A cool guide about fish plural
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https://lemmit.online/pictrs/image/319da1dc-6ddb-4877-8140-7b49587a0c38.jpeg?format=webp
https://lemmit.online/pictrs/image/319da1dc-6ddb-4877-8140-7b49587a0c38.jpeg?format=webp
Objection!
You can use fishes for multiple species however it is not required. You can use fish for a collection of trout and bass
There is nothing to object to. You just repeated the picture. It says "can", just like you did. Doesn't say "must".
You, at most, clarified or highlighted what was said. But you didn't object. You agreed.
Does any other plural work this way? Or is this just another stupid ass English variation?
Person/People does. The word "peoples" can be used as multiple different groups of people.
For instance you can say to "the peoples of Europe" to refer to Germans, French, Italian, etc.
interesting. so it's like a plural or a plural. so I can say the monkeyses of the Amazon.
But people is a non-countable word, like water. You don't have one people, two people.
When talking about peoples of [place] it's a countable word.
Fish is countable.
People are countable. That's the whole point of a census. Water can come in any amount, such as 3.5 litres. People come in discrete numbers. You can't have .5 of a person.
I think the thing confusing you is that it's one of those weird English words where the singular and plural word are different. Person/people vs car/cars.
You can still say "waters" though. For example: "The waters of Amsterdam" would collectively refer to all bodies of water in Amsterdam. Another example I came across online was "Don't forget your waters" which referred to multiple bottles of water.
Uncountable nouns (i.e.,things you usually measure by volume or weight) behave this way as well.
e.g., salt/salts to mean any measure of salt vs different types of salts. Beer/beers to mean any amount of liquid beer vs different beer styles or products.
It's a good thing that English isn't actually defined by any one person or entity, and simply by its usage. That means this is bullshit.
As you say in your first sentence, language is by consensus. And, the long-standing consensus among ichthyologists is to use exactly this terminology, and you'll find it consistently across the scientific literature for generations now.