SCOTCAT.COM

your internet guide to all things catfish


SPECIES NAMES PAGE 'A' Species (second name: a group of organisms generally resembling each other and capable of reproduction).
Genus Names A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
A

*abdulkalami*	Named for the former president of India, Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, who ignited young minds towards the real world of Science and Technology.
*acanthomias*	Very spiny.
*acanthoperca*	Latinized combination of the Greek 'acantha', meaning a thorn, and the Latin 'opercul', meaning a cover or lid, alluding to the distinctive opercular spines developed by mature males in this species.
*acre*	Named after Acre, the location where the fish was collected.
*acrensis*	From Acre, the state in Brazil where the species was found and L. -ensis, denoting place, locality, country.
acsi	By the Planetary Biodiversity Inventory Program of the National Science Foundation.
*aculeatus*	With prickles, (referring to the spines on the pectoral fins).
*acus/tus*	Pointed; a neadle or spine.
*acutirostre/is*	Pointed snout.
*adolfoi*	Named in honour of Adolfo Schwartz.
*adonis*	Handsome, after Adonis, beloved of Venus.
*aeneus*	Bronze.
*affinis*	Neighbouring; related.
*adriaensi*	The specific name is patronymic in honor of Dr. Dominique Adriaens, who brought the existence of this species to the authors attention.
*africanus*	From Africa.
*afrofischeri*	In honour of Dr. G. A. Fischer.
*agassizi*	In honour of Jean Louis Agassiz, the zoologist, born in Switzerland, (1807-1873).
*ahli*	In honour of Dr. Ernest Ahl, born in Berlin in 1898, and reported missing in the Second World War.
akroa	A reference to the Akroá indigenous people, inhabitants of lands from eastern Tocantins to southern Piauí until the XIX century (Apolinário, 2005). The Akroá lived along valleys on Serra Geral do Tocantins, a watershed divide between the right margin of Rio Tocantins and Rio Parnaíba upper valleys respectively. Their territory included the Rio Manuel Alves sub-basin of Rio Tocantins, distribution range of the new Tatia species (Tatia akroa). A noun in apposition.
*aky*	aky (language: guaraní) = green.
*albater*	albus = white; ater = black.
*albivermus*	Meaning; alba = white and vermis = worm, relating to the white to yellow lines on the body.
*albofasciatus*	With white bands or stripes.
*albolineatus*	With white spots.
*alberti*	Probably named for Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria.
*aldebaran*	The epithet “aldebaran” refers to the red giant Aldebaran or Alpha Tauri (a Tauri), the brightest star of the Taurus constellation, deriving from the Arabic al Dabaran, which means “the follower”. The star presents a bright orange glow and it is positioned at the left eye of the mythological bull. The name alludes to the fact that Aspidoras aldebaran was firstly found among Aspidoras taurus type series, being promptly recognised as a different and new species by its peculiar morphology and colour pattern. A noun in apposition.
almendarizi	The specific name honours Ana de Lourdes Almendáriz, in recognition of her significant contributions to the Ecuador herpetofauna knowledge, and her enthusiasm and friendship for many years. Noun in apposition.
altipombensis	The name altipombensis is an allusion to the occurrence of the new species in the upper section of the Rio Pomba (Trichomycterus altipombensis).
*amandajanea*	This Corydoras is dedicated to Mrs. Amanda Jane Sands.
*amapaensis*	From Amapa, the state in Brazil where this Corydoras species was found and ensis = denoting place, locality, country.
*amaxanthum*	The specific name refers to the distribution of the species in the Amazon basin and its relationship to the species Megalonema xanthum.
*amazonicus*	From the Amazon river basin.
*ambiacus*	After the River Ambiacu, currently spelled Rio Ampiyacu.
*amphibelus*	Greek for amphi = around on both sides; belos = dart, arrow, bolt, sting, an allusion to the dorsal-and pectoral spines.
*analis*	Referring to the anal fin in some way.
*anamalai*	Named for the Anamalai hills of Kerela, India.
*ananas*	From the generic name for the pineapple, Ananas (Bromeliaceae). The specific name ananas is an allusion to stout body and spiny appearance of species due to presence of additional row(s) of spines on lateral plates (Physopyxis ananas).
*andersoni*	Named after Anderson.
*angelica/us*	Heavenly, devine, (young fish are unusually beautifully coloured).
*angolensis*	From Angola.
*anguilla*	An eel.
*anguilcauda*	With an eel-like tail.
*anguillaris*	Like an eel.
*anhaguapitan*	The specific name anhaguapitan, substantive in apposition, was obtained from a tupi legend. The legend recounts a confrontation between Anhaguapitã (the devil) and St. Peter, where the Saint would have turned dead birds by the devil in the rain and small stones, causing the Uruguay River.
*anitae*	The specific name anitae, noun in the genitive, is given in honour of Anita Garibaldi, character of the Farroupilha Revolution.
*annectens*	Connecting, joining, (probably means a connecting link between two species).
*annulatus*	Latin adjective meaning ringed, in reference to the caudal-peduncle band with a light inner region (Phenacorhamdia macarenensis).
*ansorgei*	In honour of Dr. W.J. Ansorge, the English collector.
*aor*	From the Bengali common name for this fish: "AYRE" for Sperata aor.
apiaka	Named for the indigenous tribe Apiaká, meaning 'people' in Tupi language, which originally occupied the middle and lower rio Arinos, lower rio Juruena, but is nowadays restricted to the lower rio Juruena. The tribe is known for facial tattoos and bravery in battles, as well as by anthropophagic rites after fights. A noun in apposition.
