sprat

From Middle English sprotte, from Old English sprot. Older source is unknown. Cognate with German Sprotte, Dutch sprot. Compare sprout.

Any of various small, herring-like, marine fish in the genus Sprattus, in the family Clupeidae.

papalinë

any of various small marine fish in the genus Sprattus

Any of various similar fish of other genera.

The price of a case (five shillings piece bad) from the smasher is about one shilling; an alderman (two and sixpence) about sixpence; a peg (shilling) about threepence; a downer or sprat (sixpence) about twopence.

1859, Snowden's magistrates assistant, page 90:


sprat

en-verb

sprat (third-person singular simple present sprats, present participle spratting, simple past and past participle spratted)

sprats (present singular third-person)
spratting (participle present)
spratted (participle past)
spratted (past)

[…] spratting the land. This treatment is supplemented by about half a ton of artificial manure, largely made up of a mixture of superphosphate and some nitrogenous manure.

1923, The Agricultural Gazette and Modern Farming, volume 98, page 190:

(transitive, historical) To manure (land) with sprats (the fish).


goby

From Latin gobius (“gudgeon”), from Ancient Greek κωβιός (kōbiós), a type of small fish, of unknown ultimate origin. See also gudgeon.

dwarf goby

Eviota, Knipowitschia, Pandaka, Trimma, Trimmatom spp.

Any of various small fish from the large family Gobiidae, in which the pelvic fins are fused to form a disc-shaped sucker.


monkfish

en-noun

monkfish (countable and uncountable, plural monkfish or monkfishes)

I’ve had the good luck to cook monkfish on both sides of the Atlantic. The European monkfish is Lophius piscatorius, while our western Atlantic brand is Lophius americanus.

2008 October 9, Mark Bittman, “Roasting Monkfish”, in The New York Times:

Lophius piscatorius
Lophius piscatorius#Translingual

Any large bottom-dwelling anglerfish of the genus Lophius, such as Lophius piscatorius, of the Atlantic, having a large head and mouth.

[The] monkfish is preceded by the “monstre Leonin” and followed by the “monstre marinen habit d'Evesque” (de Monstro Leonino and de pisce Episcopi habitu respectively). The creature represented in these works is a hybrid: his round and tonsured ...

2017, Itineraries in French Renaissance Literature: Essays (Jeff Persels, Kendall Tarte, George Hoffmann), page 382


mudskipper

Any of various gobies of the subfamily Oxudercinae that are able to survive out of water by breathing through their skins and having strong pectoral fins that act as simple legs.


schnapper

Alteration of snapper, influenced by German Schnapper. Attested from the 19th century.

An Australasian fish, Chrysophrys guttulatus or C. auratus; the porgy or snapper.


porbeagle

Unclear, but likely from Cornish porth (“harbor”) + bugel (“shepherd”), with the latter element either influenced by English beagle or in fact formed from it, with only the first element truly being from Cornish.

In English waters, the porbeagle is considered the premier shark to catch, but in other parts of the world it is considered a nuisance, or at best a poor substitute for its more glamorous relative, the mako.

1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 59:

A large pelagic predatory shark, Lamna nasus, of the Atlantic.


whale shark

The largest fish in the world is a shark. It is a harmless plankton eater, and its name, whale shark has been confusing people for years.

1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 42:

Rhincodon typus
Rhincodon typus#Translingual

A very large spotted shark, Rhincodon typus, of warm marine waters, similar to a whale, that feeds by filtering plankton from the water.


great white shark

great white shark (plural great white sharks)

Carcharodon carcharias
Carcharodon carcharias#Translingual

A large shark, Carcharodon carcharias, of coastal surface waters in all major oceans that feeds on fish and marine mammals.

頬白鮫

ホオジロザメ, hōjiro zame, ホホジロザメ, hohojiro zame


basking shark

Like the whale shark, the basking shark is a huge, slow-moving plankton feeder. Also like the whale shark, the basking shark is the sole member of a family created especially to accommodate it.

1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 89:

A very large shark, Cetorhinus maximus, that feeds at or close to the surface by filtering plankton from the water and is found in all the world's temperate oceans.


mako shark

Borrowed from Maori makō (“shark”), a Southern Maori dialect form of the more standard mangō (“shark”).

‘Aguedo fell through the floor into what we call the shark pool. We call it that because it is a pool filled with sharks. Mako sharks, to be precise.’

