COMMENTS
v. 23.0 – 10 July 2021 view/download PDF
Family DENTICIPITIDAE Denticle Herring
Denticeps Clausen 1959 denti-, denticle; ceps, head, referring to denticle-like scales (odontodes) on exposed surfaces of skull roofing bones, which give the bone a somewhat furry appearance
Denticeps clupeoides Clausen 1959 -oides, having the form of: Clupea, referring to herring-like appearance
Family PRISTIGASTERIDAE Longfin Herrings
9 genera • 39 species
Subfamily PELLONINAE
Chirocentrodon Günther 1868 cheiros, hand, possibly referring to long pectoral fins (as long as head) on C. taeniatus (=bleekerianus); centrum, spine or point and odon, tooth, probably referring to “strong” canine teeth on lower jaw and “very distinct” maxillary teeth
Chirocentrodon bleekerianus (Poey 1867) –iana, belonging to: patronym not identified but clearly in honor of Dutch medical doctor and ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker (1819-1878), author of many papers on East Indian fishes
Ilisha Richardson 1846 latinization of ilish, Bengali vernacular usually applied to another clupeiform, Tenualosa ilisha (Clupeidae)
Ilisha africana (Bloch 1795) –ica, belonging to: Africa, referring to distribution along west coast of Africa (Senegal to Angola)
Ilisha amazonica (Miranda Ribeiro 1920) –ica, belonging to: referring to distribution in Amazon River basin
Ilisha compressa Randall 1994 compressed, referring to thin body
Ilisha elongata (Anonymous [Bennett] 1830) elongate, referring to slender body
Ilisha filigera (Valenciennes 1847) filum, thread; gero, to carry, presumably referring to extended caudal filament (at least on small specimen examined by Valenciennes)
Ilisha fuerthii (Steindachner 1875) in honor of Ignatius Fürth, Austrian Consul at Panama, who donated many specimens to the Vienna Museum
Ilisha kampeni (Weber & de Beaufort 1913) in honor of herpetologist Pieter Nicolaas van Kampen (1878-1937), who collected many specimens (and presumably this one) for Weber and de Beaufort from the research steamer Gier
Ilisha lunula Kailola 1986 referring to strongly lunate, extended caudal fin
Ilisha macrogaster Bleeker 1866 macro-, large; gaster, belly, probably referring to larger number of ventral scutes (36-37) compared to 27 on I. micropus (=melastoma)
Ilisha megaloptera (Swainson 1839) megalo-, long; pterus, fin, referring to long anal fin (a characteristic of genus)
Ilisha melastoma (Bloch & Schneider 1801) melas, black; stomus, mouth, described as having a black mouth (“rictu nigro”)
Ilisha novacula (Valenciennes 1847) razor, similar in shape to the Razorfish, Cyprinus (=Pelecus) cultratus, a Eurasian cyprinid
Ilisha obfuscata Wongratana 1983 obscured, probably referring to its being discovered among type series of I. filigera and Pellona micropus (=I. melastoma)
Ilisha pristigastroides (Bleeker 1852) –oides, having the form of: referring to strong resemblance to Pristigaster tartoor (=Opisthopterus tardoore)
Ilisha sirishae Seshagiri Rao 1975 in honor of A. V. S. Sirisha, daughter of Seshagiri Rao’s cousin, “who is keen in learning about fishes” [originally spelled sirishi; since name honors a woman, sirishae reflects the correct gender]
Ilisha striatula Wongratana 1983 diminutive of stria, furrow, referring to discontinuous vertical striae on scales, with a distinct gap across center of scale
Neoopisthopterus Hildebrand 1948 neo-, new, i.e., a new Opisthopterus, referring to close relationship between the two genera
Neoopisthopterus cubanus Hildebrand 1948 Cuban, referring to type locality near Havana, Cuba
Neoopisthopterus tropicus (Hildebrand 1946) presumably referring to its tropical distribution, from southern Baja California and western México to northern Peru
Pellona Valenciennes 1847 Spanish name of Pellona flavipinnis in Buenos Aires, apparently from pelon, bald, referring to caducous (easily shed) scales
Pellona altamazonica Cope 1872 altus, high; –ica, belonging to: referring to occurrence high up the Amazon basin, “at a great distance from salt water”
Pellona castelnaeana Valenciennes 1847 –ana, belonging to: French naturalist Francisco de Castelnau (1810-1880), who collected in Brazil and “reported” (translation) this species to Valenciennes
Pellona dayi Wongratana 1983 in honor of Francis Day (1829-1889), Inspector-General of Fisheries in India, who collected some of the paratypes and whose “Fishes of India” (1889) inspired Wongratana and many others
Pellona ditchela Valenciennes 1847 latinization of Ditchelée, a name this species was reportedly called at Visakhapatnam on the coast of Coromandel, India
Pellona flavipinnis (Valenciennes 1837) flavus, yellow; pinna, fin, presumably referring to yellowish-to-greenish tail
Pellona harroweri (Fowler 1917) in honor of botanist-ornithologist David E. Harrower (1890-1970), a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, who collected type
Pellona mayrinki (Pinto 1972) in honor of Wilson Mayrink (1925-2017), physician, parasitologist and biology department chair at Federal University of Minas Gerais (Brazil)
