Scientific naming rules of animals are strictly defined by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, while those for common names are vague and not well defined. Specifically, the common names of freshwater eels of the genus Anguilla have become confused among scientific papers, pictorial books, and online resources in recent years. This disordered use of common names among freshwater eels demonstrates the urgent need for the standardization of common names for these species. In addition, freshwater eel populations have drastically decreased worldwide over the past few decades, resulting in their listing as endangered species. In the present study, we defined the following five rules for the common names of freshwater eels: to (1) use a representative locality name of the geographic distribution of the species or subspecies, (2) distinguish two sympatric species or subspecies as longfin or shortfin, (3) select a name that would enable the scientific name to be easily recalled, (4) value longstanding former common names if they adhere to the above three rules, and (5) use the shortest name possible. Based on current scientific knowledge and on these rules, we proposed 22 common names for all known 19 species and subspecies of the genus. As a result, 21, 6, 13, and 3 species and subspecies were named based on Rules (1), (2), (3), and (4), respectively.

中文翻译：

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安圭拉属所有物种和亚种的通用名称

《国际动物命名法典》对动物的科学命名规则有严格的规定，而普通名称的命名规则含糊不清，没有很好的定义。具体而言，近年来，安圭拉属淡水鳗鱼的通用名称在科学论文、图画书和在线资源中变得混乱。淡水鳗鱼通用名称的这种无序使用表明迫切需要对这些物种的通用名称进行标准化。此外，在过去的几十年里，淡水鳗鱼的数量在全球范围内急剧下降，导致它们被列为濒危物种。在本研究中，我们为淡水鳗的通用名称定义了以下五项规则： (1) 使用该物种或亚种地理分布的代表性地点名称，(2) 将两个同域物种或亚种区分为长鳍或短鳍，(3) 选择一个使学名易于回忆的名称，(4) 如果它们遵守上述三个规则，则重视长期存在的以前的通用名称，以及（ 5) 尽可能使用最短的名称。根据目前的科学知识和这些规则，我们为该属的所有已知 19 个物种和亚种提出了 22 个通用名称。结果，分别根据规则(1)、(2)、(3)和(4)命名了21、6、13和3种和亚种。我们为该属的所有已知 19 个物种和亚种提出了 22 个通用名称。结果，分别根据规则(1)、(2)、(3)和(4)命名了21、6、13和3种和亚种。我们为该属的所有已知 19 个物种和亚种提出了 22 个通用名称。结果，分别根据规则(1)、(2)、(3)和(4)命名了21、6、13和3种和亚种。