2022, Percival Everett, Dr. No, Influx Press (2023), page 101:

Either of two powerful mackerel sharks of the genus Isurus, having a large heavy body, a sharp nose and a nearly symmetrical tail, found in southern oceans.


sea horse

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-sea horse.wav

From Middle English sehors (“walrus”), equivalent to sea + horse. Probably a calque of obsolete French cheval de mer or directly of Late Latin caballus marinus.

Any of various small marine fish of the genus Hippocampus that have a horselike head and swim upright.


tope

Galeorhinus galeus
Galeorhinus galeus#Translingual

A small, grey, European shark, Galeorhinus galeus, that has rough skin and a long snout.


tiger shark

Galeocerdo cuvier
Galeocerdo cuvier#Translingual

A large shark, Galeocerdo cuvier, of wide warm-water distribution, that hunts alone and has dark stripes across its back.


thresher

Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *terh₁-der.?
Proto-Germanic *þreskaną
Old English þrescan
Middle English threschen
Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz
Proto-West Germanic *-ārī
Old English -ere
Middle English -er
Middle English thresshere
English thresher
From Middle English thresshere; equivalent to thresh + -er. The shark's tail is thought to resemble the implement.


angelfish

en-noun

angelfish (plural angelfish or angelfishes)

A marine fish of the family Pomacanthidae, common on shallow tropical reefs.


flying fish

flying fish (plural flying fishes or flying fish)

flying fishes (plural)
flying fish (plural)

A tropical marine fish of the family Exocoetidae, having enlarged winglike pectoral fins enabling it to escape predators by taking short gliding flights through the air.


sunfish

* From sun + fish.
* (type of fish): Perhaps from the rounded body shape.

Any of various small freshwater fishes of the family Centrarchidae, often with iridescent colours and having a laterally compressed body.

Any of various large marine fishes of the family Molidae that have an oval compressed body.


sunfish

en-verb

sunfish (third-person singular simple present sunfishes, present participle sunfishing, simple past and past participle sunfished)

sunfishes (present singular third-person)
sunfishing (participle present)
sunfished (participle past)
sunfished (past)

(intransitive) Of an animal such as a bull or a horse: to twist the body into a crescent shape and roll back and forth.


nurse shark

Any of various bottom-dwelling sharks of the family Ginglymostomatidae that have two fleshy barbels hanging from the lower jaw.

requin nourrice

any shark of the family Ginglymostomatidae


koi

We sense that while it might be wonderful for Krystle and Alexis to have a catfight in a koi pond, it would be inappropriate for Joan to smack Linda with a koi.

1985 September 2, Joe Klein, quoting Douglas S. Cramer, “The Real Star of ‘Dynasty’”, in New York, page 34:

Ornamental domesticated varieties of the Amur carp (Cyprinus rubrofuscus), of Japan and eastern Asia with red-gold or white coloring.


moray eel

Any of various brightly colored marine eels of the family Muraenidae, of warm coastal waters.


conger eel

Any of various large marine eels of the family Congridae, having no scales and found in temperate and tropical coastal waters.


grenadier

From French grenadier, corresponding to grenade + -ier.

(zoology) Any of various deep-sea fish of the family Macrouridae that have a large head and body and a long tapering tail; a rattail.


gurnard

From Middle English gurnard, from Old French gournart, from the verb gronir, from Latin grunnīre (“to grunt”). Compare French grondin (“gurnard”), which evolved in a similar way.

Any of various marine fish of the family Triglidae that have a large armored head and fingerlike pectoral fins used for crawling along the sea bottom.


gudgeon

The noun is derived from Late Middle English gojoun [and other forms], from Old French gojon, goujon (“gudgeon”), from Late Latin gōbiōnem, the accusative of gōbiō, the augmentative of Latin gōbius (“gudgeon”), from Ancient Greek κωβῐός (kōbĭós, “fish of the gudgeon kind”), probably of Semitic origin. The English word is a doublet of goby and goujon.
The verb is derived from the noun.

nb...

gogen, gogeon, gogeorn, gogin, gogyn, gojon, gojone, gojune

flat-headed gudgeon

Butis butis B., Philypnodon grandiceps E.

[...] Ile tell thee more of this another time. / But fiſh not with this melancholy baite, / For this foole gudgin, this opinion: [...]

c. 1596–1598 (date written), W[illiam] Shakespeare, The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. […] (First Quarto), [London]: […] J[ames] Roberts [for Thomas Heyes], published 1600, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i]:

[...] Make Fools believe in their fore-seeing / Of things before they are in Being; / To swallow Gudgeons ere th' are catch'd, / And count their Chickens ere th' are hatch'd, [...]

