The mid-18th century marks the beginning of the modern science of coral reef biology, and one of the first great researchers from this era was a young Swedish naturalist by the name of Peter Forsskål. As a student of Linnaeus—the father of zoological taxonomy—Forsskål was in a unique position [...]
Cirrhilabrus isosceles, fresh paratype, ZRC 54775. Note the blue markings on the caudal fin which converge to form an isosceles triangle. Photo credit: Lemon TYK. Cirrhilabrus is undeniably one of my favorite labrid genera, and so it comes as no surprise that today's instalment of epithet [...]
Chaetodon flavocoronatus, the Yellow-crowned Butterflyfish. Photo credit: Lemon TYK. It has been a while since our last installation of epithet etymology, and, to make up for the absence in posts, we'll feature a truly stunning fish from the butterflyfish genus Chaetodon. In keeping with the [...]
Liopropoma tonstrinum. Photo credit: Lemon TYK. Today's instalment of epithet etymology features two species of reef fish displaying extreme dichotomy in nearly all aspects of their biology - the first, known only as a rare, reclusive denizen of deep reef slopes, while the other, a common [...]
Cirrhilabrus blatteus. Photo credit: John Randall. On today's Epithet Etymology, we find ourself examining the naming origins of yet another fairy wrasse of the genus Cirrhilabrus. While I try to inject a little bit of diversity in my posts, I can't help but circle back to my favourite labrid [...]
Chromis brevirostris, whose specific epithet means "short nose". Photo credit: Trimma.net. The circumtropical genus Chromis is a ubiquitous icon of any coral reef, and can be found anywhere from sun speckled coral gardens to lung compressing depths in the mesophotic twilight zone. Despite [...]
Pomacanthus xanthometopon, the blue face angelfish. The epithet "Pomacanthus" is translated from the greek words meaning "cover-thorn", in reference to the large opercular spine (in white) present in all angelfish species. Good March everybody. After last week's foray into some rather [...]
The Spotted Scat, Scatophagus argus. Photo credit: Fokko Teolstede, Wikipedia. Because today's instalment of epithet etymology feature two slightly unorthodox fishes, we'll go ahead and make up for it by featuring two species, instead of the usual one. These are not the average fishes that a [...]