Pliosteostoma Norman 1923 pli-, plus or many; osteo, bony; stoma, mouth, probably referring to distinct toothed hypomaxillary bone between hind tip of premaxilla and lower bulge of maxilla blade
Pliosteostoma lutipinnis (Jordan & Gilbert 1882) luteus, yellow; pinnis, fin, referring to golden yellow on basal portions of caudal and anal fins, and yellow blotch on middle of first rays of pectoral and dorsal fins
Subfamily PRISTIGASTERINAE
Odontognathus Lacepède 1800 odontos, tooth; gnathos, jaw, probably referring to long, serrated maxillary, extending beyond eye in adults
Odontognathus compressus Meek & Hildebrand 1923 referring to “very strongly compressed” body
Odontognathus mucronatus Lacepède 1800 with sharp points, probably referring to sharp scutes on chest and belly
Odontognathus panamensis (Steindachner 1876) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Panama, type locality
Opisthopterus Gill 1861 opistho-, behind; pterus, fin, referring to posterior placement of dorsal fin compared to Pristigaster
Opisthopterus dovii (Günther 1868) in honor of John Melmoth Dow (1827-1892), Panama Railroad Company, ship captain and amateur naturalist, who presented type to British Museum (Natural History) [“w” latinized as a “v”]
Opisthopterus effulgens (Regan 1903) shining forth, probably referring to “silvery” color on sides and belly
Opisthopterus equatorialis Hildebrand 1946 equatorial, referring to type locality in the Gulf of Guayaquil, off Puerto Pizarro, Peru
Opisthopterus macrops (Günther 1867) macro-, large; ops, eye, 1/3 length of head
Opisthopterus tardoore (Cuvier 1829) derived from tardoor or tartoor, vernacular for this species in Pondicherry, India
Opisthopterus valenciennesi Bleeker 1872 in honor of Achille Valenciennes (1794-1865), who described the species in 1847 but used a preoccupied name, Pristigaster tartoor (=O. tardoore)
Pristigaster Cuvier 1816 pristo-, sawed; gaster, belly, referring to saw-like scutes on ventral surface
Pristigaster cayana Cuvier 1829 –ana, belonging to: Cayenne (French Guiana), type locality (but occurs throughout Amazon basin)
Pristigaster whiteheadi Menezes & de Pinna 2000 in honor of the late Peter J. P. Whitehead (1930-1993), British Museum (Natural History), “who contributed more than any other individual to the knowledge of clupeomorph fishes, [and] also for suggesting that there might be two different species of Pristigaster”
Raconda Gray 1831 presumably a local name for R. russeliana in India
Raconda russeliana Gray 1831 –iana, belonging to: patronym not identified but likely in honor of surgeon-herpetologist Patrick Russell (1726-1805), who provided many specimens from India to the British Museum (Natural History), or his half-brother Alexander Russell (1715-1768), who also collected in India [Gray consistently misspelled the name with one “l”]
Family ENGRAULIDAE Anchovies
17 genera/subgenera • 180 species/subspecies
Subfamily COILIINAE
Coilia Gray 1830 etymology not explained, perhaps from koilia, belly, referring to serrated abdomen
Coilia borneensis Bleeker 1852 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Bandjarmasin (also spelled Bandjermasin and Banjarmasin), Borneo, Indonesia, type locality
Coilia coomansi Hardenberg 1934 in honor of Louis Coomans de Ruiter (1898-1972), Dutch ornithologist, entomologist and botanist, who collected type
Coilia dussumieri Valenciennes 1848 in honor of Jean-Jacques Dussumier (1792-1883), French voyager and merchant, who observed and presumably collected this fish in Bombay
Coilia grayii Richardson 1845 in honor of British zoologist John Edward Gray (1800-1875), an “ardent and successful cultivator of every branch of zoology, whose friendly offices [Richardson] often had occasion to acknowledge,” and who described characters of genus in 1830
Coilia lindmani Bleeker 1857 in honor of Lazurus Lindman (1814-1877), military health officer in the Dutch East Indies, who collected type
Coilia macrognathos Bleeker 1852 macro-, long; gnathos, jaw, referring to long, sword-shaped maxillary, extending beyond root of pectorals
Coilia mystus mystus (Linnaeus 1758) whiskered, probably referring to prolonged maxilla (reaching to or near base of first pectoral-fin ray), which can be said to resemble the whiskers of a cat
Coilia mystus jiulongjiangensis Liu 1995 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Jiulongjiang River, Fujian Province, China, where it is endemic
Coilia nasus Temminck & Schlegel 1846 long-nosed, probably referring to projecting snout
Coilia neglecta Whitehead 1968 overlooked, referring to previous misidentification as C. dussumieri due to light organs hidden during formalin fixation and preservation
Coilia ramcarati (Hamilton 1822) apparent latinization of ramcarata, presumably a local name for this fish along the Ganges River
Coilia rebentischii Bleeker 1858 in honor of Johann Heinrich Andreaus Bernhard Sonnemann Rebentisch, military health officer in the Dutch East Indies, who collected type
