Why Do People Feel The Need!

[ICEEGRL]

I am new, and I need the scientific names! That is the only way I can keep from spending hours looking for one thing.
I just did that very thing with jewel cichlids. I had to go back to the sig. and get the real name to find what he was talking about.
I am still hunting amazon grass. lol... I can't find it or the real name.... I need to know what things really are so I can look them up!
Just my penny

 

[KathyM]

If you flip it on is head though..... use the 'common' name (in inverted commas since quite frequently although it may be common to you it may well not be to me), and i go to google for a Purple Spotted Eelfaced Catloachfishdog, i may well NOT find it... give me teh latin name and i stand a fighting chance using google.

I have spiney eels, and i have lots of them (compared to most people) - but the common name 'spiney eel' isnt going to help you identify which ones in particular i have nor what they look like.

Go and google for me, 'spiney eel' and then do another search for 'mastacembelus aral' or 'mastacembelus siamensis' or 'mastacembelus dayi' or 'mastacemeblus zebrinus'..... they are all quite different and whilst m. dayi is unlikely to get eaten by your average community tank inmates, m. zebrinus is TINY and might well!

I think if you want to keep, discuss and learn about the animals you keep you do need to know what they are REALLY called, or you cannot research them, and you cannot be sure you are discussing the same things with people.

And get firefox, often when reading fish forums i have a tab for the forum and a tab open for google and i frequently google for fishes i am not familiar with! Its not hard and for me its part of the interest in fishkeeping.

Em

Completely agree with Ems. I remember coming here and not knowing about many of the stranger/rarer species, trying to look up ommon names and struggling. With the proper scientific name I can find info on Fishbase etc easily.

I was also looking into Spiny Eels and try researching them without knowing their full scientific name, it's bloomin' impossible. I had to PM a knowledgeable member on here to work out what an "Indian Green Spotted Eel" was, turned out to be more well known by a completely different common name. Once I had the scientific name, I was sailing.