Just when you were getting accustomed to Hoplisoma instead of Corydoras...

[Innesfan]

This from Aquarium Glaser. This is reminiscent of the taxonomic rumpus that occurred a few years back when three Symphysodon (Discus) revisions, each disagreeing with substantial parts of the other, were published bang, bang, bang. Here's Glaser:

"As was to be expected and predicted by us, the break-up of the large new genera Brochis and Hoplisoma has already begun. Most recently (November 26, 2024), the new armored catfish genus Urkumayu was established for U. gladysae, U. micracanthus and U. petracinii (Alonso et al.). None of the three species play a role in the hobby. At the same time, a new species of armored catfish from the immediate relationship of the oldest of all aquarium armored catfish, the marbled armored catfish Hoplisoma paleatus, was newly described: Hoplisoma osvaldoi. The authors of the study write the genus name Hoplisoma for the paleatus group in quotation marks and make clear that these armored catfish do not belong to Hoplisoma. In the molecular biological analysis that they include in their paper, the three emerald armored catfishes again form a phylogenetic unit. However, as Alonso et al. focused their study on armored catfishes from the southern part of South America, they have refrained from formally establishing a new genus for the paleatus group, but it is only a matter of time before this happens."

 

[TwoTankAmin]

@Innesfan
And this is another reason my dislike of Latin rears its ugly head. You seem to be in my age group. Did you have to do this? I had to study Latin in grade school in the late 1950s early 60s. I hated it.

When it comes to Latin names, Te audire non possum est. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure.

I actually got my L173b plecos years back from Glaser. I did not buy them directly, I got them from somebody who did.

 

[fishorama]

LOL, 2tank! I had to look that up. In some ways I wish I did know some Latin & maybe some Greek for fish, plant & medical terms. Thank goodness for translation apps

I will try to learn new names when they've been agreed upon for several years for fish I keep.

 

[Innesfan]

Sounds like you went to private (Catholic?) school where Latin was required. I did take Latin but in public school so I elected to take it. I actually liked it and enjoyed seeing how much of our language is rooted in Latin. And it really did help in the vocabulary portion of the SATs. I continued to take it in college.

@Innesfan
And this is another reason my dislike of Latin rears its ugly head. You seem to be in my age group. Did you have to do this? I had to study Latin in grade school in the late 1950s early 60s. I hated it.

When it comes to Latin names, Te audire non possum est. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure.

Ha! For our non-Latin-conversant friends, the above translates, "I cannot hear you. There's a banana stuck in my ear."

Meanwhile, I'm quite sure Urkumayu, the new genus, is neither Latin nor Greek.

 

[GaryE]

I didn't learn any Latin in school, and my little knowledge of the dead language comes from studying fish and Roman history. I truly don't understand the mindset people have against using it.
It seems to be a very American thing - I've never heard it from a European.
It's a vast world with so many languages, and I always feel like a dolt when I meet people who speak 4 or 5 or 10 languages fluently when I only have two. And I don't need to learn Latin, I just use it for the names of fish. English is inadequate for that. In my mind, Aphyosemion is the correct English word for a type of killifish, and if the science looks good, Urkumayu will be the name for an obscure group of ex Corys, if I ever have to talk about them.
Latin's no one's language. It allows communication for naming things across all languages, and we all have to work at it equally whether we speak a power language or a local one. I like the fairness of that. If I look for a paper on a fish and use Latin, I may find a paper in Mandarin and have to translate the info, but I can find it. Type in 'purple spotted eye biter' and you'll get commercial lists selling the fish (if it were a real one...).

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Is it still appropriate to refer to all our small armored catfish buddies as Corys any longer?

I did go to private schools from day one but not a Catholic school. I did early grade school through 6th grade at Trinity School in NYC. My first two years of high school were at the Gunnery a prep school. (It was not military the founder ws named Gunn.) My last two were Latin Free at The Browning school in NYC. It closed its high school area and went all grammar school years after I left. My graduating class was 21 students.

Try this when using the common name of a fish about which you need to know more. Type the common name into Google and at least one of the replies should provide the scientific name. I rely on the Tropica site for much of my plant related info. They will only respond to a species search using its Latin name. So I need to use Latin but that does not make me like Latin any better. I get my flu vaccine evry fall, that doesn't mean I like getting it.

Many decades ago when this house was built by my parents, the mansion at the top of the driveway was bought by a friend of my father. This man's father used to visit him. He was a Latin scholar (he had PhD) and could speak fluent Latin. I am not sure with whom he could converse in that dead language.

Over 60 years since studying Latin I can still recite some of the Lord's Prayer in Latin- Pater noster qui es in caelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum. Adveniat regnum tuum. After that it gets foggy.....

And in today's digital era I have come to admire this prase: Si non confectus non reficaiat (If it ain't broke, dont fix it). More programmers need to learn this phrase......

 

[Innesfan]

Is it still appropriate to refer to all our small armored catfish buddies as Corys any longer?
.

Yes, the same way we call them 'tetras' long after the evisceration of Tetragonopterus.

 

[GaryE]

Is it still appropriate to refer to all our small armored catfish buddies as Corys any longer?

I love this, as it makes a good point. Cory is now the English name for these fish, but Corydoras is a Latin word and we aren't supposed to be able to learn that according to some hobbyists. If we forget it's Latin and just use it as a common name for the fish, hey, weird. It works.

If we want to research the fish, the updated name may soon be useful. In 20 years, will aquarists as yet outside the hobby know what we were talking about? Some pretty common Cichlid names fell out of the hobby with time, after further research. If recognizing the differences between the new groups within the old Corydoras gives us useful information, then Cory's on its way to the old slang file.

When I look at how people use "pleco" and "kribensis", who knows?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

The most important aspect of any conversation is all the parties assign the same meaning to the words being used. For yhose of us in the hobby this is much less important than for the scientific community.

I catch a cold and the doctors knows I have likely been infected by a rhinovirus.

What is a synonym for thesaurus?

 

[fishorama]

I will continue to use cory(doras), tetra, barb, pleco, etc. I have a strong feeling names will change again at least once or twice in the near future. Searching will give me the newest? names & I can search more if needed. Common names are not universal & may never have been. When I wanted rasbora sarawakensis, not a new species, I had to learn on lfs lists it is "blue line rasbora". I asked each shop did they mean the fish I wanted or just a similar or similarly named 1? If they couldn't say, I couldn't buy.

I find the name "hillstream loach" to be almost meaningless even more than "common pleco". But the loaches are hard to identify & are often dumped into a tank all together. Same with rainbowfish & others now. While I can often ID adult fish, juveniles are much more difficult. I prefer to get younger fish but I want a group of the same species not just similar looking fish. No wonder I don't buy new fish very often.

 

[Mr Limpet]

Romani ite domum

 

[anewbie]

Can't we just use common sense and call them pretty fishes.

 

[fishorama]

No, we can call them pretty catfish or in my tanks, better, pretty loaches I think anewbie, yours should be called pretty rare fish in huge tanks & pretty discus, plecos & other cichlids too...OK, pretty fish works as well...lol