Coilia reynaldi Valenciennes 1848 patronym not identified, possibly in honor of Auguste Adolphe Marc Reynaud (1804-1872), surgeon-naturalist aboard the H.M.C.M. corvette La Chevrette, which was in Rangoon when type was collected (note variant spelling)
Lycothrissa Günther 1868 lycan, wolf, referring to “very conspicuous” (and presumably canine-like) teeth of L. crocodilus; thrissa, Greek word for a kind of anchovy
Lycothrissa crocodilus (Bleeker 1850) crocodilian, referring to enlarged, canine-like teeth
Papuengraulis Munro 1964 Papua, referring to restriction of genus to Papua New Guinea; engraulis, ancient name for common anchovy of Europe and standard suffix for family
Papuengraulis micropinna Munro 1964 micro-, small; pinna, fin, referring to minute dorsal fin (2 spines, 3-4 soft rays)
Setipinna Swainson 1839 seta, bristle; pinna, fin, referring to first ray of pectoral fins, which extend into a long (on most species) filament
Setipinna breviceps (Cantor 1849) brevis, short; ceps, head, referring to “strikingly short” head
Setipinna brevifilis (Valenciennes 1848) brevis, short; filum, thread, referring to short pectoral-fin filament
Setipinna gilberti Jordan & Starks 1905 in honor of ichthyologist, fisheries biologist and Jordan’s Stanford University colleague Charles H. Gilbert (1859-1928)
Setipinna melanochir (Bleeker 1849) melanos, black; cheiros, hand, referring to often dusky or jet-black pectoral fin
Setipinna paxtoni Wongratana 1987 in honor of ichthyologist John R. Paxton (b. 1938), Australian Museum (Sydney), who encouraged Wongratana to broaden his knowledge of Australian clupeoid fishes
Setipinna phasa (Hamilton 1822) Bengali vernacular for anchovy or other herring-like fish; Hamilton “appropriated” it to this species, “having no other to which it could be more conveniently applied”
Setipinna taty (Valenciennes 1848) referring to its local market name, Taty pooroowa
Setipinna tenuifilis (Valenciennes 1848) tenuis, thin; filum, thread, referring to first ray of pectoral fins, which extend into a long filament
Setipinna wheeleri Wongratana 1983 in honor of Alwyne C. Wheeler (1929-2005), Curator of Fishes, British Museum (Natural History), “whose kind help during my time there was much appreciated”
Thryssa Cuvier 1829 Greek word for a kind of anchovy, possibly derived from thrix, hair, referring to their hair-like bones [some taxonomists believe this name is a new spelling for Thrissa Cuvier 1816 (type species Clupea mystus, now in Coilia), preoccupied by Thrissa Rafinesque 1815, and therefore should be replaced by the next available name, Thrissina Jordan & Seale 1925; Eschmeyer’s Catalog of Fishes regards the two spellings as independent and retains Thryssa for the sake of stability]
Thryssa adelae (Rutter 1897) in honor of Baptist missionary Adele M. Field (1839-1916), who sent a “considerable collection” of fishes from the port of Swatow, China, including the type of this one, to the University of Indiana in 1885
Thryssa baelama (Forsskål 1775) from its Arabic vernacular, Láaf vel Baelama
Thryssa belvedere (Hata, Quan, Ha & Motomura 2020) bellus, fine; videre, to see, i.e., a fine view, referring to type locality, Ha Long Bay, northern Viêt Nam, famous for its view of numerous variously shaped and sized limestone islets
Thryssa brevicauda (Roberts 1978) brevis, short; cauda, tail, referring to shorter, deeper caudal peduncle compared to T. rastrosa and T. scratchleyi
Thryssa chefuensis (Günther 1874) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Chefoo, Shantung Province, China, type locality
Thryssa cultella (Hata & Motomura 2019) cutlass, referring to long maxilla, reminiscent of such [proposed as Thrissina cultella; see comments for Thryssa, above]
Thryssa dayi Wongratana 1983 in honor of Francis Day (1829-1889), Inspector-General of Fisheries in India, “the greatest of all ichthyologists to study Indian fishes, among whose collection were two of the types … as well as a young specimen”
Thryssa dussumieri (Valenciennes 1848) in honor of Jean-Jacques Dussumier (1792-1883), French voyager and merchant, who “reported” (translation) on this fish and presumably collected type
Thryssa encrasicholoides (Bleeker 1852) –oides, having the form of: meaning not specified, presumably referring to affinity with or resemblance to Engraulis encrasicolus (although the two anchovies possess distinctly different shapes)
Thryssa gautamiensis Babu Rao 1971 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Gautami branch of Godavari Estuary (Andhra Pradesh, India), type locality
Thryssa hamiltonii (Gray 1835) patronym not identified but clearly in honor of Francis Hamilton-Buchanan (1762-1829), Scottish physician and naturalist, who published an influential account of Indo-Gangetic fishes in 1822
Thryssa kammalensis (Bleeker 1849) –ensis, suffix denoting place: near Kammal (Java, Indonesia), type locality
