Confused about common names

[merchgod]

I've been heavily researching tropical freshwater fish for my upcoming aquarium, using my Baensch Aquarium Atlas vol. 1 and the fish.mongabay.com website.

When I go to my local LFS, I come across names that I don't recognize and that are not in my atlas. Seems like they might be shortened variations of the name or different "fish slang" other than the common name. Or maybe they are just fish that are new to the hobby?

For example, I often see the Skirted Tetra. It's not in my atlas or on the mongabay site. I google it, but I can't seem to find a scientific name for it (so I can cross reference it in the atlas). I can find some info on some of these fish, but not all the details (how hardy they are, ph/dh values, temp, behavior, food, etc). Another example is I see an "African Cichlid" on display - is this the same as an "African Butterfly Cichlid"? Are there more web sites like mongabay that give you detailed specs on fish?

 

[RoK]

Black skirt tetra: http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Summar...&genusname=Gymnocorymbus&speciesname=ternetzi
Not sure about the african cichlid because there are many.
Fishbase.org, badmanstropicalfish.com & liveaquaria.com are some sites I use. Fishbase is the best with accuracy but can lack in detailed info on some fish.

 

[merchgod]

Black skirt tetra: http://filaman.ifm-geomar.de/Summar...&genusname=Gymnocorymbus&speciesname=ternetzi

This is a good example, as I have "Black Tetra" in my atlas but did not know that "Skirted Tetra" was the same thing.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

African Cichlid is not the same thing as African Butterflyfish. When it comes to Africans, there are so many different names for each specie. It is best to find the scientific name that is at the lfs, bring it back here, and then compare.

 

[donttaptheglass]

You want the best place to find info on your fish? You're in it. If you can't find something about a fish . . .ANY fish . . . come in here, chances are someone in here can.

 

[malkore]

What you're seeing is the reality of common names...they just aren't the greatest way to ID fish. YOu should see the issues us plant geeks have with common names. Several plants get called the same common name, but if you look at the scientific names, they aren't even in the same genus half the time!

its for that reason that our resident plant expert TravisSimonson doesn't even bother learning the common names.

YOu're doing the best you can by cross referencing, as as donttaptheglass says, we'll always be happy to help clarify something too.

 

[Jchillin]

You want the best place to find info on your fish? You're in it. If you can't find something about a fish . . .ANY fish . . . come in here, chances are someone in here can.

That is so true. I had purchased what my LFS had labled as "red tetra". I couldn't find a similar fish anywhere I looked. I then discovered that the fish was a "painted tetra" here on this forum. IMO, there probably isn't a fish known to man that cannot be identified here.

I don't even want to get into the plant thing as malkore mentioned.