Ethnoichthyology: Critical analysis and perspectives

Ethnoichthyology is a science that deals with the relationship between humans and fish species. It is essential for the construction of new knowledge. This synthesis proposes a critical analysis of existing studies on ethnoichthyology in order to identify gaps and guide future studies. The literature search was conducted using Google scholar and Agora. Synonyms of the words fish, ethnicity, knowledge and traditional were used to identify keywords. The identified keywords were entered into the English and French search engines. The literature search identified 237 documents on Agora and 71 documents on Google scholar. The documents selected for the systematic review are 31. The nomenclature of local fish names is related to morphological, behavioural or environmental traits of the fish. Fish species are used medicinally to treat many ailments including malaria, haemorrhoids, abdominal cramps and infections. Culturally, some species are used in wedding ceremonies, funerals, sacrifices etc. Very few documents in the literature deal with the cultural, medicinal and symbolic uses of fish. This synthesis evokes the need for a study of the classification value of local fish names without forgetting the socio-cultural, medicinal and symbolic uses of fish according to ethnic groups.