Thryssa kammalensoides Wongratana 1983 –oides, having the form of: referring to resemblance to T. kammalensis
Thryssa malabarica (Bloch 1795) –icus, belonging to: Malabar (i.e., southern India), referring to type locality in Tranquebar (now Tharangambadi), Tamil Nadu State
Thryssa marasriae Wongratana 1987 in honor of Wongratana’s wife, Marasri Ladpli, for her “patient sharing of my study of fishes, her encouragement, and her tolerance of my trips away from home”
Thryssa mystax (Bloch & Schneider 1801) moustache, referring to long maxilla, reaching to or almost to base of first pectoral fin ray
Thryssa nasuta (Castelnau 1878) large-nosed, referring to obtuse snout projecting “considerably” beyond lower jaw [formerly known as T. aestuaria (Ogilby 1910)]
Thryssa polybranchialis Wongratana 1983 poly, many; branchialis, referring to high gill raker count, which separates it from superficially similar T. malabarica and T. hamiltoni
Thryssa purava (Hamilton 1822) Bengali vernacular for anchovy or other herring-like fish, possibly derived from pooroowa
Thryssa rastrosa Roberts 1978 raker, referring to “exceptionally numerous gill rakers, which apparently increase in number as long as growth continues”
Thryssa scratchleyi (Ramsay & Ogilby 1886) “in memory of the late Sir Peter Scratchley [1835-1885], first High Commissioner of New Guinea, whose death [from malaria] at this critical period in the affairs of the young colony is greatly to be deplored”
Thryssa serena (Hata & Motomura 2019) serene, referring to “serenity of the Arabian Sea,” where it occurs [proposed as Thrissina serena; see comments for Thryssa, above]
Thryssa setirostris (Broussonet 1782) seta, bristle or hair; rostris, snout, probably referring to excessively long maxillary that extends beyond base of pectoral fins, sometimes to base of anal fin
Thryssa spinidens (Jordan & Seale 1925) spina, thorn; dens, teeth, referring to sharp canine teeth
Thryssa stenosoma Wongratana 1983 stenos, narrow; soma, body, referring to its more slender body compared to S. purava
Thryssa supra (Hata, Psomadakis, Osmany & Motomura 2021) supra-, above, over or beyond, referring to higher counts of scales, fin rays, and gill rakers compared with related species [originally as Thrissina]
Thryssa vitrirostris (Gilchrist & Thompson 1908) vitrum, glass; rostrum, snout; authors propose “Glass-nose” as vernacular but allusion is not evident from their description nor from other accounts
Thryssa whiteheadi Wongratana 1983 in honor of Peter J. P. Whitehead (1930-1993), British Museum (Natural History), whose 1965 review of Red Sea clupeoids “was a major step in understanding the species of this region”
Subfamily ENGRAULINAE
Amazonsprattus Roberts 1984 Amazon, referring to distribution in Amazon basin of Brazil; sprattus, a herring or herring-like fish
Amazonsprattus scintilla Roberts 1984 spark, “hence the smallest trace or particle,” referring to its being the smallest known clupeomorph fish (up to 19.5 mm SL)
Anchoa Jordan & Evermann 1927 anchovy-like, indicating a “transition to Anchovia”
Subgenus Anchoa
Anchoa analis (Miller 1945) referring to anal fin with very long base (28-34 rays)
Anchoa argentivittata (Regan 1904) argentum, silver; vittatus, banded, referring to ”well-defined silvery band as broad as the eye”
Anchoa belizensis (Thomerson & Greenfield 1975) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Belize, type locality
Anchoa cayorum (Fowler 1906) –orum, belonging to: cay, Spanish for a ridge of small rocks or islands in the sea, like those of Hailer’s Rock, Florida Keys, USA, type locality
Anchoa chamensis Hildebrand 1943 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Chame Point, Panama, type locality
Anchoa choerostoma (Goode 1874) choero-, hog; stomus, mouth, referring to “enormous” mouth and local Bermudan name, “hog-mouth fry”
Anchoa colonensis Hildebrand 1943 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Colón, Panama, type locality
Anchoa compressa (Girard 1858) referring to strongly compressed body
Anchoa cubana (Poey 1868) Cuban, referring to type locality off Cuba (but occurs in western central Atlantic from North Carolina, USA, to entire coast of Brazil)
Anchoa curta (Jordan & Gilbert 1882) curtus, short, probably referring to short and high head
Anchoa delicatissima (Girard 1854) most delicate; allusion not evident, possibly referring to easily shed (deciduous) scales
Anchoa eigenmannia (Meek & Hildebrand 1923) –ia, belonging to: in honor of Carl H. Eigenmann (1863-1927) and/or his wife Rosa Smith Eigenmann (1858-1947), both prominent ichthyologists who described many New World fishes
Anchoa exigua (Jordan & Gilbert 1882) thin, referring to “much slenderer body” compared to A. curtus
Anchoa helleri (Hubbs 1921) in honor of zoologist Edmund Heller (1875-1939), who collected type
Anchoa hepsetus (Linnaeus 1758) ancient Greek for any small fish that is boiled for human consumption (compared to other elongate fishes Linnaeus placed in the catch-all genus Esox, it is indeed small)
