Scientific Name

[RENEGADE]

does any one know of a web site that has sound files for scientific names for fish
(i'm having a hard time with them)

[wetmanNY]

I know the pronunciation pointers at www.skepticalaquarist.com (Fishes folder) aren't as good as hearing the name.

Which names are you stumbling over?

[OrionGirl]

http://www.fishbase.org/search.cfm

It's a slow system--lots of records, lots of pics--but you can search on a common name and it will give you the scientific name, plus some other good info.

[ChilDawg]

I've found that it doesn't matter so much if you get a scientific name perfect unless you are at a research conference or something like that. Your LFS should be able to help you even if the name is mispronounced or spoken differently from their idealized version thereof.

Case in point: My LFS found me O-TOK-linn-us cats in no time in the back of their store. They did tell me though, that they thought that it was Otto-sink-LUSS. As long as you are reasonably close and can maybe spell a sci. name or two if need be, you will get the LFS to sell you the fish you want (or tell you from whence they can be ordered...this doesn't apply to chain LFS, but smaller ones which have more individualized attention available).

[VoodooChild]

Just ask us! Man, you don't know how many times people have asked me if "chick-lids" are good community fish.

[ChilDawg]

Or "Chiclets". My dad keeps talking to me about where the Chiclets would be kept in the house. (In my pocket, of course!) I would suggest Voodoo as a source, as Voodoo has spent much time working with taxonomy and would know the newest names and pronunciations.

[OrionGirl]

:o

It's always been one of my main griefs in life--I have very poor pronunciation. I learn most of my vocabulary through reading, and no one cares how you say words in your head. I usually resort to spelling things out for others. For example, scythe is a word that constantly baffles me. Even after hearing them spoken, I have trouble getting the right stress on the right syllable.

http://encarta.msn.com/encnet/features/Dictionary/DictionaryHome.aspx has a sound file for most words they list. Not sure how many scientific words they list.

[thom336]

a good source would probably be a latin dictionary, not sure if they all give pronounciations thou - a good one should. i say this as most scientific names of fish are based around latin, and so it would probably be a great aid. i never know how to pronounce fish, but luckily my magazine i read is now giving pronounciations of scietific names alongside the name...its amazing just how different a world it is when you figure out how to say things properly!

heres a tip which i use alot...just point at a fish and say 'some of those please'. ;)

[Slappy*McFish]

another one is Salvini.. SAL-vin-eye cichlid.

[MotorcyclesFish]

or

"the Sal-vin-EE-a is stuck to my arm, and look some of it's on the blud-EE floor."

PS OnionGirl - it's S-eye-th

[ChilDawg]

I believe that it's pronounced ORE-eye-on-GURL not Un-YUN-GURL! Sorry, couldn't resist...:D

[RENEGADE]

i with thom336 on this, i just point and buy
i was just wondering cuz my sis is naming my fish the weirdest names (like "joe-joe-pumken" WTH!) so i wanted to tell her the latin names. the fish i need help with are: (red claw crab dont know the sic name yet) Kryptopterus bicirrhis and (chinese algae eater don't know the sic name yet)

[ChilDawg]

CAEs are Gyrinocheilus aymonieri.

[RENEGADE]

ok now how do i say it?
guy-ren-ock-e-les?

[ChilDawg]

jigh-REEN-o-kyle-us aye-moan-ee-AIR-ee (jigh rhymes with guy)

[Slappy*McFish]

this thread was a **** good idea...

[carpguy]

The alphabet that has been adapted to English (and a whole bunch of other languages) is the one those wily Romans developed for Latin.

You could try to learn all of this stuff (http://www.saltspring.com/capewest/pron.htm), but if you just read it through once or twice you'll probably get the hang of it without needing to remember the details ( :confused: ).

Its fairly straightforward (really :rolleyes: ). The alphabet was made for it. It'll make sense.

[thom336]

but does a 'th' make a 'ff' or a 't' sound? and what about silent letters? and does a 'c' sound like 'k' or 'see'? and does adding 'h' onto the end of 'c' (i.e. ch) make it sound like 't' (sorta..).

there are some things the alphabet cant tell us....thats when it gets confusing.

[kveeti]

Never mind Latin (I have the same pronunciation problem with the perennials I grow in the garden, I name them by spelling them out loud)...

But how about the poor betta? He gets his name said wrong all the time.

[ChilDawg]

Mine is named Mo because of the rap song Mo' Betta. I constantly remind people that beta is the Greek letter and Betta is not anything like that, because it's "betta"!

hehehe, thought I would share, but that mispronunciation is definitely a huge misconception among people!

