I was wondering why everyone instead of saying peppered cory they say c. what ever the scientific name is? Would it just be easier to say peppered cory instead of trying to spell that long and confusing name?
Why Does Everyone Use The Scientific Name Of Corys?
- Thread starter Durbkat
- Start date
Many Corydoras species have not yet been given common names so they can ony be described by their scientific name. Also common names can sometimes be linked to several different species so by using the scientific name eveyone can be sure exactly which species is being discussed.
osteoporoosi
Fish Crazy
Some species have multiple common names.
bunjiweb
mmmmmmmarines
Common names are the work of the devil, they are inaccurate and are often made up by lazy shop keepers.
If everyone could learn scientific names things would be alot easier in the long-term. Unfortunately its taking me an age to learn them all...
Ben
If everyone could learn scientific names things would be alot easier in the long-term. Unfortunately its taking me an age to learn them all...
Ben
lagrant
Fish Crazy
I think it's a good Idea to go by the correct name but just a suggestion, if the common name was also put next to it in brackets maybe. Then we get the best of both worlds.
Betterbettas
New Member
Not only doesn't every cory have a C number or a common name but many can have multiple names and more importantly incorrect names ! For example, "Julii" cats are almost always Corydoras Trilineatus so referring to it as "The Three lined Cory" would be correct if referring to Corydoras Trilineatus not Corydoras Julii.
The-Wolf
Ex-LFS manager/ keeper of over 30 danio species
Yet! as not every pleco has an "L" number, yet.
also C.Trilineatus & C.julli are two different fish, that are often confused
Scientific or latin names are essential so as fanciers from different countries can understand what species they are dealing/talking about. It was devised by a Swedish scientist named Carl Linné. Every organism weather it be plant or animal has been classified acording to this system. Since I am interested in killifish I will explain in those terms.(but it holds true for whatever species you use.
The first word in the name is capalised and denotes the Genus of the organism, the second word which is in lowercase indicates the species. The species can be subdivided again, and the third word signifies the subspecies. Finally there is the location which is capatilised;
Fundulopanchax - gardneri - nigerianum - Misaje.
Apologies to Corydoras fans for using the killifish example.
The first word in the name is capalised and denotes the Genus of the organism, the second word which is in lowercase indicates the species. The species can be subdivided again, and the third word signifies the subspecies. Finally there is the location which is capatilised;
Fundulopanchax - gardneri - nigerianum - Misaje.
Apologies to Corydoras fans for using the killifish example.
nmonks
A stroke of the brush does not guarantee art from
There's great value to scientific names (or Latin names as they're sometimes, but inaccurately, called given that many come from Greek as well as other languages).
On the one hand, there's nothing special about scientific names, and they aren't "more accurate" or "more correct". A rose by any other name, as the Bard pointed out, would still smell as sweet. A peppered cory is exactly the same thing as Corydoras paleatus. So long as everyone knows what a peppered cory is, there's no problems.
However, the flip side to common names is they're only useful when everyone agrees on them. Different languages for example obviously use different words. Even within a language there is plenty of scope for confusion. My favourite is "gar", which was originally applied to the marine needlefish Belone belone but in the US more commonly means one of the Lepisosteidae, and among aquarists, biologists, and fishermen can mean anything including members of the needlefish, halfbeak, characin, and other groups.
Using scientific names cuts out this uncertainty. It means that anyone reading or talking about a certain species of fish knows exactly what is being referred to. So while it might seem harder to use scientific names than common ones, they're actually there to make life easier. Among aquarists, this is particularly the case with things like glassfish, bumblebee gobies, upside down catfish, and halfbeaks where any one of several species could be being sold under a single common name. In other cases, proposed common names, like "emerald puffer" or "Poll's bichir" simply aren't that widely used to make satisfactory alternatives to using their scientific names. Finally, as CFC and others have mentioned, lots of fish simply don't have common names at all.