Anchoa ischana (Jordan & Gilbert 1882) –ana, pertaining to: ischnos, slender, probably referring to long and slender head
Anchoa januaria (Steindachner 1879) of January, referring to type locality in harbor of Rio de Janeiro (“River of January”)
Anchoa lamprotaenia Hildebrand 1943 lampros, bright; taenia, ribbon, referring to bright silvery band on middle of side
Anchoa lucida (Jordan & Gilbert 1882) bright, probably referring to translucent body and/or scales with a silvery luster
Anchoa marinii Hildebrand 1943 in honor of Argentine ichthyologist Tomás L. Marini (1902-1984), who named but did not properly describe this species in 1935
Anchoa mitchilli mitchilli (Valenciennes 1848) in honor of Samuel Latham Mitchill (1764-1831), naturalist, physician and U.S. Senator, who studied the fishes of New York Harbor
Anchoa mitchilli diaphana Hildebrand 1943 transparent, allusion not explained but probably referring to its nearly see-through coloration
Anchoa mundeoloides (Breder 1928) –oides, having the form of: referring to resemblance to A. mundeola
Anchoa mundeola (Gilbert & Pierson 1898) somewhat shining, from mundus, neat or clean, referring to silvery reflections on body
Anchoa panamensis (Steindachner 1876) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Panama, type locality (but occurs throughout eastern Pacific from El Salvador to Peru)
Anchoa parva (Meek & Hildebrand 1923) little, possibly referring to small size (35-55 mm)
Anchoa pectoralis Hildebrand 1943 referring to its many-rayed pectoral fin
Anchoa scofieldi (Jordan & Culver 1895) in honor of Jordan’s student (and later fisheries biologist) Norman Bishop Scofield (1869-1958), member of the Hopkins Expedition that collected type in Sinaloa
Anchoa spinifer (Valenciennes 1848) spina, spine; fero, to bear, referring to subopercle projecting beyond opercle, forming a small triangular prominence
Anchoa starksi (Gilbert & Pierson 1898) in honor of Gilbert’s student (and later authority in fish osteology) Edwin Chapin Starks (1867-1932), a member of the Hopkins Expedition that collected type in Panama
Anchoa tricolor (Spix & Agassiz 1829) described has having three (tri-) colors: blue back, golden sides and abdomen, and reddish-yellow fins
Anchoa trinitatis (Fowler 1915) Trinidadian, referring to Port of Spain, Trinidad Island, West Indies, type locality
Anchoa walkeri Baldwin & Chang 1970 in honor of fisheries biologist Boyd W. Walker (1917-2001), University of California, Los Angeles, who collected type and encouraged the writing of this species’ description
Subgenus Anchovietta Nelson 1986 diminutive of Anchovia, or anchovy, presumably connoting its subgeneric status
Anchoa filifera filifera (Fowler 1915) filum, thread; fero, to bear, referring to pectoral fin with greatly elongated uppermost ray
Anchoa filifera longipinnis (Beebe & Tee Van 1928) longus, long; pinnis, fin, referring to long pectoral fins, with filamentous tips, reaching half-way between base of ventral fins and origin of anal fin
Anchoa lyolepis lyolepis (Evermann & Marsh 1900) lyo, loose; lepis, scale, probably referring to deciduous scales
Anchoa lyolepis continentalis Cervigón 1969 referring to distribution among continental-shelf islands of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico
Anchoa nasus nasus (Kner & Steindachner 1867) long-nosed, referring to long snout overhanging lower jaw
Anchoa nasus naso (Gilbert & Pierson 1898) long-nosed, referring to long, compressed, bluntly rounded snout, its length exceeding size of eye
Anchovia Jordan & Evermann 1895 a name long applied to European anchovies
Anchovia clupeoides (Swainson 1839) –oides, having the form of: referring to resemblance to Clupea sprattus (=Sprattus sprattus)
Anchovia macrolepidota (Kner 1863) macro-, large; lepidos, scaled, referring to its large scales (“squamae magnae”)
Anchovia surinamensis (Bleeker 1865) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Suriname, type locality (but occurs in Atlantic drainages from Trinidad to Paras, Brazil)
Anchoviella Fowler 1911 diminutive of Anchovia, referring to small size of most species
Anchoviella alleni (Myers 1940) in honor of zoologist William Ray Allen (1885-1955), Indiana University, who collected type
Anchoviella balboae (Jordan & Seale 1926) of Balboa, Canal Zone (Pacific entrance), Panama (type locality)
Anchoviella blackburni Hildebrand 1943 in honor of Paul P. Blackburn (1883-1970), commanding officer of the U.S.S. Niagara, who made an extensive collection of fishes in the Gulf of Venezuela, including type of this one
Anchoviella brevirostris (Günther 1868) brevis, short; rostris, snout, referring to snout, which “projects but slightly beyond the lower jaw” in contrast to other anchovies whose snouts project much farther
Anchoviella carrikeri Fowler 1940 in honor of Melbourne Armstrong Carriker, Jr. (1879-1965), ornithological collector and explorer in the Neotropics, who helped collect type
