#might compromise and stick to the coolie pronunciation as a common name and cool eye as the scientific name

[narelleart]

In scientific names, if the specific epithet (the second half of the Genus + species binomial name) ends in an "i", that traditionally means the rest of the specific epithet preceeding the i is a man's name. (Women's names end in "ae". Not sure if a standard has been set for other gender identities, but this is based on masculine/feminine suffixes in latin so perhaps it could follow modern latin-derived languages' additions for neutral pronouns?)

This is something I learned and mostly adapted to, except there are a few names I learned early in my interest in fishes that are stuck in my head the way I originally misread them. I generally only realize the error when I try to say them aloud to someone who I talk science with.

(A particularly bad example:

Microsynodontis batesi

I read the epithet as "buh-tess-ee", its "Bates-eye".)

I thought I'd mostly shaken these, but just now I realized I still do one, and the whole hobby does it:

Pangio kuhli, "Kuhli loaches." It's even sometimes spelt "Coolie loach" in the hobby.

The name would actually be pronounced "Kuhl-eye".

I don't know if I could even change my pronunciation of this one at this point...

#kuhli loach #scientific names #jarring to realize this isnt how its said #might compromise and stick to the coolie pronunciation as a common name and cool eye as the scientific name