Editing Crappie (section)

== Etymology ==
The genus name ''Pomoxis'' literally means "sharp cover", referring to the fish's spiny [[gill cover]]s (opercular bones).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ross|first1=Stephen T.|last2=Brenneman|first2=William Max|title=The Inland Fishes of Mississippi|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WEaKXWRt10kC&pg=PA436|year=2001|publisher=Univ. Press of Mississippi|isbn=978-1-57806-246-1|page=436|quote= ''Pomoxis'': sharp opercle, in reference to the opercle bone ending in two spines}}</ref> It is composed of the Greek {{transliteration|grc|poma}} ({{wikt-lang|grc|πῶμα}}, cover) and {{transliteration|grc|oxys}} ({{wikt-lang|grc|ὀξύς}}, "sharp").<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wallus|first1=Robert|last2=Simon|first2=Thomas P. |title=Reproductive Biology and Early Life History of Fishes in the Ohio River Drainage |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uZ2rHfYHYncC&pg=PA355|volume=6|year=2008|publisher=CRC|isbn=978-1-4200-0361-1|page=355|quote= ''Pomoxis'', Greek: ''poma'', 'lid, cover' and ''oxys'', 'sharp', alluding to the opercles ending in two flat points instead of an ear flap}}</ref>

The common name (also spelled ''croppie''<ref>{{M-W|croppie}}: "variant of ''crappie''"</ref> or ''crappé''<ref>{{cite book|last=Murray|first=James Augustus Henry |display-authors=etal |title=A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oickAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA1141 |year=1893|publisher=Clarendon Press|page=1141|quote= Crappie. U.S. Also crappé, croppie. A species of sunfish, ''Pomoxys annularis''}}</ref>) derives from the [[Canadian French]] {{lang|fr|crapet}}, which refers to many different fishes of the sunfish family. Other names for crappie are '''papermouths''', '''strawberry bass''', '''speckled bass''' or '''specks''' (especially in [[Michigan]]), '''speckled perch''', '''white perch''',<ref>{{Cite web|title=Louisiana Fisheries – Fact Sheets |url=https://www.seagrantfish.lsu.edu/resources/factsheets/sackofmilk.htm|website=seagrantfish.lsu.edu |access-date=2019-03-06}}</ref> '''crappie bass''',  '''calico bass''' (throughout the [[Mid-Atlantic US|Middle Atlantic]] states and [[New England]]),<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Massachusetts Wildlife'' |url=http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/publications/mwmag/pdf/fishing_issue.pdf |access-date=16 February 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008215020/http://www.mass.gov/dfwele/dfw/publications/mwmag/pdf/fishing_issue.pdf}}</ref> and '''Oswego bass'''.<ref>Schultz, Ken. ''Ken Schultz's Field Guide to Freshwater Fish.'' Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, 2010.</ref>

In [[Louisiana]], it is called '''sacalait'''<ref name=MW/> ({{langx|frc|sac-à-lait}}, {{literally|milk bag}}),<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Hugh M. |title=Common Names of the Basses and Sun-fishes |journal=Report of the Commissioner  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gblFAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA357 |year=1904|publisher= Government Printing Office|page=357 |quote=The euphonious French name {{lang|fr|sac-à-lait}} (bag of milk), which is heard in the [[lower Mississippi Valley]] and now apparently is applied to other [[centrarchids]], as well as to ''P. annularis'', to which it was originally given, has been corrupted to 'suckley perch' in Louisiana near New Orleans.}}</ref> seemingly an allusion to its milky white flesh or silvery skin.<ref>{{cite book|title=Bulletin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SG7VAdA8F0gC|year=1917|publisher= Louisiana Department of Conservation|page=9|quote= When properly cooked the white, flaky, juicy flesh ({{lang|fr|sac-à-lait}} means a 'bag of milk' therefore our French-speaking population has most appropriately named this fish) has an exceptionally fine and delicate flavor.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Louisiana Conservation Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=847kAAAAMAAJ|volume=9–10|year=1940|page=31|quote= believed to have received its name {{lang|fr|sac à lait}}, {{abbr|m.|masculine}}, 'milk bag' because of the silvery olive appearance of the fish, or because of its extraordinarily white flesh. Read's further investigations, however, revealed that the Choctaw Indian {{lang|cho|sakli}}, 'trout'}}</ref> The supposed French meaning is, however, [[folk etymology]], because the word is ultimately from [[Choctaw language|Choctaw]] {{wikt-lang|cho|sakli}}, meaning "trout".<ref name=MW>{{M-W|sacalait}} "Louisiana French {{lang|fr|sac-à-lait}}, by folk etymology (influence of French {{lang|fr|sac}} bag, French {{lang|fr|à}} to, for, and French {{lang|fr|lait}} milk) from Choctaw {{lang|cho|sakli}} trout"</ref>