-- Jay DeLong Olympia, WA where shift happensAt 09:21 AM 3/9/01 -0400, you wrote: > >Thanks. When I was in school in the mid 80's I was taught it was > >Ericymba. That one paper I cited from 1981 also called it Ericymba. I > >wonder why the AFS kept it as Notropis in the 1991 names publication? > >The AFS was following the advice of a paper by Coburn and Cavendar which >submerged various notropin subgenera -- Ericymba, Hybopsis, Pteronotropis -- >back into Notropis. According to the authors, "...raising subgenera of >Notropis (s.l.) [i.e., sensu lato, in the widest sense] to generic level >before >the interrelationships of these nominal groups have been determined with more >certainty that at present could create polyphyletic taxa. Therefore, we >submerge >Hybopsis and Ericymba into Notropis. Both may, and probably will, re-emerge as >genera enlarged by species now placed mostly in Alburnops." > >In other words, because no one's yet figured out the precise lineages of all >notropin sugenera, let's just toss them into the Notropis "wastebasket" until >someone does. > >Ten years later the AFS names committee is reconsidering this decision. >According to Melvin Warren, "The committee felt the reallocation of this >long-established genus name for the silverjaw minnow [Ericymba] into the genus >Notropis was premature and reflected a 'wastebasket' reallocation of an >established genus in the absence of demonstrated close relationships." >However, >as of June 2000, the AFS had not reached a final decision whether to retain >Ericymba. > >I know that many of you are thinking -- assuming you've even read this far! -- >that all this nomenclatural switching back and forth is confusing and >pointless >and just the work of egghead scientists too old or lazy to do field work. >Well, >in the case of Ericymba, you may be right! But the thing to remember is, a >fish's scientific name is more than just what everyone from around the world >calls it, irrespective of native language. A scientific name should also >give us >some sense of how the organism is related to other organisms. Notropis is >a big, >catch-all genus with many species that may look similar, but followed multiple >separate evolutionary paths. Slowly but surely systematists are tracing these >paths. It's not always perfect and precise work. There's a lot of guessing and >subjectivity involved. But as any scientific pursuit should be, it's >self-correcting. > >Personally, I find the work stimulating because it forces one to look at each >species very closely. Morphology, osteology, genetic structure, historical >ecology, and life history are all taken into account to determine a fish's >lineage. I confess that I don't understand 90% of what systematists are >talking >about. And I get frustrated when it appears that no two systematists can agree >on a resolution. But still, I try to keep up and learn what I can. As Rick >Mayden demonstrated at the NANFA convention in Jackson, understanding a >species' >evolutionary relationships can aid in its conservation. > > > also wonder why this wasn't named the silverjaw > > shiner instead of silverjaw minnow. I never understood > > the shiner, chub, minnow logic. > >That's because there is no logic! > >In a broad sense, they're all minnows, since that's the vernacular name >for the >family Cyprinidae. Although chub, shiner and dace are used to distinguish >between various genera of minnows, the words themselves are informal and >have no >scientific meaning. For the most part, shiners are compressed and >predominantly >silvery, chubs are stout-bodied and less silvery, and daces are small minnows >with very fine scales. But that doesn't mean that all chubs are related to >other >chubs, all daces to other daces, and so forth. Nor do the names always >describe >the fish. The spotfin chub (Erimonax monachus), for example, is clearly a >shiner, while the chub shiner (Notropis potteri) is, well, Išll leave that one >up to you. > > >Chris Scharpf >Baltimore > >/----------------------------------------------------------------------------- >/"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily >/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes >/ Association" >/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association >/ nanfa_at_aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word >/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to >/ nanfa-request_at_aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to >/ nanfa-digest-request_at_aquaria.net instead. >/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org
-- Jay DeLong Olympia, WA
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