Pronunciation and useage of scientific names

pik01

pik01

AC Members
Sep 28, 2008
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San Jose, California
Call me a grammar nazi but I like to know how to properly pronounce these names and also if they're plurals (1 nerite, 5 neriteS)

Some of these might seem obvious, but I'd rather be thorough and make sure than sound like a fool when talking to someone who knows better :) These are just my guesses:

Asolene spixi - Ah-soh-leen (Ah as in apple, soh as in sewing buttons, and leen as in leaning against a wall) spik-see (spik as in pick with an s in front of it, see as in spot run)

Pomacea diffusa - Pom-ah-see-ah (Pom as in palm of your hand, ah as in ahchoo!, see as in spot run, ah as in ahchoo!) diff-yu-sah (diff as in different, yu as in you or I, sah as in rhymes with blah)

Clithon corona - Klai-thon (klai as in climb, thon as in thorn without the r) koh-roh-nah (well, corona like the beer or the layer of the sun :p)

Anentome helena - Ah-nehn-toh-mee (Ah as in ahchoo, nehn as in rhymes with then, toh as in toes on your feet, mee as in you and me) heh-lay-nah or is it hell-ehn-nah?

Nerite - Nair-ai-tee (Nair as in the hair removal product or air with an n in front of it, ai as in eyes for seeing, tee as in golf tee or t-shirt) or Nehr-ai-tee (the only difference here is the first syllable, Nerh as in corner)?

Whew, that was a lot tougher to type out than I thought it'd be. There are other names I wonder about but I can't remember them for the moment.
 
Most scientific names are pronounced as chosen by the creator of the name. So many of them don't really match proper Latin pronunciation.

However, a good Latin book will help out with most of it.
 
Being the dyslexic that I am, I surely am pronouncing the lot of these wrong.

Asolene - Ah-so-leen-nee
Pomacea - Pom-ah-say-ah
Nerite - Nee-right

Good thing I never had to use these words in actual conversations.
 
...and this is why I type, rather than speak. X_x
 
Proper usage is Pomacea bridgesii diffusa. diffusa is the subspecies not the species. For that matter some believe that this is not even the proper name for the aquarium species. It is believed that they are Pomacea bridgesii effusa.

IMO refering to them as Pomacea bridgesii is probably best way to describe them.
 
aha! thanks h3d! I did wonder about the emergence of diffusa and how to use it. I am still constantly wanting to call them bridgesii out of habit, I guess it's okay to go back to it then :)

Just wondering, do you have any documentation on these classifications?
 
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