Re: Trapania brunnea from Bare Island, Sydney

Dear Nick,
I hope you didn't think I was criticising you. Clearly you have been a victim of an author or editor 'dumbing down' their publication. I have fairly strong views on the use of common names, because they are so confusing and are seldom 'common' in the sense of  'commonly used'. They are usually made up by authors on the insistence of editors on the mistaken assumption that readers are too dumb to use scientific names. One of the reasons scientific names were invented was to provide a universal name for each species which would be understood in all languages. Trapania brunnea applies to only one species, but Brown Trapania could mean 3 or 4 species at least. The best example of the confusion common names create are the names for fish in Australia and New Zealand where one species can have 5 or 6 different common names and so fisherman from NSW and Western Australia can't effectively communicate. I don't believe divers and naturalists are too dumb to use scientific names, despite the push by editors and authors to brainwash them into thinking they are.

Best wishes,
Bill Rudman