Taxonomy of Finfish (1+2)

1.2.2 Nomenclature

The international code of zoological nomenclature is a system of rules and recommendations authorized by the International Congresses of Zoology. It deals with a set a regulations in zoological nomenclature. The object of “code is to promote stability and universality in the scientific names of animals and ensure that each name is unique and distinct. All its provisions are subservient to these ends” (Mayr, 1969). The valid rules of zoological nomenclature are contained in a document entitled, ‘The International Code of Zoological Nomenclature’.

Zoological Nomenclature is a system of scientific names applied to taxonomic units of animals inclusive of both extant and extinct groups.

In finfish taxonomy, certain rules are to be strictly followed in establishing the validity of a taxon. The Linnaean hierarchial system is followed in the classification of finfishes. The Linnaean hierarchy is a structure of categorical ranks for taxa where each category except the lowest includes one or more subordinate categories. The generally accepted categories are as follows:

 Kingdom

 Phylum

  Subphylum

   Class

  Subclass

  Superorder

  Order

  Suborder

  Superfamily

  Family

  Subfamily

  Genus

  Subgenus

  Species

  Subspecies

Normally, in the classification of finfishes the six categories namely, species, genus, family, order, class and phylum are followed. In this hierarchial system, the higher category or higher taxon includes kingdom to genus level, species and subspecies are designated as lower taxon.

A finfish order always ends with’formes’ (e.g. Cypriniformes, Clupeiformes, etc.), Superfamily has a standardized ending ‘oidea’ (e.g. Clupeoidea, etc.), Family of finfish ends with ‘idea’ (e.g. Scombridae, Sciaenidae, etc.) and tribe ends with ‘ini’ (e.g. Carangini, etc.).

The binomial nomenclature used for animals and plants is largely derived from Latin, as are the names used for higher taxa such as families and orders. The words listed below are the common adjectives and other modifiers that repeatedly occur in the systematic names of many organisms. Not all the words or parts of words used in scientific names for living things are derived from Latin. Some are derived from Greek, some from languages local to the places where the organisms are found and many from the names of the people who first described a species or other taxon. However, all are treated grammatically as if they were Latin words. In particular, this means that to indicate possession, the endings -a and -us turn into -ae and -i respectively and non-Latin names of people add -i if male and -ii if female. This list of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names is intended to help those unfamiliar with classical languages understand and remember the scientific names of organisms.