Becky Hitchin looks into the tradition of naming sea creatures after notionally similar land animals
BECKYHITCHIN
What exactly is a sea lion ?
Becky Hitchin looks into the tradition of naming sea creatures after notionally similar land animals
There are many things on land that have an equivalent in the sea . Sea lions , sea mice , sea lemons ... The list is lengthy . And often somewhat strange .
Let ’ s start with critters named after mammals . Some seem fairly sensible . One can see that a sea horse resembles , in some way , a horse – at least at the head end . Maybe not so much with the tail , and definitely when considering male pregnancies . Sea cows seem fairly sensible too . Manatees have that same feeling as an ungulant [ hooved animal – weird words editor ], placidly grazing in the rays of sunshine filtering down through clear waters .
Some names are not so sensible . Sea mice were so named because they apparently look like a bedraggled house mouse when washed up on shore . Maybe - if the house mouse was segmented and iridescent . With distinctly more legs than a normal mouse . Sea lions are strange too . Lions tend to be tawny , majestic , and live in the savannah . Apparently , sea lions get their name from Steller ’ s sea lion , a very large sea lion living in northeast Pacific Ocean and the Pacific Northwest . The males are known to have a ruff that resembles the mane of a lion , and also apparently roar . I have not heard this , and await confirmation ( or lack of ) from any reader who has heard the noise of a male Steller ’ s sea lion .
What else ? When we get to the deep sea , sea pigs can be encountered . These are sea cucumbers that look like pink blown-up balloons with a bunch of tentacles waving around the mouth . Water cavities within the sea pig inflate and deflate , allowing further tentacles to move . Pink ? Yes . Bacon ? Definitely not . Mainly water .
Other animals . Let ’ s think . Well , we have sea scorpions – fish that seem to have more names than members of the Royal Family . Short-spined sea scorpions are also known as daddy sculpin , father-lasher , goat sculpin , guffy , horny whore , pig-fish and scummy . I don ’ t even want to know where some of those come from ... in BSAC we wouldn ’ t choose to use some of these historical names today .
“ Everyone is fond of a sea lemon nudibranch ”
There ’ s also a scorpionfish called a sea raven . We also have sea robins – gurnards that get their common name from the orange ventral surface of one of the species , and from large pectoral fins which resemble a bird ’ s wings . I ’ m not entirely convinced by any of their resemblance to birds . My favourite other animal , though , is the sea urchin . Archaically , they have been called sea hedgehogs - the name urchin being an old word for hedgehog .
What about fruits and vegetables ? Everyone is fond of a sea lemon nudibranch , some of which are actually almost yellow and have some surface texture . There is , by the way , also a sponge that tastes of lemon
A sea scorpion , also known as the daddy sculpin , father-lasher , goat sculpin etc
– if you nibble it . Talking of sponges , there ’ s also a big orange sponge that occurs around the UK that is called , unsurprisingly , a sea orange . Sea grapes are common throughout the world ’ s seas , generally describing a range of green seaweeds that form small bunches of bubbles instead of leaves . Sea lettuce is common around UK shores . Sea strawberries and sea peaches are types of sea squirt , sea raspberries are a type of soft coral , sea apples are , again , a type of sea cucumber . I can ’ t find any sea blackberries or sea blackcurrants . Sea bananas , on the other hand , appear to be a delicious sea vegetable from Australia that have a salty and rather spicy flavour .
The lesson from this ? A name is everything and nothing . Smile at sea urchins and sea lemons . Record them in logbooks ! �
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