List Of Short Species Names

Living organisms are known by scientific names. These binomial names can vary greatly in length, and some can be very short; genus or species names composed of only one letter are not allowed by any of the nomenclature codes, but any combination of two letters and above can be valid if it has not been previously used. This list of shortest species names lists the scientific binomials with the fewest letters. The longest scientific species names can be found in the List of long species names.

4 letters

*'' Ia io'' Thomas, 1902 – Family Vespertilionidae. The great evening bat is the largest vespertilionid bat, reaching a wingspan of just over half a metre. It occurs in tropical Asia where it lives in limestone caves. Apart from being the shortest scientific name of a living organism (and one of the shortest possible, since anything below 4 letters would not be allowed), it also has the peculiarity of being composed only of vowels. The specific name probably refers to Io, a woman of classical mythology, viewed as " flighty;" and the genus ''Ia'' (ἰά) is a Greek term for a shout.
*†'' Yi qi'' Xu ''et al.'', 2015 – Family Scansoriopterygidae. This was a Jurassic theropod dinosaur that had an elongated finger which supported a patagium, akin to those of bats, which enabled the animal to glide between trees. The name is derived from Mandarin Chinese ( 翼 yì and 奇 qí, pronounced "ee chee"), meaning "strange wing".

5 letters

*''Aha ha'' Menke, 1977 – Family Crabronidae. This species of Australian wasp was named as a joke by entomologist Arnold Menke. He mentioned later that it was named for his exclamation ''"Aha, a new genus"'', when he first saw the specimen, with fellow entomologist Eric Grissell doubtfully responding ''"ha"''. It is found in the Kununurra region in Western Australia.
*'' Foa fo'' D. S. Jordan & Seale, 1905 - family Apogonidae. Known as weedy cardinalfish, this is a marine fish species of Indo-Pacific distribution, the type locality being the Philippines. Both the genus and species name derive from the word ''fo'', Samoan for "cardinalfish".
*'' Ja ana'' S. Ueno, 1955 – Family Carabidae. This is a blind carabid from the Ja-Ana Cave near Gifu in southern Japan. However, the original genus '' Ja'' has been reclassified as a subgenus of '' Jujiroa'', so its valid binomial name is currently '' Jujiroa ana'' (11 letters).

6 letters

*'' Agra ce'' Erwin, 2010 - family Carabidae. One of more than 500 named species in the genus ''Agra'' of ground beetles; in this case, named after Terry Erwin's wife, Peruvian ornithologist Grace Servat.
*†''Beg tse'' Yu ''et al.'', 2020 - infraorder Neoceratopsia. A dinosaur from the early Cretaceous Period of Mongolia, named after the Himalayan deity Beg-tse, a god of war in pre-Buddhist Mongolian culture, often depicted with a rugose face and/or body, similar to the appearance of the preserved skull of the dinosaur.
*'' Doto eo'' Ortea & Moro, 2014 - family Dotidae. A sea slug from the Canary Islands, Spain. Its specific epither derives "from the Latin ''eo'', to move from one place to another, alluding to the pot warp on which it was collected, an unstable environment that facilitates the passive movement of the species."
*'' Ge geta'' de Nicéville, 1895 – family Hesperiidae. A skipper butterfly from Southeast Asia, the only species in genus ''Ge''. No etymological explanation was given for its binomial name.
*'' Gea eff'' Levi, 1983 – family Araneidae. An orb-weaver spider from New Guinea. It was given its unusual specific name because, even after it was identified as a distinct species, it remained for years without a proper description and was referred to in several papers simply as '' Argiope'' "F".

*''Loa loa'' – family Onchocercidae. A filarial nematode (roundworm) that causes a disease called ''Loa loa'' filariasis or loiasis, one of the so-called neglected diseases. It is commonly known as the "African eye worm", as it localizes to the conjunctiva of the eye. It mainly inhabits rain forests in West Africa and has native origins in Ethiopia. It was originally described as '' Dracunculus loa'', "loa" being the native word for this worm in the Congo and Gabon, and later transferred to newly created genus '' Loa''.

*†'' Ol xiai'' Vršanský & Wang, 2017 - family Olidae. An extinct cockroach with pectinate antennae, known from Cretaceous Burmese amber. ''Ol'' means "writing" in Santali language. In addition, this combination of letters looks like "01", which is used for a common abbreviation of optical lithography. Species name ''xiai'' is named after researcher Fangyuan Xia.

*'' Poa fax'' – family Poaceae. This Australian grass has the shortest name of any plant. ''Poa'' () is Greek for "fodder", and ''fax'' is Latin for "torch" or "flame", referring to "its dense, spike-like inflorescence which resembles a torch with ascending tongues of flame". While the name ''Poa fax'' is accepted as valid by ''Flora of Australia'', and some databases reflect this, such as POWO, WCSP and FloraBase, other sources such as Tropicos, WFO and GrassBase consider it a synonym, superseded by ''Neuropoa fax'' (J.H.Willis & Court) Clayton.

