Species Names within GMAD

Wherever possible we asked data suppliers to provide us with scientific names but common (English) names for fish and invertebrates are routinely used within much of the aquarium industry. There is a great deal of inconsistency in these common names and so it was a major challenge to produce a standard list of scientific names for aquarium species.

A standard list of fish species was produced by referring initially to the 1999 CD ROM version of Fish Base produced by ICLARM, then later FishBase 2000. These two databases were invaluable in identifying misspellings of scientific names and in correcting synonyms to the valid names. If a fish species was not listed in these sources then we consulted Dr Burgess’s Atlas of Marine Aquarium Fishes (second edition). The Collins pocket guide to Coral Reef Fishes of the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean and Scott Michael’s Reef Fishes Vol. 1 were used to identify species that were not listed in either of the previous references. The number of fish species identified using sources other than FishBase was less than 25.

A standard list of invertebrate species was produced using a selection of texts including: The Indo-Pacific Coral Reef Field Guide by Allen and Steene; Marine Atlas Vol 1 by Debelius and Baensch; Marine Atlas Vol 2-3 by Erhardt and Moosleitner; Nudibranchs and Sea Snails Indo-Pacific Field Guide by Debelius; The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium Vol. 1&2 by Fossa and Nilsen; Field Guide and Atlas of the Seaweed and Resources of the Philippines by Trono.

Naming guidelines:

1) No attempt was made to identify different varieties of one species, for example three varieties of Acanthurus pyroferus are sold under three different common names: Lemon Peel Mimic Tang, Red Stripe Mimic Tang and Mustard Tang. These varieties were all entered as Acanthurus pyroferus.

2) In many cases companies were not able to identify their stock to species, but used just the genus, or higher taxonomic order (e.g. family or order). These have been entered into GMAD using the spp. epiphet (i.e. genus spp., family spp. and order spp. = Acropora spp., Acroporidae spp. and Sceleractinia spp.).

3) The difficulties of species identification for invertebrates resulted in more of these organisms being classified to just the genus level. For example one company used up to ten different common names all classified as Actinodiscus spp. because these names could correspond to different species and/or varieties of the same species.

4) For all the records entered into GMAD we relied on identification made by the relevant company as we did not have any pictures to confirm the scientific names used were correct. In those cases where a company used a standard source to name its stock (Burgess’ fish guide seems to be an industry default guide) it was possible to standardise for synonyms.

Some species have a standard common name used throughout the industry:

Fish

• Abalistes stellaris - Starry Triggerfish
• Acanthurus triostegus - Convict Surgeonfish
• Amblyglyphidodon aureus - Lemon Damsel
• Amphiprion perideraion - Pink Skunk Clownfish
• Balistoides conspicillum - Clown Triggerfish
• Centropyge loriculus - Flame Angelfish
• Centropyge tibicen - Keyhole Angelfish
• Chaetodon vagabundus - Vagabond Butterflyfish
• Dascyllus aruanus - 3 - Stripe Damsel
• Dendrochirus zebra - Dwarf Lionfish

Invertebrates

• Cypraea tigris - Tiger Cowry
• Diadema antillarum - Long Spine Urchin
• Hapalochlaena maculosa - Blue Ring Octopus
• Hexabranchus sanguineus - Spanish Dancer
• Linkia laevigata - Blue Starfish
• Odontodactylus scyllarus - Mantis Shrimp
• Ovula ovum - White Cowrie

Many others have a variety of different common names to distinguish them:

Fish

• Acanthurus nigricans - Whitecheek Surgeonfish; Powder Brown Tang; Tang Gold Rim; Whiteface Tang; Powder Black Tang.
• Amblygobius phalaena - Banded Goby; Watchman Goby; Butterfly Goby; Dragon Gobi.
• Canthigaster solandri - Ocellated Toby; Jewel Puffer; Puffer Sharpnose Solandri; Spotted (Blue Spot) Puffer.
• Centropyge eibli - Red Stripe Angel; Angel Orange Stripe; Angel Eiblii; Potteri Angel.
• Chaetodon speculum - Speculum Butterflyfish; Butterfly Mirror; Orange Butterfly; Onespot butterfly.
• Chaetodontoplus mesoleucus - Vermiculated Angelfish; Queen Angel (Singapore); Angel Singapore; Yellowtail Angelfish.
• Epibulus insidiator - Slingjaw Wrasse; Red Long Jaw Wrasse; Humphead Wrasse.

Invertebrates

• Condylactis passiflora - Atlantic Anemone; Anemone Condylactis.
• Heteractis aurora - Anemone Sebae Brown; Anemone Sebae Purple; Sand Anemone Brown.
• Heteractis ritteri - Anemone Ritteri; Chendol Anemone Purple; Brown Base Anemone; Light Color Anemone; Ordinary Carpet Anemone; Coloured Anemones.
• Protoreaster lincki - Starfish General; Starfish Knobbed; Chocolate Chip Starfish; Starfish African; Star Fish.
• Saron neglectus - Shrimp Saron; Purple Legs Marble Shrimp
• Stenopus zanzibaricus - Shrimp Banded Gold; Red Antennae Boxing Shrimp;

Some species have the same common name as other species:

Fish

• Amphiprion frenatus and Amphiprion thiellei are both called Cinnamon Clown by different companies.
• Amphiprion ocellaris and Amphiprion percula are both called Percula Clownfish by different companies.
• Bodianus axillaris and Bodianus mesothorax are both called Hogfish Coral by different companies.

Invertebrates

• Diadema antillarum and Diadema setosum are both called Long Spine Urchin by different companies.
• Fromia elegans and Fromia milleporella are both called Red Starfish by different companies.
• Periclimenes brevicarpalis and Periclimenes psamathe are both called Glass Shrimp by different companies.
• Protoreaster lincki and Protoreaster nodosus are both called Chocolate Chip Starfish by different companies.