[wetmanNY]

Excellent link, Carpguy! I'm stealing it to add to my links on pronunciation at www.skepticalaquarist.com

[Skittyfish]

What if you know the pronunciation and spelling of a scientific name of a fish, go to the LFS ask for it, spell, and they so "Oh, you mean...." and royally mess the whole thing up? I just have to bite my tongue and say "yep, that's it". Grrrr:mad: .

[carpguy]

Originally posted by thom336
but does a 'th' make a 'ff' or a 't' sound? and what about silent letters? and does a 'c' sound like 'k' or 'see'? and does adding 'h' onto the end of 'c' (i.e. ch) make it sound like 't' (sorta..).

Prior to this thread, I was one of those benighted folk walking around saying bay-ta. I quick glance at my own link confirms Kveeti and ChilDawg: "The vowel of the first syllable is short if followed by two or more consonants". Betta than beta.

'Th' makes a 'th' sound: "Agnatha = AG-na-tha". 'Ch' makes a 'K' sound: "Callitriche = ca-LIT-rik-ee". C is K -- if one of our consanants splits hard or soft, opt hard: car and cycle = kar and kykle, 's' sounds are handled by 's'. The Romans took the C from the Greeks and the K from the Etruscans, largely dropping the K. The C did most of the K work, however where the K was used (with a following vowel) the following vowel was usually an A instead of the more common E, which is why we say K-ay and C-ee. Scientific Latin is not as rigorous about this as the Romans were.

(The Secret Passions of Graphic Artists Exposed, or 12 Years in the Type Books :rolleyes: )


there are some things the alphabet can't tell us....thats when it gets confusing.

The alphabet is highly descriptive, but its mostly just a tool: use it as best you can and improvise the rest. If you can make yourself understood without feeling like an idiot you're doing fine. "I'll take a baytuh and a few of those otos you got over there" (continue eating donut).

Seriously, two passes through the examples, get the feel for it and then forget about it. Refer to it as needed in the future.

I spent two years on Latin in high school :( . Trust me on this: YOU DO NOT NEED TO KNOW THIS STUFF to live a very happy life surrounded by healthy and properly stocked tanks. Go as far as your curiousity will take you, then stop…

[RENEGADE]

ok i'm confused is it "bay-ta" or "bet-ta"?
(this is on its way to be a sticky:p)

[ChilDawg]

Bet-ta. As in Bet-tas are bet-ta than Greek letters...

[valerie]

So if so many people have problems why hasn't someone put together a website that spells the names out phonetically??? I know it would realy help me out.

the closes thing i have found that helps is http://www.fishgeeks.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=27

But it only has a few names.

[ChilDawg]

carpguy has a pretty good link on page one which teaches the basics of Latin alphabet phonetics, rather than just sounding out some names--"If you give a man a fish...but if you teach a man to fish..."

[thom336]

god, im not the only one who took latin then...i gave it up at the first chance! oh, dont always assume 'th' makes a 'ff' sound...my name being the perfect example, it can also make the 't' sound. (Thom is short for Thomas, and Tom is either the name if given as a christian name, or short for Tomas, if anyone ever got confused over that...).

i think we have found one of the most vital reasons as to why there are common names through this thread.

[MotorcyclesFish]

Yo, Thom, whereabouts are you from?

[carpguy]

Thom in Latin would be Thom. In English Thom can be Tom (in American it would still probably be Thom ;) -- my middle name, BTW).

Its us folks spelling non-Romance languages with the Latin alphabet that use all these odd constructions and leave all those silent letters lying about. They hold the places of stresses and aspirants, flatten vowels for us. Thom isn't really "Tom", its sort of "T-hom". "Tom" has no special reason not to be "Tome". The H shortens the vowel in the same way that the E lengthens it. Not really necessay with Tom, but isn't Tomas pronounced with a long O, stress on the second syllable? So the H flattens it, moves the stress…

My dad still gets harassed for saying once that, in Gaelic, if you came across some pair of letters, a D followed by a G or some such thing, the rest of the word was silent. Latin is not nearly this odd, just a little foreign.

But agreeing with Thom: Parents! If you love your children do not subject them to Latin. Agricola, agricolrum, I still have nightmares starring a 4'10" senile nun. :rolleyes:

[thom336]

isnt agricola a farmer or summin? or a farm?

and motor, read under my name, im from just outside london in england.

[thom336]

well, i never knew so much about my name...lol

[thom336]

ah right, sorry motor, just realised ur question. lol. im from Bromley.