Amamo shrimp gets new name

milalic · Post by **milalic** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 5:15 am

Just saw this:

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/p ... ?news=1078

Very interesting. Wanted to know your thoughts on this.

-Pedro

YuccaPatrol · Post by **YuccaPatrol** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 6:31 am

Taxonomy has always been very interesting to me, so it is kind of neat to read about a name change.

Post by **Mustafa** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 7:11 am

Thanks for the link Pedro. I had read that paper just a week or so ago, but did not have a chance to "break" the news. It "only" took scientists over 120 years to realize that two of the shrimp species in Japan are the same species.

This just shows you how much interest shrimp have generated so far in scientists (next to none). Hopefully that will be changing in the future as most scientific names for shrimp need much needed updates and tons of new species are waiting to be described. I hope that genetic analysis will be more and more utilized as physical traits tend to be highly variable, and hence unreliable, so that even scientists are confused.

YuccaPatrol · Post by **YuccaPatrol** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 7:42 am

and when someone bothers to take a look at the genetics, they'll find that this newly re-named species is actually 30 sub-species

Dr. Santos, who has studied Halocaridina rubra on the Hawaiian Islands has found significant genetic differences between populations between islands and even on the same island. A little bit of geographic isolation can cause significant metabolic/biochemical changes that are not readily observable with the eye or microscope.

That doesn't necessarily mean we need to multiply the number of species by 10 or 50 or 100, but new genetic studies do call into question our classic concept of what a species really is.

The Fisherman · Post by **The Fisherman** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:21 am

Hmmm, very interesting article. Thanks for posting.

-John (AKA: The Puffer Ninja)

Neonshrimp · Post by **Neonshrimp** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 8:47 am

The authors have created a new series of neotypes, redescribed the shrimps and redrawn their anatomy to help scientists accurately identify them when undertaking further work in the future.

These are steps in the right direction

ShrimpFan · Post by **ShrimpFan** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 12:40 pm

Mustafa,
Are you going to change the scientific name for Amanos on your shrimp varieties page? Do you agree with the name change these scientists have made? Just curious

Shrimp&Snails · Post by **Shrimp&Snails** » Thu Sep 21, 2006 1:43 pm

When I click the link all I get is this:

Welcome to practicalfishkeeping.co.uk

Bass Pro Shop
Alaska Fishing
Saltwater Fish
Fly Fishing
Key West Fishing
Costa Rica Fishing
Fish Finder
Fishing
Mexico Bass Fishing
Alaska Salmon Fishing
Alaska Halibut Fishing

Which one do I click?

Cheers.

Post by **Mustafa** » Sun Sep 24, 2006 10:23 am

ShrimpFan wrote:Mustafa,
Are you going to change the scientific name for Amanos on your shrimp varieties page? Do you agree with the name change these scientists have made? Just curious

I'll change it eventually. It does not matter if I agree or not. They'll name them whatever they want anyway....

Lotus · Post by **Lotus** » Sat Sep 30, 2006 9:20 pm

Taxonimy is interesting, if you're interested in it.

For those who just want to be able to know what creatures we have, it can be frustrating. We can hardly blame fish stores for using so many common names, when the scientific names change so often.

I understand that our system for naming things becomes more "accurate" as we learn more about who we share the planet with, but it's still enough to drive a hobbyist insane.

I was recently given an old fishkeeping book from the 1950s, and it was interesting seeing the much older scientific names, such as mollies being in the genus Molliensis.

I have to say, I appreciate it when Web sites or reference materials put both the new scientific names as well as those that are recently invalid.