1663 (indicated as 1664), [Samuel Butler], “The Second Part of Hudibras. Canto III.”, in Hudibras. The First and Second Parts. […], London: […] John Martyn and Henry Herringman, […], published 1678, →OCLC; republished in A[lfred] R[ayney] Waller, editor, Hudibras: Written in the Time of the Late Wars, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: University Press, 1905, →OCLC, page 175:

The Gudgeon is reputed a fish of excellent taste, and to be very wholesome: he is of a fine shape, of a silver colour, and beautified with black spots both on his body and tail.

1676, Izaak Walton, “[The Compleat Angler or The Contemplative Man’s Recreation: Part I […].] Observations of the Gudgeon, the Ruffe, and the Bleak, and How to Fish for Them.”, in Richard Le Gallienne, editor, The Compleat Angler, 5th edition, London; New York, N.Y.: John Lane, The Bodley Head, published 1897, →OCLC, page 199:

You save your souls here, eating cabbage, and think you are the righteous. You eat a gudgeon a day, and you think you bribe God with gudgeon.

1912, Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Why is such a Man Alive?”, in Constance Garnett, transl., The Brothers Karamazov […], New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, published 1922, part I, book II (An Unfortunate Gathering), page 73:

A small freshwater fish, Gobio gobio, that is native to Eurasia.

The southern purple-spotted gudgeon [Mogurnda adspersa] can be hard to find. Although colourful, they are thin and only grow up to 12 centimetres.

2012 October 5, Nicola Gage, “Murray Showing Signs of Recovery”, in ABC News, Sydney, N.S.W., archived from the original on 2019-11-01:

(Australia) Any of various similar small fish of the family Eleotridae, often used as bait.

Butidae

yellowbelly gudgeon (Allomogurnda nesolepis) E.

Other fish, similar in appearance, principally in families Butidae and Eleotridae, but also in others.


coho

The earlier spelling "cohose" was re-interpreted as a plural form (for a similar development, see pea). From Halkomelem.

1996, Committee on Protection and Management of Pacific Northwest Anadromous Salmonids, National Research Council, Upstream: Salmon and Society in the Pacific Northwest, page 105,
Overall, OCN coho constitute the largest aggregate of coho populations in the United States outside Alaska.

Since 1965, an index live-count method has been used to annually estimate the number of coho salmon in the escapement to the Skagit River.

1998, Robert Harvey Conrad, Coho Salmon Escapement to the Skagit River Estimated Using a Mark-recapture Method, 1989, page i:

2000, US Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Sitka Ranger District, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Redoubt Lake Cabin, Baranof Island: Fish and Wildlife Opportunities, unnumbered page,
Redoubt Lake has good populations of both coho and sockeye salmon and minor runs of pink salmon and a few chum salmon. The sockeye run peaks during early July, and the coho run begins in August.

Oncorhynchus kisutch
Oncorhynchus kisutch#Translingual

An anadromus and semelparous salmon, Oncorhynchus kisutch, found in the coastal regions of the northern Pacific Ocean, used as a symbol by several Native American tribes.


bully

en-noun

bully (countable and uncountable, plural bullies)

From 1530, as a term of endearment, probably a diminutive ( + -y) of Dutch boel (“lover; brother”), from Middle Dutch boel, boele (“brother; lover”), from Old Dutch *buolo, from Proto-Germanic *bōlô (compare Middle Low German bôle (“brother”), Middle High German buole (“brother; close relative; close relation”) (whence German Buhle (“lover”)), Old English Bōla, Bōlla (personal name), diminutive of expressive *bō- (“brother, father”). Compare also Latvian bālinš (“brother”). More at boy.
The term acquired a negative connotation during the 17th century; first ‘noisy, blustering fellow’ then ‘a person who is cruel to others’. Possibly influenced by bull (“male cattle”) or via the ‘prostitute's minder’ sense. The positive senses are dated, but survive in phrases such as bully pulpit.

onomatopoeic

expressive

Any of various small freshwater or brackishwater fish of the family Eleotridae; sleeper gobies.


amphidromous

(of a migratory fish) that travels between fresh and salt water, but not to breed


darter

Aquatic birds of various kinds are very numerous, such as geese, darters (Flotus melanogaster), scissor-bills (Rhynchops nigra), adjutants (Leptoptilos argala), pelicans, cormorants, cranes (Grus antigone, in Burmese gyoja), whimbrels, plovers, and ibises.

1876, "Burmah" in the Encyclopædia Britannica, 9th ed., Vol. IV, p. 552

(US)

Any member of the family Anhingidae, waterbirds with long necks.

Any of various darting freshwater fish of the family Percidae, that are usually small and brightly coloured and are native to North America.

