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THE GLOSSARY PAGE

Blinded by a bit too much science!. Check out our glossary page and find out what that name or description really means.

 

 A

   
Abdomen Belly, the ventral side of the fish surrounding the cavity containing the digestive and reproductive organs.
Adipose fin Fleshy finlike projection without rays, behind the rayed dorsal fin.
Aductor mandibulae Adductor mandibulae muscles (english) Paired head muscles originating on the lateral faces of the quadrate process of the palatoquadrates and inserting on the lateral surface of the Meckel's cartilages; the primary jaw-closing muscles of the sharks.
aff. affinis = similar, but distinct species.
Airbladder Gas filled sac located in the body cavity below the vertebrae
Albino Lacking melanin, usually white with pink/red eyes.
Algae Group of Thallophytes, the seaweeds and allied forms.
Amphibious Living or adapted to life or use, on land and in or on water.
Anal fin The median, unpaired, ventrally located fin that lies behind the anus, usually on the posterior half of the fish.
Anatomy The science of the structure of the animal body.
Anoxic A deficient supply of oxygen to the tissues.
Anterior The head end.
Anteriordorsal Front of dorsal.
Anterolateral Pertaining to the direction or position between the front and side of an object.
Anthropogenic Of, or relating to, or resulting from the influence of human beings on nature.
Aufwuchs ( German "surface growth" or "overgrowth") is the collection of small animals and plants that adhere to open surfaces in aquatic environments, such as parts of rooted plants. In both marine and freshwater environments, algae – particularly green algae and diatoms – make up the dominant component of aufwuchs communities. Small crustaceans, rotifers, and protozoans are also commonly found in fresh water and the sea, but insect larvae, oligochaetes and tardigrades are peculiar to freshwater aufwuchs faunas.
   

 B

   
Barbels Whisker-like structure on the heads of most catfish.
Bethnic Sea-bottom dwellers.
Bicuspid Ending in two points; a tooth with two cusps or points.
Brackish A mix of salt and fresh water.
Branchial Pertaining to the gills.
Branchiostegal Slender bones which support the gill membranes.
 

 C

   
Carnivorous Meat eating, also piscivorous.
Casque Shaped like a helmet.
Caudal fin The tail.
Caudal peduncle The narrow part of a fish's body to which the caudal or tail fin is attached.
cf. Conferre: same species, but with different characteristics.
Clade A group defined by at least one shared derived character or synapomorphy inherited from a common ancestor; a monophyletic higher taxon, a branch on a cladogram.
Cleithral process A flattened pointed posterior extension of the pectoral girdle (most prominent in the genus Synodontis)
Cleithrum The major bone of the pectoral girdle, extending upward from the pectoral fin base and forming the rear margin of the gill cavity, also: the principal bow-shaped bone of the prectoral girlde, dermal in origin, forming the rear margin of the gill cavity. It articulates dorsally with the supracleithrum and ventrally with the scapula and coracoid.
Compressed Flattened from side to side.
Conspecifics Belonging to the same species; individuals or populations of the same species.
Coracoid Middle and lower section of the pectoral girdle.
Crepuscular Active at dusk.
Cryptic Hidden, obscure, little seen.
   

 D

   
Depressed Flattened from top to bottom.
Dermal ossifications Small bony skin plates.
Detritus An aggregate of loosened fragments.
Dimorphism The morphological variations of one species.
Diurnal Active during daylight hours.
Dorsal fin The primary rayed fin(s) on top of the body.
Dorsolateral Extending from the top to the side.
Dorsum The upper (dorsal) surface of the head or body.
   

 E

   
Ecology The study of plants and animals.
Emarginate Concave; used to describe the posterior border of a caudal fin which is inwardly curved; a caudal fin with a slightly concave margin.
Endemic Native to a particular area only.
Entopterygoid A paired bone articulating with the palatine in front.
Epibenthic Refers to organisms that live on or just above the bottom sediments in a body of water. These organisms, many of which support commercial and recreational fisheries, tend to forage on the creatures that live in or on the sediments.
Estuarine The inhabitants of a wide lower tidal part of a river.
   

 F

   
Falcate When the anterior fin rays are prolonged.
Filaments Thread-like extensions on the fins.
Fontanel The space(s) between the bones on top of the skull covered by skin.
Foramen Magnum (Latin: great hole) is a large oval opening (foramen) in the occipital bone of the skull in humans and various other animals. It is one of the several oval or circular openings (foramina) in the base of the skull.
Fry Young fish at the age when the yolk has been consumed and is actively feeding.
Fulcra Bony plates.
Fusiform Spindle or cigar shaped.
   

