Re: labeling fish

[Marco Lacerda <marcolacerda@ax.apc.org>]

Jota Melgar wrote:

> I'm sorry.  I forgot to mention that you already clarified that this is not
> Apisto gephyra  but a related species. However, I was referring back to the
> ACA convention where you had those fish labeled as Apisto gephyra "Rio
> Xingu" and not A. sp. aff. gephyra "Rio Xingu". In any case, that was not
> the point I was trying to get across. The point was that wether you give a
> new fish an already known scientific name or a commercial name you will
> never please everybody.
 
> I don't know enough about the rules of taxonomy to argue in favor or
> against the use of sp. aff. for the gephyra. If I had to guess, I would say
> that the term sp. aff. is used when the identity of the fish is unknown but
> it has a striking similarity with that fish and that further taxonomic
> study will decide if it is gephyra or not. I'm not so sure that sp. aff.
> gephyra is the same as to say that is NOT gephyra. Hopefully someone can
> clarify  the meaning of the term sp. aff.

The International Code for Zoological Nomenclature is not a 
complicated book to be used, and it says:
- - aff. = affinis, to species you know are distinct, but closely 
related. (ex: Apistogramma aff. agassizii, means a fish you know is 
NOT agassizii, but a related species to it)
- - cf. = confer, to species you supose to be same. (ex: Apistogramma 
cf. agassizii, means a fish you believe to be agassizii, but needs 
better scientific determination to confirm)
 
> >On that I agree with you, and I think it is very important to add
> >locality data when labeling new species. In your example, it has been
> >"Rio Xingu".
> 
> Yes, that is a very good practice and I do recognize that you always
> mention the river where they come from and try to give as much of a
> description as possible.
> I'm sorry if I caused you any grievance. That was not my intention.

Not any grievance, Julio. That's all ok.
We are only discussing opinions, and I believe it is healthy to 
exchange ideas! I just wanted to clear my point of view, now I 
understood yours, I hope the terms "aff." and "cf." are clear now.
 
> Regards
> Julio

All the best, Marco.