Pronunciation of Bichir?

[wataugachicken]

bish-ear

poly-ep-ter-us

don't know if it's right or not, just how i say it.

 

[jdryden]

Does anyone else get wierd looks ahd "huh"s when you pronounce it bi-sheer? I get sick of the LFS guys acting like I'm some freak for pronouncing it that way.

 

[David R]

I say bi-kerr (bi as in bit not bi as in by). I know its not really a latin name, but a lot of ch is pronounced k in latin, so it makes sense [to me] to apply similar phonetics.
I'm not sure about how to pronounce polypterus, I kinda say pol-lip-ter-iss or pol-let-ter-iss, I'll ask my boss on monday as he's pretty clued up on latin pronunciation.

 

[antimony]

i asked my neighbor he said its biker and poll et te r russ

 

[beblondie]

The name Polypterus : poly=many + pterus=fins and is pronounced po-lyp'-terus.

 

[rjmtx]

I'd say to 2nd p in Polypterus is silent. It's the same root as Pterodactyl (wind finger). On the other hand, I say the p in Micropterus. Go figure. I think it's all about who you learn it from.

 

[Atreyu]

i call them buy-sures

 

[David R]

i asked my neighbor he said its biker

Do you actually say "byker" like someone who rides a bike? Or bik-er?

Anne could you please upload an audio file with the correct pronunciation of bichir, polypterus and all the different species?

 

[beblondie]

Well the correct pronounciation according to The Handbook of Tropical Fishes
by Axlerod and Schultz is po-lyp'-terus.As stated in the primer and in my earlier response
PRONUNCIATION(from fruitbat/Joe)
In general, a single 'i' at the end of a species name should be pronounced as a long 'i' ('eye'). For example, endlicheri would be pronounced 'end-lick-er-eye' or 'end-lich-er-eye'.
A species name that ends with two 'i's (like weeksii) would be pronounced with the first 'i' sounding like a long 'e' and the second 'i' as a long 'i'....hence - 'weeks-ee-eye'.
The correct pronunciation for Polypterus is 'po lip ter us' with many people putting the accent on the 'lip'.
Putting it all together, Polypterus ansorgii would then be pronounced: 'Po-lip-ter-us an-sorg-ee-eye'. Polypterus delhezi would be pronounced: 'Po-lip-ter-us del-hez-eye'.

 

[beblondie]

Name pronounciations
These are as close as I can figure out the names are pronounced

Polypterus bichir bichir :bike-er bike-er

Polypterus bichir lapradei :la-prad-ee-i

Polypterus delhezi :del-hez-i

Polypterus endlicheri endlicheri :end-lick-er-i end-lick-er-i

Polypterus endlicheri congicus :end-lick-er-i con-ji-cuss

Polypterus mokelembembe :moe-kay-la-em-bem-bay(mokèlé-mbèmbé)

Polypterus palmas buettikofferi : palm-us but-i-coff-er-eye

Polypterus palmas palmas : palm-us palm-us

Polypterus palmas polli : palm-us poll-i

Polypterus retropinnis : retro-pin-nis

Polypterus senegalus :sen-eh-gal-us

Polypterus teugelsi :too-gulls-i

Polypterus weeksii : weeks-ee-i

Polypterus ansorgii :an-sorg-ee-i

Polypterus ornatipinnis r-nate-eh-pin-nis


Erpethoichthys calabaricus (Reed or Rope Fish) : Er-pet-oh-ick-these cal-a-bear-ih-cuss