Complaints in the marine aquarium hobby have never ceased either about the difficulty in pronouncing the scientific names or in the inconsistency in common names in the trade. At least one entity, Ornamental Fish International (OFI) has released a small handbook to add to the confusion clear the air. The Standard names of Marine fishes, crustaceans and mollusks in the Ornamental Aquatic Industry doesn’t just have a really long title, but it also includes the common names of over 4000 marine animals, presumably right alongside their proper scientific names. The OFI guide to common names is available in the UK where it is ikely to help set the standard for some common names, but this guide is like a fish out of water in the U.S. where we come up with ridiculous names for ever infinitesimally small difference in colors or patterns; a little birdy tells us that the Purple Death palys and Wartermelon Alien Eye chalice didn’t make the cut.
[via Practical Fishkeeping]