Any of the similar South American (and Panamanian) freshwater fish in the characin family Crenuchidae

(UK) Any of the dragonflies in the genus Sympetrum


remora

en-noun

remora (plural remora or remorae or remoras)

remora (plural)
remorae (plural)
remoras (plural)

Borrowed from Latin remora (“delay, hindrance, passive resistance”), from the belief that the fish would attach themselves to ships and slow them down, from re- (prefix meaning ‘back, backwards’) + mora (“delay”) (from Proto-Indo-European *mere (“to delay, hinder”), from *(s)mer- (“to fall into thinking, remember; to care for”)).

der

The Remoræ (Echeneisidæ) form the last family of the soft-finned, subbrachian fishes. They are characterized at once by the top of their heads being flattened, and furnished with transverse series of cartilaginous plates, somewhat similar to the plates under the toes of the Gecko, by which these fish attach themselves to ships, rocks, and marine bodies.

1832, “Room XI. General Collection of Fish and Corals.”, in Synopsis of the Contents of the British Museum, 26th edition, London: Printed by G[eorge] Woodfall, […], →OCLC, page 86:

The remora, lump-sucker, and others are provided with a muscular disk in the form of a sucker, by which they adhere to other fish or bodies moving through the water: [...]

1839, P. Evers, “On the Muscular System in the Vertebrata. [Pisces.]”, in The Student’s Compendium of Comparative Anatomy (Dunglison’s American Medical Library), Philadelphia, Pa.: Printed and published by A. Waldie, […], →OCLC, page 42:

[...] I could not but notice, with some degree of curiosity, the gradual approaches of one of these remorae of society into the good graces of as genuine an English family as ever left the fat fields of Suffolk to pay for peeping at foreign novelty.

1866, Philip Abraham, “Forest Glinton. A Character, from Life.”, in Autumn Gatherings, being a Collection of Prose and Poetry. Sacred and Secular, London: Published by and for the author, […], →OCLC, pages 99–100:

It was all genuine footage of various kinds of ray-fish: first a manta gliding just below the surface of a purple sea near the coast of Argentina. He glided there amongst the light beams that penetrated the water like daggers stabbing into it, while remorae skirted among his wing-fins.

2012, Christopher Mac Lairn, “Vulturnus”, in The Spirit of Vengeance, [Bloomngton, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, page 53:

The tenacity with which remoras attach to their hosts is best illustrated by the practice of sea turtle fishing by fishermen in the Caribbean and off China and northern Australia [...], and in Yemen and Kenya, where it continues to this day. A fisherman ties a line around the tail of a remora and throws the fish into the water. The remora tightly attaches itself to a turtle, and the remora and its "catch" are then hauled ashore.

2018, Dagmar Fertl, André M. Landry, “Remoras”, in Bernd Würsig, J. G. M. Thewissen, Kit M. Kovacs, editors, Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals, 3rd edition, London, San Diego, Calif.: Academic Press, →ISBN, page 793, column 1:

Any of various elongate fish from the family Echeneidae, the dorsal fin of which is in the form of a suction disc that can take a firm hold against the skin of larger marine animals.


fugu

Borrowed from Japanese 河豚(ふぐ) (fugu, “blowfish”).

Twenty minutes later, the chef has successfully prepared a whole fugu—or puffer fish—a Japanese delicacy whose capacity to maim and kill is dividing the country’s culinary world.

2016 August 5, Justin McCurry, “Last supper? Japan's diners divided over killer puffer fish”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:

A sluggish swimmer, fugu has stunted fins and often flat-lying spikes instead of scales, and when confronted by predators it compensates for its lack of speed by swallowing enough water to swell up until its spikes stand on end, so it looks like an angry armored balloon.

2020 December 4, Ligaya Mishan, “The Appealing and Potentially Lethal Delicacy That Is Fugu”, in The New York Times Style Magazine:

Blowfish: a delicacy popular in Japan served raw as sushi that may, if improperly prepared, contain deadly levels of neurotoxins.


goody

An American fish, the lafayette or spot.


zope

The absolute fecundity of zopes on first maturing (at the age of 5 years) was less than that of those spawning for the second time.[…]On comparison of the fecundity of zopes of the same size and different age the data obtained proved contradictory to some extent.

1969, Problems of Ichthyology, American Fisheries Society, pages 390–391:

Before catching, more than half zopes, sandres and perches feed actively.