Anchoviella cayennensis (Puyo 1946) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Cayenne River at Macouria (French Guiana), type locality (but occurs in Atlantic drainages south to at least Victoria, Brazil)
Anchoviella elongata (Meek & Hildebrand 1923) referring to its “very elongate” body
Anchoviella guianensis (Eigenmann 1912) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Bartica rocks, Guyana, type locality
Anchoviella hernanni Loeb, Varella & Menezes 2018 in honor of Peruvian ichthyologist Hernan Ortega, for his “contribution to knowledge about the diversity of fishes of Peru and his support for many researchers, either by making material available or by guiding students” (he also collected type) [we do not know why epithet is spelled with an extra “n”]
Anchoviella jamesi (Jordan & Seale 1926) in honor of psychologist and philosopher William James (1842-1910); in1865, James took a break from his medical training and joined Louis Agassiz on a scientific expedition up the Amazon River in Brazil, where he collected type
Anchoviella juruasanga Loeb 2012 from the Tupí (Brazil) juru, mouth, and asanga, short, referring to short maxilla, a diagnostic character of the genus
Anchoviella lepidentostole (Fowler 1911) lepid, scale; entos, within; stole, stole or band, referring to median lateral row of scales within silvery lateral band
Anchoviella manamensis Cervigón 1982 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Caño Mánamo, near Tucupita, Orinoco Delta (Venezuela), type locality
Anchoviella miarcha (Jordan & Gilbert 1892) meiosis, to reduce; archos, anus, referring to very small anal fin
Anchoviella perezi Cervigón 1987 in honor of Luis Pérez, licentiate (in Venezuela, one who has completed five years of academic study), who provided the type material
Anchoviella perfasciata (Poey 1860) per-, very; fasciatus, banded, referring to broad band of “unpolished silver” (translation) along sides
Anchoviella sanfranciscana Barbosa, Gomes da Silva, da Rocha Araújo & Carvalho 2017 –ana, belonging to: São Francisco River, Algoas, Brazil, only known area of occurrence
Anchoviella vaillanti (Steindachner 1908) patronym not identified but probably in honor of Léon Vaillant (1834-1914), zoologist, Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle (Paris)
Cetengraulis Günther 1868 cetus, whale, referring to resemblance of long gill rakers to whalebone; engraulis, ancient name for common anchovy of Europe and standard suffix for family
Cetengraulis edentulus (Cuvier 1829) toothless (not true of young specimens)
Cetengraulis mysticetus (Günther 1867) named after the Bowhead Whale, Balaena mysticetus, referring to resemblance of long gill rakers to whalebone
Encrasicholina Fowler 1938 diminutive of encrasicolus, Greek for a small fish (dating to Aristotle), historically applied to anchovies
Encrasicholina auster Hata & Motomura 2017 south wind, presumably referring to its southern distribution, known only from Fiji in the southwestern Pacific
Encrasicholina gloria Hata & Motomura 2016 Latin for glory, referring to brilliant silver stripe along body
Encrasicholina heteroloba (Rüppell 1837) etymology not explained and allusion not evident, possibly hetero-, different, lobus, lobe, referring to distinctiveness of large, erect scales on each side of caudal fin
Encrasicholina integra Hata & Motomura 2021 untouched, referring to its “having been at no time recognized or referred to in any way, despite the genus Encrasicholina being known for a long time” (holotype collected in 1929)
Encrasicholina intermedia Hata & Motomura 2016 referring to the intermediate number of gill rakers between those of E. punctifer and E. gloria
Encrasicholina macrocephala Hata & Motomura 2015 macro-, large; cephala, referring to its “relatively” large head
Encrasicholina oligobranchus (Wongratana 1983) oligo-, few; branchus, gill, referring to low gill-raker count compared to other members of Stolephorus (genus in which it was originally described)
Encrasicholina pseudoheteroloba (Hardenberg 1933) pseudo-, false, i.e., although this species very much resembles E. heteroloba, such an appearance is false
Encrasicholina punctifer Fowler 1938 punctum, spot; fero, to bear, referring to blackish dots on opercle and/or basal blackish dots on tail
Encrasicholina purpurea (Fowler 1900) purple, referring to scales “shot with delicate purple”
Encrasicholina sigma Hata & Motomura 2020 Greek for “sum total,” referring to sum total of gill raker numbers (upper and lower series, 37-42) on first gill arch, the “major diagnostic feature” of this species
Engraulis Cuvier 1816 ancient name for E. encrasicolus, common anchovy of Europe
Engraulis albidus Borsa, Collet & Durand 2004 whitish, referring to “white anchovy” vernacular used by Golfe-du-Lion fishermen in the northwest Mediterranean
Engraulis anchoita Hubbs & Marini 1935 vernacular for this anchovy in Argentina (type locality)
Engraulis australis (White 1790) southern or Australian, referring to type locality between Broken Bay and Botany Bay, New South Wales, Australia
