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Re: floridae vs floridense



> Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2002 11:20:10 -0500
> From: "Doug Karpa-Wilson" <dkarpawi at indiana_edu>
> Subject: floridae vs floridense
> 
> O.k. I realize I'm now in pet peeve mode, but "ae" is not an ending
> signifying location.  I'm pretty sure that "floridae" only resembles the
> name Florida because both are derived from a common root meaning colorful or
> 'florid'

Literally, it means Florida's *Jordanella*. It is the Latin possesive,
female. I believe that Goode and Bean meant it to signify its Florida
origins, as that was where David Starr Jordan first collected it. [IDK why
Jordan was feminized, if '...ella' is feminine.]

Later on, it was found to be distributed all along the SE Gulf Coast. BTW,
Jordan was a noted ichthyologist, who later became Stanford U,'s first
president. The genus was named after him (or was it his wife?). *Garmanella*
was recently "lumped" with it, but the spiny ray of *J. floridae* is so
unique in killifish that I doubt if any of the osteology-trained
taxonomists, like Parenti or Weitzman would accept them as really the same
genus.

Yes, it is one of our most gorgeous pupfish, too. It is about 20X as much
fun to watch as most SA and African killies, BTW.

I'm one of those who has taken sly digs at the one or two FL distributors
who have tried to change the common name to something that might give them a
commercial edge. This thread has, however, managed to give me several of the
best belly laughs I have gotten in recent weeks. Keep it up, folks. We'll
get back to plants, some day.

Wright

-- 
Wright Huntley -- 650 843-1240 -- 866 Clara Dr. Palo Alto CA 94303 

 Wanted: Fish nuts, interested in killifish, for frolicking by the Bay.
  Lonely club, way out on the Left Coast, promises fun, companionship
              and information, as well as a super
               fish sale and auction. See us at: 
             http://www.sfbaka.net/BAKA-WCW-11.html