Scottish alternative rock band”, whatever that is.
I think we can be pretty sure that the angelfish we want is the first one on the list “Freshwater angelfish, tropical cichlids of the genus Pterophyllum”. If you have an
aquarium book handy, just check that the scientific name for our aquarium angelfish
starts with the word “Pterophyllum” (which is pronounced “terra-fill-um”, by the
way). Click on “Pteraphyllum” anyway.
We get taken to a page for “Pteraphyllum” which starts with the words:
“Pterophyllum is a small genus of freshwater fish from the family
Cichlidae known to most aquarists as "angelfish".”
OK, there's a few words there that might be new to you, but you get the idea. What
that sentence tells us is that there is group (“genus”) of cichlids (“family Cichlidae”)
that fishkeepers call “angelfish”. Sounds like this is what we are looking for and the
picture over on the right side of the page certainly is the right fish. But the next
sentence is the one we want:
“All Pterophyllum species originate from the Amazon River,
Orinoco River and Essequibo River basins in tropical South
America.“
Find South America on your map. Those rivers are REALLY BIG and fill up most of the northern half of South America.
So that's two fish we know about. Try the next one yourself – start by
typing “clown loach” in the search box.
How did you go? Did you find out that the clown loach comes from
Indonesia (which is just near Australia on your map). Were you able to
find the two islands it is found on?
Congratulations! You are now a qualified junior “Biogeographer” - which
is the name for a scientist who studies how animals and plants are
spread around the world.
You could do a few more – try finding out where your own aquarium fish come from.
Maybe you can also find some books or other websites that talk about where fish come from. Or get a map and put
some sticky notes on it and write down the names of fish that come from different countries. Fish biogeography can be
a good topic for a school project too.
Did You Know?
•
People have been keeping and studying fish for a long, long time. The scientific study of fish is called
“Ichthyology” and a scientist who studies fish is an “Ichthyologist”.
•
Many aquarium fish are still caught in the wild by fish collectors. Sometimes this can be a problem if they catch
too many and don't leave enough to breed.
•
A lot of fish are now bred and raised on fish farms. This industry is called “Ornamental Aquaculture”. Here's a
diagram of all the steps involved.
•
Many new species of fish are discovered every year by explorers.