Engraulis capensis Gilchrist 1913 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Cape of Good Hope, referring to distribution off coast of South Africa (also occurs off coast of Namibia)
Engraulis encrasicolus (Linnaeus 1758) Greek for a small fish and a name historically applied to anchovies
Engraulis eurystole (Swain & Meek 1884) eurys, broad; stole, stole or band, referring to silvery lateral band
Engraulis japonicus Temminck & Schlegel 1846 Japanese, referring to presumed type locality (but occurs throughout western North and Central Pacific)
Engraulis mordax mordax Girard 1854 biting, possibly referring to large mouth, characteristic of genus
Engraulis mordax nanus Girard 1858 a dwarf, possibly referring to “short and slender” body and “less elongated” form compared to E. m. mordax
Engraulis ringens Jenyns 1842 gaping, presumably referring to large mouth, characteristic of genus
Jurengraulis Whitehead 1988 Jur-, referring to only species in genus, J. juruensis; engraulis, ancient name for common anchovy of Europe and standard suffix for family
Jurengraulis juruensis (Boulenger 1898) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Rio Juruá, Brazil, type locality
Lycengraulis Günther 1868 lycan, wolf, referring to large canine-like teeth of L. grossidens; engraulis, ancient name for common anchovy of Europe and standard suffix for family
Lycengraulis batesii (Günther 1868) patronym not identified but likely in honor of naturalist Henry Walter Bates (1829-1892), who explored the Amazon with Alfred Russel Wallace in 1848 and collected many specimens (mostly insects)
Lycengraulis figueiredoi Loeb & Alcântara 2013 in honor of José Lima de Figueiredo (b. 1943), Museu de Zoologia da Universidade de São Paulo, who has “contributed significantly” to the study of fish systematics in Brazil
Lycengraulis grossidens (Agassiz 1829) grossus, large; dens, teeth, referring to canine-like teeth on lower jaw
Lycengraulis limnichthys Schultz 1949 limno-, lake, referring to occurrence in Lago de Maracaibo, Venezuela; ichthys, fish
Lycengraulis poeyi (Kner 1863) patronym not identified but probably in honor of Cuban ichthyologist Felipe Poey (1799-1891)
Pterengraulis Günther 1868 pteron, fin, referring to insertion of dorsal a little behind the front of very long anal fin, which distinguishes genus from Stolephorus; engraulis, ancient name for common anchovy of Europe and standard suffix for family
Pterengraulis atherinoides (Linnaeus 1766) –oides, having the form of: silversides (Atherinidae: Atherina), referring to broad silvery stripe
Stolephorus Lacepède 1803 stole, a white band worn by priests; phoreus, bearer or carrier, referring to silvery lateral band of S. commersonnii (and most other congeners)
Stolephorus acinaces Hata, Lavoué & Motomura 2020 Latin for saber, referring to long maxilla “being reminiscent of such”
Stolephorus advenus Wongratana 1987 a stranger, referring to a number of “peculiar taxonomic feature[s] that make it uniquely different from other congeneric species”
Stolephorus andhraensis Babu Rao 1966 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Andhra Pradesh, India, type locality (but occurs in eastern Indian Ocean from India to Singapore, and western Pacific from Papua New Guinea to Queensland, Australia)
Stolephorus apiensis (Jordan & Seale 1906) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Apia, Upolu Island, Western Samoa, type locality
Stolephorus baganensis Delsman 1931 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Bagansiapiapi, Sumatra, Indonesia, type locality (occurs in Indo-West Pacific from Ranong, Thailand, to Indonesia)
Stolephorus babarani Hata, Lavoué & Motomura 2020 in honor of Ricardo P. Babaran, University of the Philippines Visayas, for “great contributions to surveys by the authors and other collaborators at Iloilo [Panay Island, Philippines] during 2013-2017,” when this species was collected; these surveys resulted in the 2017 field guide, Commercial and Bycatch Market Fishes of Panay Island, Republic of the Philippines
Stolephorus balinensis (Bleeker 1849) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Bali, Indonesia, where type locality (Boleling, now spelled Buleleng) is situated
Stolephorus bataviensis Hardenberg 1933 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Batavia (now Jakarta), Indonesia, type locality (recorded from Lombok and Borneo, Indonesia, the Philippines, Palau, and southern Taiwan)
Stolephorus baweanensis Hardenberg 1933 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Bawean Island, Java Sea, Indonesia, type locality (occurs in Indo-West Pacific from southwestern coast of India to Indonesia and southern coast of China)
Stolephorus belaerius Hata, Lavoué & Motomura 2021 bellus, beautiful, aerius, of the air, i.e., a “fine wind,” referring to occurrence in shallow (less than ~36 m depth) bays, lagoons, and harbors along the Kenyan coast during the northeast monsoon and subsequent rainy season
