Danio - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The name "danio" comes from the Bengali name dhani, meaning "of the rice field". The native Bangla name for the fish is anju. The species Danio rerio was first described in the early 19th century by Francis Hamilton, a surgeon working for the British East India Company. About a century later (1916), the genus was split; the larger species into Danio and the smaller species, such as D. rerio, into the new Brachydanio. In 1991, though, the two genera were recombined; most larger species formerly within the Danio genus, such as the giant danio, have now been reclassified into the Devario genus. Also, Brachydanio is now a junior synonym of Danio.