Taxonomic nomenclature assignment
Pick a freshwater fish species in North America, and fill in the following information for it:
Common name _______________________ alternate common name ____________________
Order ______________________________
Family _____________________________
Genus and species, with name of its discoverer, and date (using correct format for this
information)
_____________________________________________________________________
Was this species re-named after its initial discovery? ____________
a junior synonym with the name of its discoverer____________________________________
Another family in the same order __________________________________
Fin structure (spines and rays) of this species in standard notation
____________________________________________________________________________
Suggested resources:
Langdon, R. W., M. T. Ferguson, and K. M. Cox. 2006. Fishes of Vermont. Vermont Agency
of Natural Resources, Waterbury, VT
Scott, W. B. and E. J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada. Bull. Fish. Res. Bd. Can.
184:966pp.
Page, L. M. and B. M. Burr. 1991. A Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes (a Peterson Field
Guide). Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston.
Becker, G. C. 1983. Fishes of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison WI
Smith, C. Lavett. 1986. Fishes of New York. Department of Environmental Conservation,
Albany NY
Using www.fishbase.com, or any other resource you choose, find a marine fish species and fill in
the following information for it:
Common name _______________________
Order ______________________________
Family _____________________________
Genus, and species, with name of its discoverer, and date (using correct format for this
information)
_____________________________________________________________________
‘translate’, if possible, the following (look up the Latin or Greek roots):
Family name of this species: ________________________________
Genus: _____________________________
Species: ____________________________
For any one of the above, can you guess why was this name chosen?