Cheers,
Neale
On the one hand, there's nothing special about scientific names, and they aren't "more accurate" or "more correct". A rose by any other name, as the Bard pointed out, would still smell as sweet. A peppered cory is exactly the same thing as Corydoras paleatus. So long as everyone knows what a peppered cory is, there's no problems.
However, the flip side to common names is they're only useful when everyone agrees on them. Different languages for example obviously use different words. Even within a language there is plenty of scope for confusion. My favourite is "gar", which was originally applied to the marine needlefish Belone belone but in the US more commonly means one of the Lepisosteidae, and among aquarists, biologists, and fishermen can mean anything including members of the needlefish, halfbeak, characin, and other groups.
Using scientific names cuts out this uncertainty. It means that anyone reading or talking about a certain species of fish knows exactly what is being referred to. So while it might seem harder to use scientific names than common ones, they're actually there to make life easier. Among aquarists, this is particularly the case with things like glassfish, bumblebee gobies, upside down catfish, and halfbeaks where any one of several species could be being sold under a single common name. In other cases, proposed common names, like "emerald puffer" or "Poll's bichir" simply aren't that widely used to make satisfactory alternatives to using their scientific names. Finally, as CFC and others have mentioned, lots of fish simply don't have common names at all.
Cheers,
Neale
Betterbettas
New Member
If a cory is already known it will never have a C number ! It would be obsolete.
Didn't I say that C.Trilineatus & C.julli are two different fish, that are often confused ? That's my point ! If you don't have people using the correct scientific names what good does it do to use the incorrect common name ?
bunjiweb
mmmmmmmarines
Of course they do. Go look at the C-Number database on Planet Catfish, lots of well known corys feature on them, infact.... they ALL do!.. I'm sure lots of plecs we know today had a common name before an L-Number?..
Ben
Ben
I like this thread, it is like being in High school biology all over again. 
Hi Durbkat 
You've asked an excellent question and I'm sure it's one that many other members were wondering about.
The answers given above shed a lot of light on it, so I will speak about usage here on the forum.
Since the most common corys, and the ones most people start out with, are either the bronze or albino C. aeneus, we usually just call them "bronze corys," or "albino corys." Another very common one is the C. paleatus, or as just about everyone calls it, the "peppered cory." You need never feel uncomfortable calling them by these common names when you are posting.
It's when you get to the others that names start to get more important. For example, there are quite a few corys that could be called, "spotted corys," and there is the "green cory," which isn't usually a cory at all, but a brochis, although in some places it means the same thing as "bronze cory,"
Then, there is the term, "pygmy cory," which could mean any one of three species: C. pygmaeus, C. habrosus, C. hastatus. They are all miniature corys, but being of different species, are all different.
See where I'm going with this? It can be confusing at first, but don't let that stop you. Everyone understands and will help you out if you just ask. As for the spelling, well I still have to look at a list to get many of them right.
)
You've asked an excellent question and I'm sure it's one that many other members were wondering about.
The answers given above shed a lot of light on it, so I will speak about usage here on the forum. Since the most common corys, and the ones most people start out with, are either the bronze or albino C. aeneus, we usually just call them "bronze corys," or "albino corys." Another very common one is the C. paleatus, or as just about everyone calls it, the "peppered cory." You need never feel uncomfortable calling them by these common names when you are posting.
It's when you get to the others that names start to get more important. For example, there are quite a few corys that could be called, "spotted corys," and there is the "green cory," which isn't usually a cory at all, but a brochis, although in some places it means the same thing as "bronze cory,"
Then, there is the term, "pygmy cory," which could mean any one of three species: C. pygmaeus, C. habrosus, C. hastatus. They are all miniature corys, but being of different species, are all different.
See where I'm going with this? It can be confusing at first, but don't let that stop you. Everyone understands and will help you out if you just ask. As for the spelling, well I still have to look at a list to get many of them right.
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