The notable name of the White Cloud minnow

Fishkeeping is packed with names that are surprisingly explanatory when broken down. One classic example is for the White Cloud Mountain Minnow, Tanichthys albonubes, which both comments on the person who discovered the fish and its location.

Broken down, ‘Tan’ is the name of the Chinese scoutmaster who found the fish in 1932 — Tank Kam Fei. ‘Ichthys’, simply means fish (the Christian symbol, or Jesus fish is known as an ichthys). ‘Albus’ means white, while ‘nubes’ means cloud. Quite literally, the scientific name translates as ‘Tan’s fish from the white clouds’.

Start breaking scientific names down into their constituent parts and stick them into a search engine to see what other delights you can discover!