Stolephorus bengalensis (Dutt & Babu Rao 1959) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Bay of Bengal, east coast of India, type locality (occurs in Indo-West Pacific from Pakistan to Taiwan, and off Sabah, Malaysisa)
Stolephorus brachycephalus Wongratana 1983 brachys, short; cephalus, head, presumably referring to shorter maxilla compared to S. commersonnii
Stolephorus carpentariae (De Vis 1882) of the Gulf of Carpentaria drainage (Queensland, Australian), referring to type locality in Norman River
Stolephorus celsior Hata & Motomura 2021 from celsus, high, referring to higher gill raker counts compared with similar species
Stolephorus chinensis (Günther 1880) –ensis, suffix denoting place: China, based on Chinese specimens of Engraulis japonicus
Stolephorus commersonnii Lacepède 1803 in honor of French naturalist Philibert Commerçon (also spelled Commerson, 1727-1773), whose notes and illustration provided the descriptive material for Lacepède
Stolephorus concursus Hata & Motomura 2021 Latin for running together (i.e., a crowd), referring to its schooling behavior
Stolephorus continentalis Hata & Motomura 2018 continental, referring to its distribution along the Eurasian continent
Stolephorus dubiosus Wongratana 1983 doubtful or uncertain, allusion not evident, perhaps referring to previous identification as S. baganensis
Stolephorus holodon (Boulenger 1900) holo-, whole or entire; odon, tooth, referring to minute teeth present on both jaws
Stolephorus indicus (van Hasselt 1823) Indian, referring to Vishakhapatnam, India, Eastern Indian Ocean, type locality (but widespread in Indian Ocean and western Pacific)
Stolephorus insignus Hata & Motomura 2018 emblem, referring to two pairs of distinct patches on head
Stolephorus insularis Hardenberg 1933 of islands, referring to how it “seems to occur especially near islands [of Lingga, Bawean and Kangean archipelagos] at some distance from the coast” of Java
Stolephorus mercurius Hata, Lavoué & Motomura 2021 Latin name of Mercury, Roman god of financial gain and commerce and guardian deity of merchants, referring to its commercial importance in Southeast Asian fisheries
Stolephorus multibranchus Wongratana 1987 multi-, many; branchus, gill, referring to high gill-raker count (29-27 + 32-35)
Stolephorus nelsoni Wongratana 1987 in honor of Gareth J. Nelson (b. 1937), American Museum of Natural History, for his “knowledge and classic works on the comparative anatomy and cladistic relationships among clupeoid fishes,” and for providing specimens of this species and suggesting that it might be undescribed
Stolephorus oceanicus Hardenberg 1933 oceanic, proposed as a subspecies of S. insularis (=tri), referring to “first sample from the south-coast of Java” (compared to the putative nominate form, which “seems to occur near islands at some distance from the coast”)
Stolephorus pacificus Baldwin 1984 Pacific, referring to distribution in Western Central Pacific (Guam and Kosrae)
Stolephorus rex Jordan & Seale 1926 king, presumably referring to its being the largest species in Jordan & Seale’s review of the genus
Stolephorus ronquilloi Wongratana 1983 in honor of Filipino marine biologist Inocencio Aricayos Ronquillo (b. 1918), who collected type and whose studies of Stolephorus “broke the ground” for Wongratana
Stolephorus scitulus (Fowler 1911) slender, referring to its “elongate, slender, well compressed” body
Stolephorus shantungensis (Li 1978) –ensis, suffix denoting place: Shandong Province, China, type locality
Stolephorus tamilensis Gangan, Pavan-Kumar, Jahageerdar & Jaiswar 2020 –ensis, suffix denoting place: Tamil, India, where type locality (Thoothukudi fish landing centre) is situated
Stolephorus teguhi Kimura, Hori & Shibukawa 2009 in honor of Teguh Peristiwady, Senior Scientist of Technical Implementation Unit for Natural Biota Conservation, Indonesian Institute of Sciences, for giving the authors the opportunity to collect specimens
Stolephorus tri (Bleeker 1852) from Indonesian vernacular for anchovies, ikan tri (ikan=fish)
Stolephorus waitei Jordan & Seale 1926 in honor of Australian zoologist and museum director Edgar R. Waite (1866-1928)
Stolephorus zephyrus Hata, Lavoué & Motomura 2021 Greek god of the west wind, referring to its western distribution relative to that of S. mercurius and S. rex, with which it has previously been confused
Stolephorus zollingeri (Bleeker 1849) in honor of Swiss “naturalist explorer” (and botanist) Heinrich Zollinger (1818-1859), who gave his collection of Macassar (Indonesia) fishes, including the type of this one, to Bleeker
Family CHIROCENTRIDAE Wolf Herrings
Chirocentrus Cuvier 1816 cheiros, hand; centrum, point, referring to long, pointed osseous appendage at base of pectoral fins
Chirocentrus dorab (Forsskål 1775) Arabic vernacular for this fish
Chirocentrus nudus Swainson 1839 bare or naked, referring to what Swainson erroneously believed was a lack of scales (scales are small but easily lost)