 G

   
Genital papilla A small, fleshy tube behind the anus in some fishes, from which the sperm or eggs are released; the sex of a fish often can be determined by the shape of its papilla.
Gills The organs utilized to obtain oxygen from the water.
Gill arches The bearer of the gill filaments.
Gill filament Structure on the lower portion of the gill arches.
Gill rakers Structure on the upper portion of the gill arches.
   

 H

   
Herbivorous A vegetable eater.
Holotype The specimen on which the description of a new species is based.
Humeral process Bony extension of the pectoral girdle.
Hyaline Transparent or clear without pigment.
Hybrid The progeny of two individuals belonging to different species; the progeny of two individuals belonging to different subspecies of the same species are not hybrids.
Hyomandibula Line of enlarged pores extending posteriorly from the mouth corners.
   

 I

   
Ichthyology The science of the study of fishes.
-idae (suffix) The family name always ends in -idae, as in Callichthyidae
-inae (suffix) The subfamily name always ends in -inae as in Corydoradinae
incertae sedis Latin: of uncertain position (seat) signifies a taxonomic group difficult to place in the larger taxonomic scheme.
Inferior Visible only from beneath the head, usually referring to the eyes or mouth.
Interoperculum Between the preoperculum and the operculum, sometimes very small, and in some Loricariidae bearing spines.
Interorbital The space between the orbits of the eyes.
Isomorphic The lack of dimorphism.
   

 L

   
Lacustrine Pertaining to lakes.
Lateral line A sensory line, along the sides of the body.
Larvae Young fish in the first state of development.
Lecotype Specimen chosen from a syntype series.
Leucistic (Of an animal) having whitish fur, plumage, or skin due to a lack of pigment.
Littoral The shallow area along a shoreline in lakes or sea.
   

 M

   
Mandibular Pertaining to the lower jaw. (mandibular barbels).
Maxillary Pertaining to the upper jaw. (maxillary barbels).
Medial Middle or inner.
Median Middle or towards the midline.
Melanin The dark pigment that gives the colouring to the fish.
Melanophores The pigment cells that permit colour change, and the concentration of pigment granules within these cells determine the type of colour that is produced.
Membrane A thin flexible tissue.
Mental Pertaining to the chin, on the lower jaw. (mental barbels).
Metamorphosis A sharp change in form.
Metapterygoid Posterior bone that ossifies in the cartilaginous palatoquadrate arch. It first appears as a rod of bone with an anterodorsally projecting process from the middle of the dorsal surface (6.4 mm). The adult metapterygoid is roughly rectangular in shape with rounded corners and an anterodorsally projecting spine that meets the entopterygoid medially in a synostosis at its posteromedial edge. The posterior end curves dorsally to form the posteroventral surface of the orbit.
Monotypic Having only one species, such as a monotypic family of fishes.
Myomeres The skeletal muscle tissue found commonly in chordates. They are commonly zig-zag, "W" or "V"-shaped muscle fibers. The myomeres are separated from adjacent myomere by connective tissues and most easily seen in larval fishes or in the olm.
   

 N

   
Nasal On top of the head, by the nostrils. (nasal barbels).
Neotype Specimen which replaces Holotype when lost.
Nocturnal Active at night.
Nomenclature A system of names for the objects of study in any branch of science.
Nomen nudum Name without description.
Nomina nuda A designation which looks exactly like a scientific name of an organism, and may have originally been intended to be a scientific name, but fails to be one because it has not (or has not yet) been published with an adequate description (or a reference to such a description). This makes it a "bare" or "naked" name, one which cannot be accepted as it stands.
Nuchal Area between the skull and dorsal fin.
   

 O

   
Occipital A median bone on the upper surface of the back of the head; pertaining to the occiput.
Odontodes Hair - like stuctures on the body.
Omnivorous Pertaining to both vegetable and flesh diet.
Opercle The bony covering of the gills of fishes.
Opisthure The tip of the vertebral column which protrudes beyond the caudal fin.
Operculum The bony covering of the gills of fishes.
Orbit The dermal or bony eye socket; bony cavity in the skull where the eyeball is housed; the eye socket, usually surrounded by bone.
Osteological Pertaining to the study of bones, part of anatomy.
Oviparous Describing a species that lays eggs.
Ovoviviparous Describing a species that produces eggs that hatch in the mother, resulting in the delivery of live young.
   

