How do you properly post fish measurements?

[ercnan]

The way I find out how long they are is by watching them from the side, I know my tank is 2' wide so I have a rough estimate. If they are half as long as the tank they are 1' then add or take an inch accordingly.

If I want to measure a fish accurately in the tank, I simply tape a yard stick to the glass, wait for the fish to swim by close and....... there is no guessing if you can read a ruler. Imperial or otherwise.
Guessing to me is the same thing as the guy at the bait shop saying he hooked an 8 pounder because it fought well, and ended up landing an 8 incher.

 

[beblondie]

Standard length (SL) is used for scientific descriptions of a fish because finnage can vary between specimens.

 

[greenterra]

True but head size and body shape can vary aswell.Some specimens will have a longer slope to thier head ,others will be more blunt then others.Does this mean we should measure them from the back of thier gill plates.(SL)doesn't work IMO.

 

[WyldFya]

Scientifically, SL is the means to measure by. However, in fisheries, and sport fishing, TL is often the more common used method. For the average hobbiest, it doesn't matter. Just state whether your talking inches or mm, and SL or TL. That way everyone will be on the same page.

 

[Cohazard]

True but head size and body shape can vary aswell.Some specimens will have a longer slope to thier head ,others will be more blunt then others.Does this mean we should measure them from the back of thier gill plates.(SL)doesn't work IMO.

You bring up a great point, but I'm willing to bet that variation in caudal fin length is much higher than that of the head profile.

Scientific has many more measurements other than just overall length. Polypterus for example, have a lot of measurements (i.e. from the nose to the gill plate, from the gill plate to the tail, from the nose to the eye, from the eye to the dorsal fin, etc, etc...).

 

[beblondie]

heres an example of scientific measurements used in describing fish.In this example it happens to be Polypterids-Anne

 

[Darky]

The imperial system sucks, there is no doubting it. But since being on the fourm I can't use the metric system for fish stuff no more. You guys are poluting my mind

You should look a peoples faces when the come into the store and I call their 4ft tank a 55. I get blank looks and told it holds more water then 55L.

Lmao when ever I go to the shop Im always going "Yeah my 75G" and they are just like WTF? It was so freaking awkward when it first happened