FISHFINDER

FISHFINDER validates scientific fish names in manuscript text against the Common and Scientific Names of Fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico, 8th edition (Page et al., 2023), supplemented by synonym data from Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes.

Getting started

1. Paste your manuscript text into the TEXT INPUT area, or press LOAD to upload a .txt, .csv, .docx, .xlsx, .xls, or .pdf file.
2. Press SCAN (or Ctrl+Enter) to analyze the text.
3. Review detected species names in the SPECIES DETECTED panel and any flagged issues in the ISSUES DETECTED panel.
4. Press COPY to copy corrected text to the clipboard — outdated synonyms and misspellings are automatically updated.

Classification codes

• VALID — recognized in Names of Fishes, 8th edition
• CHANGED — valid but revised from the 7th edition; confirm species identity
• OUTDATED — known synonym; current valid name shown
• MISSPELLED — close match found; suggestion shown
• UNKNOWN — genus recognized but species not in database
• COMMON NAME — English common name detected; scientific equivalent shown

Coverage

Covers ~5,086 species from U.S., Canadian, and Mexican waters (Names of Fishes, 8th edition) with synonyms from Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes. Both freshwater and marine species are included. Scientific names only are validated.

Key changes in the 8th edition

Several well-known names were revised. Notably, Largemouth Bass changed from Micropterus salmoides to Micropterus nigricans; Micropterus salmoides now refers exclusively to Florida Bass. Names flagged CHANGED warrant careful review.

Privacy

No manuscript text you enter is transmitted off your device — all processing happens locally in your browser.

What is collected (with your consent): approximate location (city and country derived from your IP address via ipapi.co), timestamp of your first scan in a session, and aggregate scan counts. This data documents tool reach and impact for academic reporting.

What is NOT collected: no manuscript text, no personal information, no login credentials, no cookies for tracking, and no user accounts.

Where data is stored: Firebase Realtime Database (Google infrastructure). Third-party services: ipapi.co (IP geolocation) and Firebase (storage).

Your control: You can change your analytics preference at any time using the Privacy link at the bottom of the tool.

Report an issue

Found a bug or have a suggestion? Submit an issue on GitHub.

License

FISHFINDER source code is licensed under the PolyForm Noncommercial License 1.0.0. Free for academic, government, nonprofit, and personal use; commercial use requires a separate license. The fish name database is derived from Page et al. 2023 and remains the property of the American Fisheries Society — see NOTICE for details.