*apus*	From the Greek; a- meaning without and pous, meaning foot; in reference to the lack of any pelvic fins.
*apogon*	Without a beard, (barbels).
*approuaguensis*	Named after the River Approuague, where it was collected.
*aguaboensis*	Named for Água Boa, its type locality; an adjective.
*araguaiaensis*	Named after the Rio Araguaia, where it was collected.
araxa	Reference to the occurrence of the new species in the region of Araxá, a historical Brazilian city founded in the 18th century, during the colonial period. The word araxa is possibly derived from the Tupi-Guarani to designate some native people formerly inhabiting the region.
*arcuatus*	Arched, like a bow, (referring to the stripe).
*ardiladuartei*	The specific name is a tribute to the authors son, biologist Carlos Alfonso Ardila Duarte, with whom they collected this species (Astroblepus) in its type locality.
*areio*	From Córrego (Portuguese, meaning creek) Areio, a river system in Brazil where the species was found.
*arecuta*	Named from a Guaraní word arecutá, meaning loricariid fish.
*argentea/us*	Coloured with silver.
argentina	From the country of Argentina.
*argus*	Named after a cow-herd of Greek legend, who was supposed to have one hundred eyes scattered all over his body, ( a reference to the fishes spots).
*armatus*	Armed, armoured, alluding to the dorsal fin spine.
*armbrusteri*	Patronym honoring Jonathan W. Armbruster, ichthyologist, Associate Professor, and Curator of Fishes at the Auburn University Museum Fish Collection, for his many contributions to the field of ichthyology, and to our understanding of the Loricariidae in particular. A noun in apposition. (Lujan et al 2010).
*arnoldeye/i*	In honour of Johann Paul Arnold, born in Germany, 1869-1952.
*arnoulti*	In honour of ichthyologist-herpetologist Jacques Arnoult (1914-1995), Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris), for help and encouragement in the exploration of wildlife in the Republic of Upper Volta (Synodontis arnoulti).
*arunachalense*	From its type locality of Arunachal Pradesh, India.
*asopos*	Derived from the greek river god "Asopos", given in reference to the widespread distribution of this fish throughout Amazonian drainages. (Mastiglanis asopos).
*assamensis*	From its shark-like appearance, especially to the shape of the snout.
*asterifrons*	aster = a star; frons = forehead.
asterophysa	Specific name is derived from the Greek aster, meaning star, and physa, meaning bladder, alluding to the proliferation of diverticula along the periphery of the gas bladder which distinguishes Ossancora asterophysa from Ossancora eigenmanni. An adjective.
*asurini*	The specific name “asurini” is a reference to the Asurini indigenous peoples who inhabit the right margin and median portions of rio Xingu, close to the municipality of Altamira in Pará State, Brazil. A noun in apposition.
atahualpa	In reference to Atahualpa who reigned from 1515 to 1533 as the last ruler of the Inca Empire that encompassed the region from which the population samples of this species originated.
*ater*	Black.
*aterrimus*	Very black, referring to “noir profound” colouration on lower part of body, an example of inverse pigmentation in which ventral surface is darker than dorsal surface (a countershading adaptation to swimming upside-down at the water’s surface) (Synodontis aterrimus).
*atherinoides*	–oides, having the form of: silversides (Atherinidae: Atherina), probably referring to silvery stripe on sides.
*atratoensis*	Named afer the locality , the Atro River basin, Colombia.
*atratus*	From the Latin atratus, meaning clothed in black, in reference to the dark colouration of this species in preservative (Gogo atratus).
*atrizona*	With black bands or zones.
*atropersonatus*	From the Latin atropersonatus = 'with a black mask' alluding to the mask across the eye.
*auratus*	Overlaid with gold.
*aureum*	Colour of gold.
*aurita/us*	Eared.
*aurofrenatus*	From the Latin aurum = ‘gold’ and frenatum = ‘bridled’.
*axelrodi*	In honour of Dr Herbert Richard Axelrod.
azaghal	The epithet azaghal refers to a fictional character within the fantastic universe created by the South African/British writer, poet, philologist, and academic, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (1892-1973). Azaghâl was the king of the Broad-beam Dwarves, one of the seven dwarf clans, and Lord of the dwarven realm of Belegost in the Blue Mountains during Middle Earth's First Age. The name comes from a double allusion, first about the region where the species was found, Terra do Meio, freely translated as Middle Earth in English, name of the fictional world of Tolkien's legendarium, and second by the fact that the new species occurs in a mountainous region and presents a relatively small size, which are both typical features of the fictional dwarves.
azpelicuetae	The species is named azpelicuetae after Dr. María de las Mercedes Azpelicueta, in recognition of her prominent contributions to ichthyology, especially to the systematics of Argentinian fishes. She described numerous species and was essential to the formation of subsequent generations of freshwater fish systematists in Argentina. Amatronym in genitive case (Farlowella).

Back to Etymology Page

SPECIES NAMES PAGE "A"

If you would like to contribute to the monthly factsheets with an article, information or photos, please e-mail me. You will of course be credited for your work.

If you would like to donate any denomination of monies to the site just click the above link button. All proceeds will go to running the site and hopefully to keep it going for a few years yet

SCOTCAT.COM

your internet guide to all things catfish

SPECIES NAMES PAGE 'A'

Genus Names A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A