1974, B.S. Kuzin, editor, Biological and Hydrological Factors of Local Movements of Fish in Reservoirs, New Delhi: Amerind Publishing Co., page 300:

A fish of species Ballerus ballerus (syn. Abramis ballerus) native to Eurasia.


manta

A kind of fabric or blanket used in Latin America and southwestern United States.


northern snakehead

en-noun

northern snakehead (plural northern snakeheads)

A fish of species Channa argus, native to Russia, China and Korea; considered to be invasive in the United States.


señorita

Borrowed from Spanish señorita. Doublet of senhorita.

I love it when you call me señorita

A young, unmarried woman in or from a Hispanophone community.

senjoriita

courtesy title for an unmarried woman in a Hispanophone country


dory

Attested in American English from 1709 C.E.; possibly derived from an indigenous language of the West Indies or Central America, perhaps Miskito.

From every schooner, dories were being dropped into the shining, clear water. The sound of voices and the splashes of oars carried across the sea.

1897, Rudyard Kipling, Captains Courageous:

He and Gerald usually challenged the rollers in a sponson canoe when Gerald was there for the weekend; or, when Lansing came down, the two took long swims seaward or cruised about in Gerald's dory, clad in their swimming-suits; and Selwyn's youth became renewed in a manner almost ridiculous […]

1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

The dory, and the fisherman who rowed it, are part of the maritime heritage that changed America from a group of shore-bound colonies to a nation with ships that ranged the waters of the world.

1960 February, John Gardner, “The Remarkable Dory: This Boat has Served Sailormen Well, and Many of Today's Able Pleasurecraft are Direct Descendants of the Line”, in Popular Boating, volume 7, number 2, →OCLC, page 90:

It is almost impossible for anyone who loves boats not to rejoice at the sight of a St. Pierre dory. Gaily painted, with lots of sheer and a defiantly jaunty look to them, the dories have been pleasing the eyes of their beholders for nearly a century.

1978 March, Steven H. Rubin, “The St. Pierre Dory: An Endangered Species”, in Boating, volume 43, number 3, →ISSN, page 72:

A dory, by definition, is a flat-bottomed boat with two pointed (or nearly pointed) ends. The traditional dories of the Pacific City fleet were just that. Over the years, however, they have evolved into the square-stern variety seen today.

2008, Jeanna Rosembalm Bottenberg, The Dory Fleet of Pacific City, Charleston, S.C.: Arcadia Publishing, →ISBN, page 41:

John Wesley Powell […] the one-armed Civil War veteran led nine men in four wooden dories down the untamed and uncharted Colorado River and into the equally untamed and uncharted Grand Canyon.

2013 November 27, John Grotzinger, “The world of Mars [print version: International Herald Tribune Magazine, 2013, page 36]”, in The New York Times:

(nautical) A small flat-bottomed boat with pointed or somewhat pointed ends, used for fishing both offshore and on rivers.


dory

Natural History Museum, London
William MacGillivray
dory

From Middle English dorry, from Old French doree, past participle of dorer (“to gild”), from Latin deauratus.

A DIATREE FOR DINNER. […] The ſeconde Courſe. […] Dorye

1800, “Copy of an Original Manuscript, Entitled, 'A Breviate Touching the Order and Governmente of a Nobleman's House', &c. Communicated by the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks, Bart. K.B. P.R.S. and F.S.A.”, in Archaeologia: Or, Miscellaneous Tracts Relating to Antiquity, volume XIII, London: Society of Antiquaries of London, →OCLC, page 353:

Pan-fried fish. Barramundi, bream, flounder, garfish, John Dory, snapper and Silver Dory are suitable for this recipe.

2012, Shirley Cameron, Cooking the Australian Way, 8th edition, South Yarra, Vic.: Macmillan Education Australia, →ISBN, page 265:

The golden skin of the fish found mostly in the Mediterranean may account for one possible reason why it is called ‘John Dory’, since the French word for yellow is ‘jaune’ and for golden is ‘dorée’.

2012, Martin Hannan, Harvey Wallbangers and Tam O’Shanters: A Book of Eponyms – The People Who Inspired the Words We Use Every Day, London: John Blake Publishing, →ISBN:

Any of several different families of large-eyed, silvery, deep-bodied, laterally compressed, and roughly discoid marine fish.


dory

Borrowed from Ancient Greek δόρυ (dóru).

The basic weapon of the hoplite was the dory, a wooden-shaft spear six to nine feet long with a metal point at each end.

1990, Richard A. Gabriel, The Culture of War: Invention and Early Development (Contributions in Military Studies; 96), New York, N.Y.: Greenwood Press, →ISBN, page 89:

The principal offensive weapon of the hoplite was his spear (dory). Conquered territory was said to be 'spear-won'.

