A List of Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States And
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t a AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY QL 614 .A43 V.2 .A 4-3 AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY Special Publication No. 2 A List of Common and Scientific Names of Fishes -^ ru from the United States m CD and Canada (SECOND EDITION) A/^Ssrf>* '-^\ —---^ Report of the Committee on Names of Fishes, Presented at the Ei^ty-ninth Annual Meeting, Clearwater, Florida, September 16-18, 1959 Reeve M. Bailey, Chairman Ernest A. Lachner, C. C. Lindsey, C. Richard Robins Phil M. Roedel, W. B. Scott, Loren P. Woods Ann Arbor, Michigan • 1960 Copies of this publication may be purchased for $1.00 each (paper cover) or $2.00 (cloth cover). Orders, accompanied by remittance payable to the American Fisheries Society, should be addressed to E. A. Seaman, Secretary-Treasurer, American Fisheries Society, Box 483, McLean, Virginia. Copyright 1960 American Fisheries Society Printed by Waverly Press, Inc. Baltimore, Maryland lutroduction This second list of the names of fishes of The shore fishes from Greenland, eastern the United States and Canada is not sim- Canada and the United States, and the ply a reprinting with corrections, but con- northern Gulf of Mexico to the mouth of stitutes a major revision and enlargement. the Rio Grande are included, but those The earlier list, published in 1948 as Special from Iceland, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Cuba Publication No. 1 of the American Fisheries and the other West Indian islands, and Society, has been widely used and has Mexico are excluded unless they occur also contributed substantially toward its goal of in the region covered. In the Pacific, the achieving uniformity and avoiding confusion area treated includes that part of the conti- in nomenclature. Of the 570 names on that nental shelf from the Mexican-United States list, 560 are retained in the present version. boundary to Bering Strait. The Arctic shore The 10 removed have since proved to be waters of Alaska and Canada are included. synonyms of other included species, or are Hawaii, with a large and strikingly different extralimital. In the preparation of the first Indo-Pacific fish fauna, is excluded. Deep- list, the Committee made arbitrary decisions sea fishes, whether benthic or bathypelagic, as to what species should be included as are excluded unless they appear also within "better known fishes." As interest in fishes the 100-fathom isobath. In practice this line expands, it becomes increasingly difficult to of distinction is difficult to apply, and determine when a given species merits an becomes arbitrary to that extent. Pelagic approved vernacular or common name. The fishes that enter waters over the continental present Committee has avoided this decision shelf are included. The fist provides a by attempting to include common names for general guide to distribution: "A" denotes all native and successfully introduced species Atlantic Ocean but includes the eastern in the region of coverage. Except for possi- Arctic, "P" refers to Pacific Ocean and ble errors of oversight, the chief failure to includes the western Arctic, and "F" indi- realize complete listing involves small, rare, cates occurrence in fresh water. Appropriate and poorly-kno^vn forms near the periphery combinations of letters are used for those of our area: Bering Sea, deepwater fishes fishes that live, either naturally or by intro- that occasionally are found over the conti- duction, in more than one of these regions. nental shelf, and Caribbean species that sporadically invade southern Florida. As Common Names knowledge of such forms increases they may The Committee aims at the development in be added subsequent revisions. This list of a body of common names that reflect includes 1892 entries, more than a threefold broad current usage, the creation of a increase. We make no apology for the greater richer, more meaningful and colorful vernac- length, believing that these small, less well- ular nomenclature, and the promotion of known fishes have real or potential impor- mechanisms that will add to stability and tance as laboratory experimental animals, the universality of names applied to Ameri- in public or private aquaria, for bait, or, can fishes. often, simply of most as objects natural- The common name as here employed is history inquiry or aesthetic appeal. The plan viewed as a formal, usually anglicized of organization and indexing are such that appellation to be used in lieu of the Latin- the inclusion of the lesser fishes need not ized scientific name of a species. It is hoped, interfere with use by those not concerned and the history of the recent past confirms, with them. that common names may be more stable than scientific names. Certainly they should Area of Coverage be more readily adaptable to lay uses than The present fist purports to include all scientific names. There is clear need for species of fishes known