Inappropriate Common Names

[SirMinion]

I was thinking about the minefield that is common names and how inappropriate and misleading some of them are, Here's a few I can think of without trying too hard.
Can you think of any others? and what makes them misleading?

• Dinosaur Eel (Senagal Bichir)- Not a dinosaur and not an eel!
• Green Dragon Eel (Violet Goby) Not green and again, not an eel!
• Mexican walking fish (Axalotl) - Not even a fish!
• Freshwater stone fish (Notesthes robusta) - Not freshwater! (same goes for the 'freshwater' moray and 'freshwater' flounder)
• Butterfly Goby (Vespicula depressifrons-wasp fish) - Not a goby! (although there is a true goby which lives in saltwater with the same common name)
• Baby Whale/Dolphin (various moromyd sp.) - Not whales or dolphins (of course!)
• Sharks (various fish from several genera that look slighly shark-ish) - not sharks!
• Dwarf stingray plec/Buttlerfly plec/hong kong plec/borneo plec/Hill stream loach (Borneo sucker) - Certainly not a ray, not a plec, not even a catfish and not really a true loach either!

I'm sure there's many more, how many can you think of?


/edited for spelling. Bah! I really must get some sleep.

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

killer whale, not a whale?

 

[SirMinion]

killer whale, not a whale?

Yes it is a whale, but this is about aquarium fish, not marine mammals!

 

[chkltcow]

I thought you meant inappropriate in OTHER ways.... such as...

Halichoeres bivittatus aka. the Slippery Dick Wrasse

On topic....
In the SW world, I always see the Mandarin fish called a Mandarin Goby, when it's not really a goby.
Same deal for Firefish... they're often labelled as Firefish Gobies.... not gobies.

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

the orca is a dolphin

 

[Fishy411]

can we do sw fish?

Clownfish- Theyre not very funny.

Damsel- Pretty mean for a lady right?

J/k.

 

[sgstvoy]

Well, some people call Plecos 'Suckerfish"

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

Orcas are the largest member of the dolphin family, Delphinidae. Males grow to a maximum length of about 32ft (9.8m) and weight of 10 - 11 tons (9 - 10,000 kg) Females are smaller and grow to a maximum length of about 28ft ( 8.5m ), weighing as much as 7 -8 tons (6,500 to 7,500 kg). Calves at birth are about 8ft (2.4m) long and weigh about 400lbs (180 kg).


also was there any need for the rudness minion, fair enough u meant aquarium fish but still

 

[sammydee]

I don't think he intended any rudenes, he was merely pointing out that the thread was posted in the tropical chitchat section so it is perfectly reasonable to assume that it was meant to refer to tropical fish.

 

[Paul_MTS]

no rudeness there but the killer whale is known for being quite visous and they do kill seals and such like for food so i think the names fine.

Dragon Fish- not sure why you would call the asian arowana a dragon fish, looks nothing like them. chinease myths...what ever next!!

Teacup Stingray- such a vague name yet no stingray stays as small as a tea cup.

can't think of any others.

 

[One_Trick_Pony]

point taken and i also apologise,

paul is was saying the 'whale' bit was wrong!

the arowana is long and thin like a chinese dragon?

alright ok a proper one!

bull headed minnow looks nothing like a bull?

 

[sgstvoy]

It's called Dragonfish because of the large scales on the asian arowana. Chinese and European dragons are different.

 

[pseud]

I thought you meant inappropriate in OTHER ways.... such as...

Halichoeres bivittatus aka. the Slippery Dick Wrasse

This is what I thought also. Hehehe.

 

[Ben]

goldfish - it isnt gold, its orange,white black and sometimes red,never gold

glass fish - isn't made of glass

cockatoo cichlid - not a cockatoo,nor bird for that matter

Dwarf cichlids - they arn't really dwarfs, they just dont grow as big as more common cichlids.

all i can think of now, maybe think of some more later
DD

 

[Paul_MTS]

it's not actually a dragon though....plus compared to silvers, asians have a very deep bulky body

'whale' bit was wrong

and there not whales