2000, Nick Sekunda, Greek Hoplite: 480–323 BC (Osprey Military, Warrior Series; 27), Oxford: Osprey Publishing, →ISBN, page 12:

The principal weapon of the hoplite was the dory spear. It was unusually long – it could measure up to 10ft (3m) in length, and weighed about 4.4lb (2kg). At one end was a broad, leaf-pattern spearhead, while at the other end was a metal spike called a sauroter. The purpose of the spike is much debated: it almost certainly acted as a counterbalance, making the spear easier to hold and wield; it could have been used as an improvised spear point, or for making downward attacks on the enemy's exposed feet; or it might even have been embedded in the ground to keep the spear in place.

2011 (republished 2014 as an e-book), Chris McNab, A History of the World in 100 Weapons, Oxford: Osprey Publishing, page 37

Sadly, the Greeks' weapons have succumbed to erosion; yet all are single-handed and one figure is striking overhead with left leg forward consistent with the use of a dory.

2012, Fred Eugene Ray, Jr., Greek and Macedonian Land Battles of the 4th Century B.C.: A History and Analysis of 187 Engagements, Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, →ISBN, page 90:

A wooden pike or spear about three metres (ten feet) in length with a flat, leaf-shaped iron spearhead and a bronze butt-spike (called a sauroter), which was the main weapon of hoplites in Ancient Greece. It was usually not thrown but rather thrust at opponents with one hand.


spoonbill

From spoon + bill, owing to the shape of the animal's beak.

Polyodon spathula
Polyodon spathula#Translingual

(US) A species of fish, Polyodon spathula, native to the Mississippi/Ohio/Missouri river basin, or extinct close relatives.


wagtail

From a partial suppletion of Middle English wagstert (literally “wag-tail”), equivalent to wag + tail.

field wagtail

Motacilla flava and M. tschutschensis, syn. Budytes spp.

white-browed wagtail (Motacilla maderaspatensis

Any of various small passerine birds, principally of genus Motacilla, of the Old World, notable for their long tails.


fighting fish

en-noun

fighting fish (plural fighting fishes or fighting fish)

fighting fishes (plural)
fighting fish (plural)

Betta splendens
Betta splendens#Translingual

A small aggressive freshwater fish originating from Thailand, popular as aquarium fish, Betta splendens.


mora

From Latin mora (“duration of time, delay”).

Instead of syllables, Japanese is supported by mora. (Tokyo is To-o-kyo-o, a four-mora word.) The word Nihongo consists of four morae, ni-ho-n-go, pronounced with four rhythmical units of sound.

2011, Senko K. Maynard, Learning Japanese for Real, Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, →ISBN, page 32:

(phonology) A unit of syllable weight used in phonology, by which stress, foot structure, or timing of utterance is determined in some languages (e.g. Japanese).


mora

From New Latin from a botanical name, perhaps from Tupi.

At length, somewhere about the centre of the wood, she led me to an immense mora tree, growing almost isolated, covering with its shade a large space of ground entirely free from undergrowth.

1904, W.H. Hudson, Green Mansions, A Romance of the Tropical Forest:

(botany) Any tree of the genus Mora of large South American trees.


barbel

PIE word
 *bʰardʰéh₂
From Middle English barbel, from Old French barbel, from Vulgar Latin *barbellus, from Late Latin barbulus, diminutive of Latin barbus.

The Barble fishes, if one of them chance to be engaged, will set the line against their backes, and with a fin they have, toothed like a sharp saw, presently saw and fret the same asunder.

1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 12, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book II, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:

A freshwater fish of the genus Barbus or other closely related genera.

(biology) Whisker-like sensory organs, located around the mouth of certain fish, including catfish, carp, goatfish, sturgeon, and some types of shark.

barbo

whisker-like sensory organs of certain fish


white bream

white bream (plural white breams or white bream)

white breams (plural)
white bream (plural)

A European species of fish in the Cyprinidae family (Blicca bjoerkna, syn. Abramis bjoerkna, Cyprinus bjoerkna).


fish food

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-fish food.wav

Food for fish that are kept in aquaria; sprinkled on the surface of the water, usually in the form of dry flakes.


scad

Unknown, early 17th century, perhaps related to shad. In sense “large amount”, US 1869, of unknown origin, presumably from large shoals/schools of the fish.

Any of several fish, of the family Carangidae, from the western Atlantic.


codling

From Middle English codling, codeling, equivalent to cod + -ling.

A hake (cod-related food fish), notably from the genus Urophycis.


spotty

From Middle English spotty, equivalent to spot + -y.

I went fishing today and all I caught were spotties.

