Vernacular names for fish are not normalized by any authority so they don't constitute sound information. But feel free to call this one "grey drummer" or "brown chub"... FredD (talk) 08:28, 10 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Fred and the naturalists, including myself, do find this recommendation bizarre. It may have a botanical interest for cultivars that are actually normative by copyright, which bristles sensitivity scientists. This rule had been put in place at the beginning of VI when wikiedia had not gained the magnitude it has today. Nowadays the Latin name is accessible on all media. It no longer applies and could be removed from our recommendations. --Archaeodontosaurus (talk) 12:02, 10 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I know vernacular names for fish are varied and I have no strong views. In general though, we must keep vernacular names for animals. We should not be elitist. Wikimedia (and VI) is not here for naturalists. It is for all people. Charlesjsharp (talk) 10:08, 11 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
I think there are 2 different concerns here. Some common, popular or commercial species do have quite consensual and not too ambiguous vernacular names, and in this case these should be used in priority (blue marlin, bottlenose dolphin, Grévy's zebra... and all birds). But MOST species in biology don't, because they are not familiar to popular audience, and in this case scientific names are the only option. I dare you to find the least vernacular name for any of the 700 species of Gastrotricha (despite a featured article in English wp). Hence I think we should recommend using in priority vernacular names when there is a satisfactory one (unambiguous, popular, consensual and single). FredD (talk) 10:25, 12 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
For the story at the begining of the XIXe century, not all naturalists had yet accepted the binominal nomenclature and still used vernacular names, specially some french naturalists such as fr:François Levaillant e.g. with his Coucou de Klaas in 1806 whose latin binomin name was given a few years later, in 1815, by James Francis Stephens, another naturalist, who kindly access the request of Levaillant "Puissent les naturalistes conserver à l'espèce que je vais décrire, le nom que je lui donne...". See also fr:Coucou de Klaas. Christian Ferrer(talk)08:49, 13 March 2021 (UTC)[reply]
