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What's in a name?

Question 3

What about scientific names?

Part A

Why is a scientific name in two parts?

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There are two main reasons for the 'two part' or 'binomial' form of the scientific name: because of the huge number of species of animal life (estimated at 10-100 million) and the need for each to have a unique name, a name consisting of two parts allows names to be maintained at a relatively short length, and the first part of the name also conveys information about the relationship of the species to others; it is the generic portion or genus (a genus has one or more species which are more closely related to one another than any is to a species in another genus) to which the species belongs; the second part of the name is the specific name and must be unique for that genus (that is, it must be the only member of that genus with that part of the name). For instance, the species Istigobius nigroocellatus is one of ten species of the genus Istigobius, eight of these occurring in Australian waters. The genus is only one of more than 200 genera in the largest of marine fish families Gobiidae, which has nearly 2000 species.

Part B

Who makes up the names?

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Anyone can name a species, as long as they follow a set of universally accepted rules (as detailed in the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature) - of course assuming the species does not already have a name. The three most important rules are: the name must be unique, the name and description must be formally published in a way that it is widely available, and a specimen (holotype) must be chosen to be the standard for that name and lodged in a permanent collection where it is available to other researchers for examination.

Part C

How are the names chosen?

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In addition to being a unique label for a species, scientific names are often chosen to assist the user in associating the name with the species. Generic names can be descriptive and often contain the stems of family names or names of closely related genera. Specific names are more often descriptive and frequently refer to characteristics that distinguish them from other species of that genus. Generic and specific names are also formed from: the names of people who have contributed to the understanding of the species or closely related ones, indigenous names, fanciful names such as those from folklore which conjure up images of the species, locality names which provide an insight into the distribution of the species, or simply arbitrary combinations of letters which may in some way have significance for the species.

Part D

Are there some interesting names?

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Hundreds....here are just a few: Abudefduf, from the Arabic language Eeyorius, after the character 'Eeyore' in the children's book Winnie the Pooh Pharlapiscus, recognising the famous Australian racehorse Gunterichthys longipenis, named after a prominent North American fisheries biologist Trypauchen vagina, a suggestion that this fish has a remarkable similarity in appearance to a portion of the female anatomy Batman insignitus, referring to a similarity between this fish's dorsal fin and the "bats" with which servicemen used to signal approaching aircraft on a carrier, rather than the comic book character Rosenblattia robusta, after the North American fish taxonomist Dick Rosenblatt in reference to his great physique Starksia hoesei, an inference that the species and the Australian fish taxonomist Doug Hoese are similarly noteworthy Spottobrotula amaculata, translated as a 'spotted cuskeel without spots' Tripodichthys blochi, a fish which perches on three fins that form a tripod

Part E

Why do names change?

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With few exceptions, every name that has been formally proposed since 1758 (Linnaeus’s 10th edition of the Systema Naturae) has to be considered a potential appropriate or valid name for some species. Currently, the number of available names for fish species is in the order of 50,000. A major chore for scientists working with classifications has been to examine the original descriptions scattered throughout the literature to try to determine with which species each name belongs. This has been a huge undertaking as many early descriptions are not very detailed and the specimen or specimens on which they were based have long since disappeared. In most cases, the earliest name proposed for a species is the one that should be used. As scientists examine species, group by group or genus by genus, they often find that old names have been overlooked and must be put back in use, or what was thought to be a single variable species is instead several closely related, but distinct ones. In the second case, either another name has to be sought - if one exists in the literature - or a new one must be provided. Another frequent cause of name changes is a result of the attempts by scientists to make classifications reflect the true relationships between species and groups of species. When it is determined that species are closely related and should be placed together in a different genus than the one in which they were originally placed, the generic part of the scientific name changes to reflect it. In some cases, the spelling at the end of the specific name must change to match the 'gender' (masculine, feminine or neuter) of the generic name.