A common New Zealand fish, Notolabrus celidotus


pilot fish

pilot fish (plural pilot fish or pilot fishes)

pilot fish (plural)
pilot fishes (plural)

So called from its having been supposed to guide sharks to their prey.

A marine fish, Naucrates ductor, that often follows large vessels and sharks.


sniggle

en-verb

sniggle (third-person singular simple present sniggles, present participle sniggling, simple past and past participle sniggled)

sniggles (present singular third-person)
sniggling (participle present)
sniggled (participle past)
sniggled (past)

See snig (“a kind of eel”) + -le (frequentative verbal suffix).

suffix

But rampant poaching (the correct term for catching a grown-up eel with bait is to “sniggle”, though elvers are caught with something more like a giant sieve) is now prompting authorities to crack down well in advance of next year’s season.

[2012 December 1, “Transparent gold”, in The Economist, →ISSN:

(intransitive) To fish for eels by thrusting a baited needle or hook into their dens.


topknot

A small European flounder (Phrynorhombus regius, syn. Rhombus punctatus).


grey ghost

* (parking inspector): Reputedly a reference to the grey uniforms once worn, the term remaining even though the uniforms have changed.

1998 July 18, Sydney Morning Herald, Grey ghosts turn a blind eye.
The council's chairman, Mr Harold Scruby, is demanding an inquiry into the grey ghost "culture" after a survey raised concerns about the threat to pedestrians of vehicles which stop illegally on crossings and no-standing or no-stopping zones.

(Australia, Melbourne, Sydney) A parking inspector, a person issuing tickets fining vehicles parked illegally or for too long.

(Australia) The bonefish species (Albula argentea, syn. Albula neoguinaica).


callop

an Australian freshwater fish, Macquaria ambigua; the golden perch or yellowbelly


shark bait

The meeting formed a committee to investigate and make recommendations to 'counteract the shark menace'. […] [T]he committee […] suggested that 'drastic penalties could be inflicted on surfers who bathed at dangerous hours or swam out far enough to earn the title of "shark bait"'.

2014, Caroline [M.] Ford, Sydney Beaches: A History, Coogee, N.S.W.: NewSouth Publishing, →ISBN, page 150:

(Australia, colloquial) A lone swimmer or surfer far from shore, a shark baiter.


isinglass

en-noun

isinglass (usually uncountable, plural isinglasses)

/ˈaɪzɪŋɡlɑːs/

/ˈaɪzɪŋɡlæs/

Apparently from obsolete Dutch huisenblas, from German Hausenblase, from Hausen (“sturgeon of the Huso genus”) + Blase (“bladder”).

Isinglass flummery.—Put six ounces of isinglass into a quart of new milk, sweeten it, set it over the fire, and keep it stirring one way all the time, till it is jellied; pour it into basins, and when cold turn it out; you may put in orange flower water if you like.

1830, Richard Dolby, The Cook's Dictionary, and House-keeper's Directory: A New Family Manual of Cookery and Confectionery, on a Plan of Ready Reference Never Hitherto Attempted, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street, →OCLC, page 292, column 1:

Isinglass is a substance well known in commerce, from its employment both in the arts and in domestic economy. It is the purest known form of animal jelly, and is obtained from the swimming bladder of a few kinds of fish, chiefly of the genus Sturgeon, the Acipenser of zoologists. This is indicated by some of its continental names, of which the English is no doubt a corruption;—thus, in German, Isinglass is called Hausenblase, from hausen the great sturgeon, and blase a bladder.

1842, J[ohn] F[orbes] Royle, On the Production of Isinglass along the Coasts of India, with a Notice of its Fisheries (Goldsmiths'-Kress Library of Economic Literature; no. 32618), London: Wm. H. Allen and Co., Booksellers to the Honourable East-India Company, Leadenhall Street, →OCLC, page 1:

Isinglass is brought to market in different forms, sometimes in that of simple plates, at other times rolled up in different shapes, or cut into fine thread. When of good quality isinglass is of a whitish colour, thin, and semi-transparent, but tough and flexible, destitute of taste as well as of smell. The inferior kinds are thicker, yellowish-coloured, opaque, and sometimes have a fishy smell and taste. In boiling water isinglass is entirely dissolved, with the exception of a very minute portion of impurities.

1858, Catalogue of the Collection of Animal Products Belonging to Her Majesty's Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851, Exhibited in the South Kensington Museum, London: Printed for Her Majesty's Commissioners by W. Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street and Charing Cross, →OCLC, page 68, column 1:

Isinglass.—This is procured from the air-bag or swimming-bladder, sometimes termed the sound, of various fishes. […] Sometimes the bag is dried unopened, as in the case of the purse, pipe, and lump isinglasses of the shops. At other times it is laid open, and submitted to some preparation; being either dried unfolded, as in the leaf and honeycomb isinglasses; or folded, as in the staple (long and short) and book isinglasses; or rolled out, as in the ribbon isinglass.

