The English name for our fish is a bad name!

[Peter Finke]

In the English language our fish are called “licorice (or liquorice) gouramis”. It’s a stupid naming! The explanation is that the first fish that have become known were females and some males in bad condition, not showing their fantastic colours. They reminded the aquarists of licorice. But I think it is high time that we change this really dull and silly name in favour of a better one indicating the splendour that these fish can display.

Take the German. Today, we call these fish “Prachtguramis”. “Pracht” means “pomp, state, splendor, luxury”. I don’t know who had the good idea to call them “Prachtguramis”. About thirty-five years ago when Dr. Walter Foersch executed his famous research-experiments that resolved the basic problems of their breeding, this name was not yet found. We called them “dwarf gouramis”, but that name was used already for Trichopsis or Colisa. Sometime in the following years somebody found that name “Prachtguramis”, which really is perfect. People are interested at once when they hear that name (and see the displaying males), they agree at once that it’s a perfect naming.

But “licorice gouramis”?! It’s dull and uninteresting, and it’s false. The book on that fish that Martin Hallmann and I write presently will be called “Prachtguramis” in German, but I fear if translatetd into English it will be called “Licorie gouramis”. The German buyers will be interested because if the name alone, the English speaking certainly not!

I never have been reminded of licorice but always of pomp and bright splendour.
But I am not a native speaker. Only native speakers in Britain or in the US could find a better English expression. And when we have found it: Never speak of “licorice gouramis” again!

So let’s be creative!! What do you think?

[helene schoubye]

In danish we actually have two words, – ‘pragtgurami’ (prachtgurami) and ‘lakrids’ – (licorice).
I usually try to always use the word pragtgurami, – but people often know the fish as licorice (probably mainly the shops are responsible now for keeping on doing this).
It doesnt make sense to me either, – except in the sense that in the gourami group there are several other species with ‘candy’ names, like chokolade gourami and honey gourami.
I wonder though, if its really possible to change a name which has been so long time used by the trade ? You might not get shops to change the name, and if they dont change it it will mean that people with no knowledge will still know it as licorice gourami.

[Tom Black]

Tricky one. As uncommon as Paros are in fish shops in the UK, they are always labelled as either licorice gourami or P. deissneri, I think it would be hard to turn back the clock on this, unless you got suppliers to rename their stock lists. A commendable idea though!

As for comming up with a better name, I’m afraid I’m not very inventive… my girlfriend just calls them ‘secret fish’ because of the way they move, but not sure that would make a good trade name!

[Mike Hu]

Hi guys,

I think the name is actually rather sweet and unpretentious and it was what started my interest in this species.

We have sweets in the UK known as liqourice allsorts and they have a dark and white strips that is a bit like the fish.

Without newcomers to this topic, interest in this species may have a higher barrier and growth of experience and dedicated keepers and breeders may decline. Any help this species can get from the more “commercial” side of the industry can’t be all that bad as without that first spark of interest people may be put off and the extinction of the species will just be sped up since no one would get to understand or care enough.

For example, people in the UK tend to shy away from anything which connotes pompousness or elitism. A fish called the “pompous gourami” would do the personality of this fish little favours here as it already has a reputation for being a difficult breed. Whilst I understand Peter’s perspective that this species is indeed very special, surely that should come out of getting to know what the fish can offer in terms of beauty and personality rather than from what it is called.

I respect anybody’s enthusiasm and dedication to this species but I don’t think the term “licorice gourami” is dull or false. Rather it is something a child might find magical and “delicious”. And if the aim is partly to educate the masses then I say get them when they are young.

[helene schoubye]

We have the same kind of black and white striped licorice in denmark, – very very sweet and quite popular. ‘Lakrids-konfekt’.

[helene schoubye]

OK, OK, I have understood. You girls and boys like licorice and you think it’s a fitting name and the Paros could be satisfied being named this way, and – especially – if one wanted to change that there would be no good prospects whatsoever. And “pompous”, no, by no means something like that. Mike certainly is right in reminding me on the really true problem: the fate of being a “difficult fish”. Should/could we do something against that? I just tried so in a German journal, saying that aquaria for these gouramis are not more difficult to be cared for than the “normal” tanks but only different. You must change your habits, but you don’t need many of the stuff offered for the normal tank today: dry industrial food every four weeks, a big, expensive filter station, an expensive carbon dioxide station, water additives and so on. But again I admit: You cannot change people who are not willing to think anew. So, it will be a “fate” adhering to our fish, to be difficult.
OK, licorice gouramis for ever. (You think that I am not quite convinced? Well, but it doesn’t matter; we call them Prachtguramis, you call them licorice gouramis, that’s the state of the art and the state shall be fixed …)

[Author]

Posts