THE NAMING OF FISHES 



COMMON NAMES 



Under California state law, the Fish and Game Commission is 

 empowered to determine the ' ' common usage name of any variety. ' ' The 

 need for these "official" common names is not always apparent, but 

 a consistent terminology is vital to the work of the Bureau of Marine 

 Fisheries. To follow the many fisheries of the State, it is of fundamental 

 importance that the catch of each kind of fish be known. The same fish 

 may have different vernacular names in different parts of the State and 

 a name applied to one species in one region may be applied to something 

 else in another region. For example, "tomcod" refers to Microgadus 

 proximus in the north (and officially throughout the State) but in 

 Southern California it most likely means Genyonemus lineatus, officially 

 the kingfish. Further, a wide variety of common names is often applied 

 to one species even in a relatively limited area. The king salmon offers 

 a good illustration. It is kno^vn variously as chinook salmon, quinnat 

 salmon, tyee salmon and Sacramento River salmon, to name a few. 

 Obviously, good records can be obtained only if the names used mean the 

 same fish to everyone, and the only way to gain this end is through the 

 designation of official names. The policy has been to adopt the most 

 widely-used name, or, if several were in equal use, the most descriptive. 

 In a few cases, names have been coined, and some have been discarded 

 because they were applied to a number of species. 



It should be noted here that the common name does not necessarily 

 show the true relationship of the fish. In fact, as often as not it indicates 

 a false relationship. The jack mackerel is not a mackerel, the California 

 pompano is not a pompano, the white sea bass is not a sea bass, the fish 

 called sole are not soles — and this is far from a complete list. Actually, 

 the jack mackerel belongs to the jack family as do the true pompanos, 

 the California pompano is a butterfish, the white sea bass is a croaker, 

 and most of our soles are flounders. This situation is not peculiar to 

 fishes alone, for similar misnomers have been given many kinds of 

 American animals. People settling in a new country tend to apply the 

 names of familiar animals at home to species which resemble them, be 

 the resemblance one of fact or fancy, and that is often what happened 

 here. 



Several official common names have been changed in this publication, 

 in most cases because the new name was found to be firmly implanted 

 in the vocabulary of fishermen and, oftimes, biologists. The substitution 

 of "lingcod" for "Pacific cultus," is a case in point. Cultus, the Chinook 

 jargon name, was adopted oriirinallj^ as more descriptive and less mis- 

 leading, for the fish is not a ling nor yet a cod. However, lingcod had 

 been in general use, lingcod it remained to everyone concerned, and 

 henceforth lingcod it will be officially. 



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