Swiss public names two newly discovered fish

Population has named two newly discovered Swiss fish Keystone-SDA

Two fish species recently discovered in Switzerland have been called fluvicola and ommata, following an appeal to the public for names.

+Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox

The names were announced by the University of Bern, whose researchers had reached out to the public.

Researchers from the University of Bern, the Natural History Museum Bern and the aquatic research institute Eawag discovered the two fish species in Swiss waters.

Both species both belong to the genus Barbatula – also known as the bearded goby or common loach. However, they colonise different habitats.

The species known as fluvicola lives in the fast-flowing streams and rivers of the Rhine system, while ommata lives in the calmer lakes of the Aare system. This species was found in Lakes Neuchâtel, Biel, Lucerne, Zurich and Walen.

Crucial for conservation

The discovery of new species is crucial for species conservation, as it forms the basis for conservation measures, the university said. “We cannot protect what we do not know,” said biologist Barbara Calegari from the University of Bern in the press release. The precise identification and naming of new species with scientific names is key to their legal protection.

The research group involved the public in the naming process in the hope of raising public awareness of biodiversity.

The almost 2,000 people who took part in the survey had a choice of two names. They were asked whether the first newly discovered fish species should be called Barbatula fluvicola or Barbatula amnicus.

For the second newly discovered species, they could choose between Barbatula ommata or Barbatula limnicus. The epithets describe a special characteristic of the fish species.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

How we work

This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.

If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to [e-mail].