*'' Tor tor'' – family Cyprinidae. The Tor mahseer of red-finned mahseer is a commercially important freshwater fish found in streams all over South Asia. It was originally described as ''Cyprinus tor''; its species name derives from ''tora'', a local name in the Ganges basin for mahseers. Subsequently it was transferred to newly created genus '' Tor''.

7 letters

*'' Aa erosa'' ( Rchb.f.) Schltr. 1912, ''Aa macra'' Schltr. 1921 and '' Aa rosei'' Ames 1922 - family Orchidaceae. Three species of South American orchids that grow in the Andes. Genus '' Aa'' was erected in 1854 by Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach, apparently with the intention that it would always appear first in alphabetical listings. Another - disputed - explanation is that Reichenbach named this genus after Pieter van der Aa; the printer of the Dutch botanist Paul Hermann's ''Paradisus Batavus''.

*'' Acer yui'' - family Sapindaceae. An uncommon species of maple found only in the Gansu and Sichuan Provinces in western China.

*'' Agra bci'' Erwin, 2000, '' Agra dax'' Erwin, 2000, '' Agra ega'' Erwin, 1982, '' Agra liv'' Erwin, 2002, '' Agra max'' Erwin, 2010, '' Agra nex'' Erwin, 2000, '' Agra not'' Erwin, 2002, '' Agra nox'' Erwin, 1984 and '' Agra pia'' Liebke 1940 - family Carabidae. Nine more species of ''Agra'' beetles, found in Central and South America. ''Agra bci'' is named after Barro Colorado Island, the type locality for this species. ''Agra dax'' is named after the Star Trek character Jadzia Dax, played by actress Terry Farrell. ''Agra ega'' is named after the former name of Tefé, the type locality for this species. ''Agra liv'' is named after actress Liv Tyler. ''Agra max'' is named after entomologist Max Liebke.

*'' Betta pi'' Tan, 1998 - family Osphronemidae. A species of fighting fish found in well-shaded peat forest blackwater swamps and creeks in Thailand and Malaysia. The specific epithet comes from the Greek letter pi, as an allusion to the shape of its throat marking.

*'' Cis fagi'' - family Ciidae. A minute tree-fungus beetle found all over Europe. Its specific epithet alludes to its affinity to beech trees (genus ''Fagus''), though it also occurs in many other types of trees, such as aspens, birches, oaks, willows, etc.

*''Copa kei'' - family Corinnidae. A spider in the genus '' Copa'' found in South Africa. The epithet comes from its type locality: the town of Kei Mouth on the Great Kei River.
*'' Cora imi'' - family Hygrophoraceae. A rare species of basidiolichen from Costa Rica, known only from the type collection, which was found at an altitude of about in the Los Santos Forest Reserve in Cerro de la Muerte. The specific epithet ''imi'' is an acronym for the International Mycological Institute.

*'' Doa dora'' - family Doidae. A moth found in Mexico, including Baja California and Guadalajara.

*'' Doto kya'' and '' Doto uva'' - family Dotidae. Two sea slugs, the first from the North American Pacific coast, the second found in Ilhabela, Brazil. The epithet ''kya'' derives from a folklore name for a seal; ''uva'', Latin for "grape", probably refers to the characteristic cerata of genus '' Doto'', which resemble bunches of grapes.

*'' Ero lata'' Keyserling, 1891 and †'' Ero veta'' Wunderlich, 2012 - family Mimetidae. Two species of pirate spiders that hunt other spiders. The first one lives in Brazil and the second one is a fossil species found in Eocene Baltic amber.

*†''Han solo'' Turvey, 2005 - family Diplagnostidae. A fossil trilobite from the Ordovician of China. According to the original publication, the generic name ''Han'' is a reference to the Han Chinese, the largest ethnic group in China; and the specific epithet ''solo'' refers to the fact that the species is the youngest Diplagnostidae fossil found to that date, suggesting that it was the last surviving member of that family. However, Samuel Turvey has stated elsewhere that he named it after Han Solo because some friends dared him to name a species after a Star Wars character.

*'' Hoia hoi'' Avdeev & Kazachenko, 1986 - family Chondracanthidae. A parasitic copepod found in the gills of some species of goosefish from the Pacific Ocean. Both the generic and specific names honor Dr. Ju-Shei Ho of California State University.

*''Ips pini'' (Say, 1826) - family Curculionidae. The common pine engraver, a North American species of typical bark beetle. Originally described as ''Bostrichus pini'' and subsequently transferred to genus ''Ips''.

*''Lon azin'' ( Godman, 1900) - family Hesperiidae. A skipper butterfly from Colombia. Originally assigned the name ''Phycanassa azin'', with no explanation of the specific epithet. Subsequently it was transferred to genus '' Lon'', which was formed from the last syllable of the type species name (''Lon zabulon'').

*'' May norm'' Jäger & Krehenwinkel, 2015 and '' May rudy'' Jäger & Krehenwinkel, 2015 – family Sparassidae. Two species of huntsman spider from Namibia. The genus ''May'' is named after Bruno May, a private individual who contributed sponsorship to the research though a donation t
BIOPAT e.V.
The specific epithets ''norm'' and ''rudy'' honour arachnologists Norman I. Platnick and Rudy Jocqué