this common name bewilders me. Why is it not just called a Modest Mudskipper or something like that?
I googled it because I'd never heard the name before and got no answers as to its origin although it is used on many many sites as the "official" common name. Fishbase says it is the English name as used in Vietnam (as opposed to, e.g., Hong Kong where it is just called "mudskipper")
There are a couple of obvious things wrong with it from my point of view. One, I would have assumed it should be "hopfish" and be given on account of its movement on land, but it really is "hoppfish" - and googling "hoppfish" gives hits only for this species and no other mudskippers. Two, I would have thought there should be an apostrophe in the name (i.e. Shuttle's hoppfish or Shuttles' hoppfish) but there isn't so the name makes no sense. Some sites even specifically give it a lower-case s. What is a "shuttles"?
I completely agree. I had taken a photo of the sign because I thought it was a mistake in an aquarium which otherwise did really well with their labelling - and then I found out that it is an accepted common name.
When there are so many other logical common names I have no idea why this is the one in use. It'd be interesting to find out more about its origins.