1868, Jonathan Pereira, “The Gelatinous Alimentary Principle”, in Charles A. Lee, editor, A Treatise on Food and Diet: With Observations on the Dietetical Regimen Suited for Disordered States of the Digestive Organs; and an Account of the Dietaries of Some of the Principal Metropolitan and Other Establishments for Paupers, Lunatics, Criminals, Children, the Sick, &c, New York, N.Y.: Samuel R. Wells, Publisher, 389 Broadway, →OCLC, page 103:

The sturgeon yielded a non-food product that was important for domestic and commercial use. This was isinglass, a gelatinous substance that was derived from the inner membrane of the air bladder (also called the swimbladder, or sound). Isinglass had a variety of uses. The Ojibway valued it as an effective binding agent in the manufacture of paint. Isinglass was also a product much in demand in Europe during the fur trade period. It was noted as producing a high quality glue and as a fining agent for beers and wines.

1991, Tim E. Holzkamm, Victor P. Lytwyn, Leo G. Waisberg, “Rainy River Sturgeon: An Ojibway Resource in the Fur Trade Economy”, in Kerry [Margaret] Abel, Jean Friesen, editors, Aboriginal Resource Use in Canada: Historical and Legal Aspects (Manitoba Studies in Native History; 6), Winnipeg, Manitoba: University of Manitoba Press, →ISBN, page 128:

Not all fish have swim bladders, and those from certain tropical or semitropical areas (roughly 20° N and 15° S) provide the best quality isinglass for fining purposes. Of these fish, the threadfin family (Polynemoidia) provide excellent quality. In order to gain a desirable fining quality for a particular beer type, two or more kinds of isinglass may be blended. To illustrate this more precisely, Polynemus isinglass provides a fining that settles densely, whereas Silurus isinglass, from the great catfish family (Siluridae) in South America, gives a more flocculant fining but which settles less densely and consequently is more easily disturbed.

1994, William A. Hardwick, editor, Handbook of Brewing (Food Science and Technology; 64), New York, N.Y.: Marcel Dekker, Inc., →ISBN, page 222:

A form of gelatine obtained from the air bladder of the sturgeon and certain other fish, used as an adhesive and as a clarifying agent for wine and beer.


lancetfish

lancetfish (plural lancetfish or lancetfishes)

lancetfish (plural)
lancetfishes (plural)

A voracious deep-sea fish in the genus Alepisaurus, having long, lancet-like teeth.


cyclostome

From translingual Cyclostomata, confer French cyclostome.

Except the cyclostomes, as the lampreys and sphagobranchiæ, which are not real fishes, as I shall show elsewhere.

1811, André Marie Constant Duméril, “On the Sense of Smell in Fishes”, in Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts, volume 29, page 344:

The Cyclostomes, or suckers, with regard to their skeletons, are the most imperfect of all the Vertebrates,

1835, William Kirby, On the Power Wisdom and Goodness of God, volume 2, William Pickering, page 390:

Any of various primitive jawless fish of the class Cyclostomata, such as the lamprey or hagfish.

rondbuŝulo

any of various primitive jawless fish of the class Cyclostomata


cookiecutter shark

cookiecutter shark (plural cookiecutter sharks)

The polka dots are scars left by the cookiecutter shark, a thalassophobia-inducing creature with jaws designed to remove round plugs of flesh.

2021 March 30, J. B. MacKinnon, “An Entire Group of Whales Has Somehow Escaped Human Attention”, in The Atlantic:

Isistius brasiliensis
Isistius brasiliensis#Translingual

A small shark, Isistius brasiliensis, that tears circular chunks of flesh from its prey.


meagre

1986, A. Wysokiński, The Living Marine Resources of the Southeast Atlantic, FAO Fisheries Technical Paper 178, page 48,
Among more valuable species some of them are worth mentioning, especially littoral forms as: meagres and other croakers (Sciaenidae), grunters (Pomadasyidae), threadfins (Polynemidae), groupers (Serranidae), snappers (Lutjanidae) […] .

It is striking that these represent meagres (Argyrosomus regius), a species never mentioned in classical texts.

2008, Arturo Morales-Muñes, Eufrasia Roselló-Izquierdo, “11: Twenty Thousand Years of Fishing in the Strait”, in Torben C. Rick, Jon M. