While we're griping about color names- how about those bullheads? Every time you show someone a black catfish and tell them it's a yellow bullhead, you're going to get a puzzled look.

It's bad with amphibians too. Gray treefrogs can be green, green treefrogs can be brown. The spring salamander, which can be tan, pink, or coral orange, used to be called the "purple salamander". In this case the scientific names are no better- green treefrog is Hyla cinerea ("ashy treefrog"), spring salamander is Gyrinophilus porphyriticus ("royal purple lover of tadpoles")

Ya know, I don't even remember what my point was when I got on this train.

I will concede that botanists have more to wrestle with than us mere fish squeezers. And nativeplanter's observation on darters is very good. Whenever I hear of a dater I want to know more about, that is the first step - genus.

When I see a fish that I am familiar with, I think of it by its scientific name. The ability to establish taxonomic relationships is important to my understanding of the creature. When I see a fish I am not familiar with, I want to know its taxonomic relationship so I can put it in context with species more familiar to me. This is especially cool when you have a specie that is utilizing a niche in the same way as something distantly related to it might use in another region. But I still like to use common names when it does not compromise, or in some cases does improve, the communication.

Anyway, I am out the door to Tate's Hell. I have been to Florida many times and have learned a lot of the aquatic fauna. On this trip, I suspect that I will see more that I am not familiar with that what I know. And when I do the research on them, I will do so using the scientific name. Because that is more accurate.

Todd, you've hit the nail on the head! 'Nuff said.

While we're griping about color names- how about those bullheads? Every time you show someone a black catfish and tell them it's a yellow bullhead, you're going to get a puzzled look.

It's bad with amphibians too. Gray treefrogs can be green, green treefrogs can be brown. The spring salamander, which can be tan, pink, or coral orange, used to be called the "purple salamander". In this case the scientific names are no better- green treefrog is Hyla cinerea ("ashy treefrog"), spring salamander is Gyrinophilus porphyriticus ("royal purple lover of tadpoles")

Mammals have it bad too, black bears and red foxes have quite a color range.

For me tell me a pickerel i have more of an idea of what a fish is than an esox does. Esox tells me it is a pike like fish, pickerel tells me it is a SMALLER pike like fish. (people who call walleye pickerel tell me they do not know their fish).

But for me, having to constantly know WHAT subspecies is involved to use a common name is annoying. Picture what happened if you could never just say bluegill, you had to specify northern, war paint, or copperhead every time you mention it. Picture not being able to say Largemouth bass, you had to specify florida vs northern every time. The grass vs redfin argument is like that. You cannot just call them pickerel as the chain pickerel (a different species) is also called pickerel.

I might just call them all a more obscure name for them like bulldog pickerel until I am free to call them a common name without specifying a specific subspecies like I can other fish.

You guys think that's confusing... just remember I am a red hot when I get angry... blue when I am depressed... turn green with envy... and even morph into another animal - a yellow chicken - when I run away! Ha! Fishes don't have me beat!!!!