A rose by any other name... is just a reddish barb

By F. Wayne Johnson
From Vol. 1, No. 5. Newsletter of The Tri-State Aquarium Society, Huntington, W.V., April 1999
Aquarticles

What's in a name?   More than you'll ever know my friend, is how this line ought to go.
It amazes me how the PR for many fish sell them independently from the reality of that fish's real temperament, physical characteristics or environmental needs.

My favorite example is the goldfish, all too often relegated to the death trap known as a goldfish bowl. People assume because the bowl is named after the fish then it will be an appropriate home for a little goldfish or two. Unfortunately nothing is farther from the truth. These fish have very specific needs to grow and flourish. According to the American Goldfish Society's introductory book, each goldfish needs about 20 gallons of well-filtered water to do well. Koi on the other hand need about 100 gallons each to thrive and breed. Now compare this to the two-gallon bowl with two or three comets without even basic aeration. It's not surprising the little guys do the "tidy bowl backstroke" in a day or two. The worst part is this is often the first and only contact the would be fish keeper has with the hobby, and it results in only disaster and disappointment.

Another variation on the name game is the phenomena of "trade names."
- People buy Chinese Algae Eaters for the purpose of getting rid of excess algae in their tanks. The reasonable assumption is that any creature with such a name would be perfect for cleaning out the green invader. The problem is these fish should actually be labeled by their full name: "Chinese Algae Eaters that eat algae when young but attack every living thing within reach when older."
- One trade name that is a mark of true marketing genius is the Panda Cory. This is in fact a small Cory catfish with a pale background and three black dots; one on the face one on the dorsal and one on the tale. With a little imagination I can see a resemblance but it's a stretch. The amazing part is this is now the best-selling Cory on the market, going for more than three times the price of more colorful Cory species. I watched a young woman in a pet shop zero in on a tank of them once. The first thing she saw was the name on the glass and she said, " I love Pandas - I've got to have one." She seemed to have made her decision to plunk down the $7 per specimen before she was even sure which one of the fish was being described.
- One final example is the hunchback of the aquarium world called the "Blood Parrot." Of all the descriptions I have heard or read for this unfortunate creature never has the word blood or parrot been in the description, except when describing what should be done with such mutants in the future. This is a blatant overture directed toward a public infatuated with Wrestle Mania, slasher movies, and psycho Ninja day-care workers in heat.

In closing, I want to leave you with a few words of wisdom: cory cats don't cough up hair balls, flying foxes don't really fly and no matter what any body tells you can't scare anybody with a green terror.