Fish or fishes? *grin*
- Thread starter twig
- Start date
Exactly. Fish is the plural used when referring to a single species. Fishes is the plural used when referring to multiple species:
A school of corydoras may have several thousand fish in it.
Any pet store will have a wide variety of fishes from which to choose.
A school of corydoras may have several thousand fish in it.
Any pet store will have a wide variety of fishes from which to choose.
Now, if we could only get folks to put apostrophes in the right places with "s". 
And quit using textspeak (u, ur, etc.)
And quit using textspeak (u, ur, etc.) 
Wrong - fish and fish are singular and plural respectively, regardless of number of species.
Fishes does not exist in English:http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/findword?query_type=word&queryword=fish
Fishes does not exist in English:http://dictionary.oed.com/cgi/findword?query_type=word&queryword=fish
fish (fĭsh)
n., pl. fish or fish·es.
Any of numerous cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates of the superclass Pisces, characteristically having fins, gills, and a streamlined body and including specifically:
Any of the class Osteichthyes, having a bony skeleton.
Any of the class Chondrichthyes, having a cartilaginous skeleton and including the sharks, rays, and skates.
The flesh of such animals used as food.
Any of various primitive aquatic vertebrates of the class Cyclostomata, lacking jaws and including the lampreys and hagfishes.
Any of various unrelated aquatic animals, such as a jellyfish, cuttlefish, or crayfish.
Informal. A person, especially one considered deficient in something: a poor fish.
n., pl. fish or fish·es.
Any of numerous cold-blooded aquatic vertebrates of the superclass Pisces, characteristically having fins, gills, and a streamlined body and including specifically:
Any of the class Osteichthyes, having a bony skeleton.
Any of the class Chondrichthyes, having a cartilaginous skeleton and including the sharks, rays, and skates.
The flesh of such animals used as food.
Any of various primitive aquatic vertebrates of the class Cyclostomata, lacking jaws and including the lampreys and hagfishes.
Any of various unrelated aquatic animals, such as a jellyfish, cuttlefish, or crayfish.
Informal. A person, especially one considered deficient in something: a poor fish.
I always went with how monkey_toes explained it. I’m sure there are arguments on both sides but I took it that way simply because of a book I read: A clarification about two pairs of troublesome words: first, fishes and fish as the plural form of the singular fish. In this book, I have followed the convention that seems to be in favor with most contemporary authors: fish refers to one or more individuals of the same species, whereas fishes indicates more than one species. The other two words he clarifies are shoal and school.
Quoted from Fish Behavior in the Aquarium and in the Wild by Stephen Reebs, who is Professor of Biology at the University of Moncton.
Quoted from Fish Behavior in the Aquarium and in the Wild by Stephen Reebs, who is Professor of Biology at the University of Moncton.
