional information) Pugnose Parasitic Eel Subfamily SIMENCHELYINAE Gill 1879 Simenchelys Gill 1879 simus (L.), flat- or pug-nosed, referring to short, blunt snout; énchelys (Gr. ἔγχελυς), eel Simenchelys parasitica Gill 1879 Latin for parasitic, referring to its presumed parasitic behavior (Gill reported specimens burrowing into the flesh […]
Revised 6 Jan. 2024 PDF version (illustrated) Facciolella Whitley 1938 –ella, Latin diminutive connoting endearment: named for Italian physician-ichthyologist Luigi Facciolà (1851–1943), who recognized and described the genus in 1911 but used a preoccupied name (Nettastomella) Facciolella castlei Parin & Karmovskaya 1985 in honor of Peter H. J. Castle (1934–1999), Victoria University (Wellington, New Zealand), […]
Revised 24 Nov. 2023 PDF version (with illustrations and additional information) Tailfin Moray Eels Subfamily UROPTERYGIINAE Fowler 1925 Anarchias Jordan & Starks 1906 án (Gr. privative, ἄν), i.e., without; archós (Gr. ἀρχός), referring to apparent lack of anal fin (anal fin is restricted to tip of tail) Anarchias allardicei Jordan & Starks 1906 in honor […]
Revised 6 Nov. 2023 PDF version (illustrated) Congresox Gill 1890 combination of Conger and esox, a Latinized Gaulish word for a large fish from the Rhine, possibly originally applied to a salmon, now applied to pikes, i.e., a conger-like eel with a pike-like form (see Muraenesox) Congresox talabon (Cuvier 1829) Tala Bon, Telugu (an Indo-Aryan […]
Updated 24 July 2024 PDF version (with illustrations and additional information) Amblyraja Malm 1877 amblýs (Gr. ἀμβλύς), blunt, allusion not explained, perhaps referring to relatively blunt snout compared with related skate genera; raja, from raia (L.), ray or skate Amblyraja doellojuradoi (Pozzi 1935) in honor of Argentine marine biologist Martín Doello-Jurado (1884–1948), Museo Argentino de […]
Revised 20 May 2024 PDF version (with illustrations and additional information) Snake Eels Subfamily OPHICHTHINAE Günther 1870 Allips McCosker 1972 állos (Gr. ἄλλος), other or another; íps (Gr. ἴψ ), a kind of worm, i.e., another worm-shaped eel like Evips, described in the same paper Allips concolor McCosker 1972 Latin for colored uniformly, referring to […]