The actual etymology of the name Apistogramma isn't known for certain since Dr. Regan never explained the meaning of the name. We do have clues, however.
First we should realize that Apistogramma wasn't the first name given to the genus. The first apisto described was A. taeniata. Günther gave it the name Mesops taeniatus in 1862. Other apisto species were placed in other genera, like Geophagus and Biotodoma. Regan, in cataloging South American cichlids discovered that the genus Mesops had already been used for a genus of beetle. The cichlid genus Mesops was invalid and a new name was needed. In 1906 he grouped all of the apisto species then known (6) into the genus Heterogramma. In using Heterogramma, he referred to one of the features he used to separate the genus from the closely related genus Geophagus - the upper lateral line (sensory organ) lays closer to the dorsal fin on apistos than the same lateral line on Geophagus. In this respect Heterogramma means "different (lateral) line". A few years later Regan again discovered that the genus Heterogramma was preoccupied by a genus of beetle (There are a hell of a lot of beetles out there!). So, in 1913 he erected the name Apistogramma. Again he didn't discuss the etymology of the name. Like you said, Tom, "apistos" is Greek for unreliable. I guess this is the closest word to "heteros" Regan could find. As for "gramma" it can mean "line or stripe" or "letter or writing". The following is what Kullander had to say in his 1980 apisto monograph:
"In not explaining explicitly the meaning of his names, Regan left us with a problem. There are two Greek words that can be latinized into gramma. viz. gramma and grammh. The first is neuter (actually he got them switched around - mw) and means letter, something written, or basic knowledge (cf. English words grammar, program), the second is feminine and means stripe or line. If the meaning is considered, there can be no doubt about which word Regan had in mind. Meinken (in Holly et al.) explains Apistogramma as meaning "mit unzuverlässiger Seitenlinie" (= "with unreliable lateral line" - mw), i.e. the feminine word is the one sought, and it retains its gender after latinization. -a is also the common Latin feminine ending. The "gender problem" was first observed by Schmettkamp (1976), who noted that neuter endings to specific names were commonest in literature, but that also masculine (amoenus) and mistakingly, feminine (pleurotaenia) occurred."
For those interested, last year the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature ruled that Apistogramma is feminine and species should have a feminine ending (unless named after a man).
So there you have it in a nut shell. Apistogramma now means "unreliable lateral line" and has nothing to do with markings on the fish.
For those interested in the history of apistos in the scientific literature, I would recommend reading section 2 in Kullander's 1980 monograph.
Mike Wise
Thomas Fischer wrote:
This isn't the most burning question in the world, but does anyone know the
etymological meaning of the name Apistogramma? As far as I can make out, it
seems to mean something like "untrustworthy/unreliable
letter/character/marking." Could this have something to do with the fishes'
various body markings?Tom Fischer
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