 P

   
Palatine teeth The teeth present on the palatine bone which lies laterally in the roof of the mouth.
Papilla A small fleshy projection, plural papillae.
Paratype Remaining specimens after Holotype has been selected.
Pectoral fins The paired fins just behind the head.
Pectoral girdle The bony or cartilaginous skeletal arch supporting the pectoral fins.
p.H. The symbol of relative alkalinity or acidity in liquid (potential of hydrogen).
Pharyngeal Teeth Teeth located in the throat on the pharyngeal jaw apparatus.
Phylogentic Descendant lines.
Pelagic Pertaining to the open water (ocean).
Pelvic fins The paired fins, between the pectorals and the anal fins. (also referred to as ventrals).
Piscivorous Fish eating.
Plankton The floating organism that drifts with the movement of the water.
Plicate Covered in small ridges.
Posterior The tail end of the fish. Situated behind.
Potamodromous Freshwater fish migrations are usually shorter, typically from lake to stream or vice versa, for spawning purposes.
Predator Something that lives on other forms of life.
Predorsal plate In front of the dorsal fin spine.
Premaxillary In relation to the premaxilla (an upper jaw bone) e.g. premaxillary tooth band.
Preoperculum The anterior bone of the opercular series, forming the border of the cheek.
Preorbital The first and usually the largest of the suborbital bones; located along the ventro-anterior rim of the eye. Sometimes called the lacrimal bone; the bone or region before and below the eye.
Pterotic-supracleithrum Large combined bone on the head, placed behind the eye.
   

 R

   
Ramifications Side branches (as on the barbels on many Synodontis species).
Retrorse Pointing or curved backwards or inwards; opposite of atrose.
Rictal Pertaining to the barbels on the corners of the mouth (Corydoras).
Riverine Only inhabiting rivers.
Rostrum Snout (usually applied to long snouts).
Rugose Covered in ridges, knobs or protuberances, deeply wrinkled etc.
   

 S

   
Saline Salty.
Scapular The shoulder region.
Scutes Bony covering.
Sensu stricto In a narrow or strict sense.
Serrae Saw-like notches along an edge.
Serrated With sharp, forward-pointing teeth.
SL Standard length as measured from the snout to the caudal peduncle.
Snout The part of the head in front of the eyes.
Spawn Mass of eggs laid in water.
Spatulate teeth Having an end that is broad and flattened, like a spatula.
Spinous Spiny.
Subcutaneous Positioned beneath the skin.
Subocular Beneath the eye.
Substrate Sea or river bottom/floor.
Sub-terminal Just below.
Superior Visible from above the head, usually referring to the eyes or mouth.
Supraoccipital Unpaired bone at the back of the skull, usually with a crest.
Swim bladder The air sac that gives fish buoyancy and balance. Acts as sound resonator in some fish.
Sympatric Referring to two or more species living in the same or overlapping geographical area.
Syntopic Defined as being similar in appearance.
Syntype Type series (listed for new description) of which none have been selected as Holotype.
Synonym Different name for the same fish.
Systematics A set of things considered as a connected whole.
   

 T

   
Taxon According to the Code, any formal taxonomic unit or category of organisms (species, genus, family, order, class, etc.). Taxa (pl.).
Taxonomic Classification based on similarities of structure.
Taxonomy The study and classification of living creatures.
Temperate Moderate in temperature.
Terminal The end point.
Thoracic Pertaining to the chest area.
TL Total length measured from the snout to the end of the fish (tail).
Troglomorphic Morphological characters that are adaptions to living in the constant darkness of caves, such as loss of pigments and reduced eyes.
Truncate Cut off, blunt. (as in squared off caudal fin).
Tubercles Tentacle-like projections.
   

 V

   
Ventral The lower surface.
Ventral fins The paired fins, between the pectorals and the anal fins.
Ventrolateral Extending from below and to the side.
Vertebrae The bones of the axial skeleton; divided into two sections, precaudal and caudal vertebrae.
Villiform Elongated cardiform teeth.
Villose Covered with villosities (minute hair-like projections).
Viviparous Describing a species that produces living young that have been nourished during development by their mother.
Vomer The anterior bone in the mid-line of the roof of the mouth.
Vomerine teeth Teeth present on the vomer.
Voracious Eating greadily or in large quantities.
   

 W

Weberian apparatus Modified 4 vertebrae, connecting the swim bladder with the inner ear.
   

 Y

 
Yolk sac In embryos and early fish larvae, a bag-like ventral extension of the gut containing nutritive materials.
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