from the fresh waters standardization and uniformity in vernac- of the continental United States and Can- ular names not only for sport or commercial ada, and those marine species inhabiting fishes, but as trade names, for aquarium contiguous shore waters on or above the fishes, in legal terminology, and as substi- continental shelf, to a depth of 100 fathoms. tutes for scientific names of almost any fish AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY in popular or scientific writing. The Com- In the present fist only two fishes have two mittee believes that it is desirable to estab- approved names : redfish and ocean perch for lish a common name for each species of fish Sebastes marinus; cisco and lake herring for occurring naturally or through successful Coregonus artedii. introduction in the waters of English- 2. No two species on the list shall have the speaking North America. same approved name. Agreement on many names may be arrived at quickly, but others are attended 3. The expression ''common" as part of a by complications and marked disagreement fish's name shall be avoided wherever possible. develops. This is especially true of fish 4. Simplicity in names is favored.—Hyphens, known by market names that differ from suffixes, and apostrophes shall be omitted those names that are more familiar to sport (e.g., smallmouth bass) except where they or others. exist- fishermen, biologists The are orthographically essential (e.g., three- ence for a single species of different names eye flounder), have a special meaning of its in separate parts geographic range (e.g., C-0 sole), or are necessary to avoid difficulties that creates seem soluble only possible misunderstanding (e.g., cusk-eel). through arbitration. Conversely a given Compounded modifying words, including name may be employed in several places for paired structures, should usually be treated diverse species. Although committee action as singular nouns in apposition with a on such situations may not be expected to group name (e.g., spottail shiner, soupfin change local use quickly, at least it seems shark), but a plural modifier should usually plainly to sanction of improper use one be placed in adjectival form (e.g., black- name for two or more different species. banded sunfish, spotted hake). Preference After wrestling with common names for shall be given to names that are short and over twenty years, the Committee on Names euphonious. of Fishes realized the importance of estab- The compounding of brief, familiar words lishing a set of guiding principles to be into a single name, written without hyphen, employed in the determination of names. may in some cases promote clarity and sim- Such a code permits a more objective ap- pUcity (e.g., tomcod, goldfish, mudminnow), praisal of the relative merits among several but the wholesale practice of combining names than if selection is based primarily words, especially those that are lengthy, on personal experience and preference. awkward, or unfamiliar, is deplored. Consideration of many vernacular names of fishes makes it apparent that few principles 5. Common names shall not be capitalized in can be established for which some exceptions text use except for those elements that are must not be admitted. This is true because proper names (e.g., rainbow trout but at this late date a majority of our larger and Sacramento perch). more abundant, hence important, species 6. Names intended to honor persons (e.g., have such firmly established common names Allison's tuna, Julia's darter) are not admis- that it would be unrealistic to reject them. sible. Decision on the name for a species may often be decided by weighing the pros and 7. Only clearly defined and well-marked cons among the possible alternatives and taxonomic entities (usually species) shall be selecting that one which best fits the aggre- assigned common names.—Most subspecies gate of guiding criteria. are not suitable subjects for common names, In the introduction to the earlier list of but those forms that are so different in names a number of rules of procedure were appearance (not just in geographic distribu- itemized. Recently the Committee incorpo- tion) as to be distinguished readily by sport rated these into the following statement of or commercial fishermen or laymen or for criteria that it regards as appropriate to the which a common name constitutes a signifi- selection of common names of fishes. cant aid in communication may merit sepa- Principles Governing Selection rate names. Subspecies have importance in OF Common Names^ evolutionary inquiry but are rarely of significance to laymen or in those aspects of 1. A single vernacular name shall he accepted biological endeavor in which common names for each species or taxonomic unit included.— are of concern. The practice of adding ' First printed in 1955 (Trans. Am. Fish. Soc, Vol. 84 [1954] pp. 368-371). geographic modifiers to designate regional NAMES OF FISHES populations makes for a cumbersome termi- been developed by American immigrants.