Riddle of wrongly named fish

CHESTER Zoo experts have helped unravel the riddle of a fish that has had the wrong name for nearly 80 years Warrington Museum & Art Gallery turned to the zoo after realising that one of his exhibits – labelled as a Horse Mackerel – might actually be something else. The fish has been at the museum since 1925 and part of an exhibit since 1931 but, during a refurbishment, a member of the gallery staff realised all was not as it seemed.Two model fish that looked remarkably different had the same identification label.

Michael Roberts, Visitor Service Officer for Warrington Borough Council, said: “A member of staff was researching all of our 140 fish specimens when she realised that there were two fish labelled as Horse Mackerel and both looked very different.

“One was recognisable as a Horse Mackerel whilst the other was far more exotic looking. After consulting various publications and web sites we were unable to identify the mystery fish. As a Chester resident and occasional zoo visitor I naturally thought of sending the zoo a photo of the fish to help us identify it.”

Chester Zoo’s Director General, Prof Gordon McGregor Reid, who is an expert in fish and is the current Global Chair of the Freshwater Fish Specialist Group of IUCN-SSC and Wetlands International, identified the fish as Jack

Gordon, who used to be a fish taxonomist at the Natural History Museum, London, said: “The fish is definitely not a typical Horse Mackerel, although it is from the same family, Carangidae. These are marine, pan-oceanic, widespread, shoaling fishes which sometimes penetrate into freshwaters and are fast moving predators, often feeding on small fishes.

“It was an intriguing puzzle that was enjoyable to solve and I am delighted that after some 80 years, this fish has its rightful name at last.” Jack will be back on display in the autumn.

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