I asked this same question on a local forum...
I got this quote online:
WHY BICHIR?
When Europeans (French) discovered the genus Polypterus in 1809 it had already been known along the Nile since the time of the pharoahs. The local peoples referred to them as bichirs (unknown pronunciation and spelling). While unable to come up with an exact meaning for the word it was most likely a descriptive term (''whip'' has been suggested) for this type of fish.
The French most likely pronounced it as phonetically as possible to the orginal native word and came up with bee-sheer as a pronunciation and spelled 'bichir'. Since this would be the name of these fish for
several years until they were scientifically described and put into the proper family it became an accepted common name. QUOTE]
Here's the problem........ The French trying to be scientific
If you want some cheese, maybe some wine
. Oh yeah, go with French made/developed! Engineering or science
the French always mess up.
Google: Maginot Line 