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FFF hell
James Purchase wrote in response to Dwight:
"The fish is "officially" Jordanella floridae. No other fish known to science
has this name. Anyone using this name can rest assured that anyone,
anywhere, will know what they are talking about.
<snip> As an aside (and please Dwight, this isn't a flame, merely an
"observation"), I notice that when I visit Dwight's commercial homepage, I
see that he sells what he calls "Cichlid Resistant Hairgrass" (Elocharis
acicularis) <snip> In none of my references can I find the name "Cichlid
Resistant Hairgrass", so I guess this is something specific to Dwight.
Similarly, he sells Australian "Pine" driftwood and says on his web site
that he finds it on local Florida beaches.
<snip> This is a "fun" list, but it is also a serious forum
for learning."
Carmen responds:
Hmmmm...where to begin? The list is "fun" when people aren't being
capriciously flamed. Dwight's listing of various names for Jordanella
floridae is far more responsible than giving only the scientific name.
Most LFSs do not give taxonomic names. Upon first joining the APD, it took
me weeks to figure out what a J. floridae was just from reading the posts.
Was it a fish or a shrimp? Didn't know 'til someone gave the common names
(perhaps Dwight?). I think giving three names is above and beyond the call
of duty. Whenever did too much information become a bad thing?
As for referring to this species as the dreaded Florida Flag Fish, the
species name IS "floridae"--sounds like it was first described as a species
in Florida. It is not J. americana. It's a Floridian fish that vaguely
resembles the American (or, more correctly, the United States of America)
flag. (So techinically one could argue that it's a USAFF!) I think the
semantics of American vs. Florida are not so important.
James continued:
"I am not trying to set myself up as any "expert" or associate this
discussion with anything even remotely "politically correct", I just wish
that we would all try to talk the same language so that everyone could
understand what is being discussed.
Soapbox mode OFF!"
Carmen responds:
Let's hope so! I think that many people would prefer that the "language"
being spoken were delivered by a friendlier tongue. Keep the interesting,
informative posts coming, yes. But temper it.
In a later post, James continues:
"But as I'm probably the only person in North America who has never been to
Florida, let alone Australia, I didn't know that a plant called Australian
Pine even existed.....
Just proves my point about people using local names when communicating with
people all over the world."
Carmen responds:
Doesn't prove any point except that you should have "flamed" Dwight off
list so as not to embaress yourself. With the scientific name one would
likely have known little more about the plant--certainly not the origin of
the species. All this exchange suggests is that one should be more
judicious about publicly spanking one's peers. This has become a recurrent
problem and it doesn't serve the community. It's just unseemly conduct.
-Carmen
Carmen C. Robinett Berkeley, CA (510) 642-5971