), I intend to create an alternative list, based partly on Scheel's work, to be used as a more defining list when it comes to usage of the 3-letter, or 4-letter codes (as used for subspecies) to end the current confusion that's going around in the world. With new species being described on a frequent basis, I believe its time to do a major overhaul of Scheel's system.
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Jianyang,
Thanks for moving this to where it belongs.
Col. Scheel's Rivulins of the Old World TFH 1975 (aka ROTOW) is still surprisingly valid and useful, today. It has detailed descriptions of the characteristics and breeding conditions for almost all the African killifish known in his day (and the number may surprise you).
It also is a rich source of information on hybridization and chromosmal analysis that were his special fortes. It is a much better and more accurate book than his better known Atlas.... The latter was screwed up by TFH editors and has many inaccurate captions, etc. The Atlas was published posthumously, so he never got to edit the final layout. It is only an impressive coffee-table book to impress your non-fish-literate friends.
Do find a copy of ROTOW (Amazon used books?) and use his list, not my friend Richard's inaccurate one at IKA as your starting point. More folks have been influenced by the abreviations used by Scheel, so you will find the letters he used are most universally accepted.
Should you do it? My answer is "Why not?" It is a *lot* of work, and the only useful function is, like net shortcuts and slang, a way to create "shorthand" for our informal communications. [BTW, I like Scheel's habit of making alphabetical lists by species name, only, ignoring genus.]
There certainly are common species names across genera. Like our ways to spell 2 in English (two, too, to) the few cases are easy to spot by context, 90% of the time.
The task, as I see it is to get two things updated. New world killifish were never in Scheel's original list, so they need to be added. Old world fishes have added many new species, so they need to be added, too. I would hesitate to remove any old TLAs (Three Letter Abreviations) as to do so would invite new duplications that are anathema to rational search processes.
Initially publishing them here, in killietalk, the BKA list and DKG/KFN/SKS/ etc. equivalents will get a lot of feedback for corrections or clarification. Then submission to atlases like KMI and KilliData would be useful, if they want folks to all be on the same page with their shorthand.
Just my US$0.001 (2 cents, adjusted for rapid US$ devaluation)
Wright
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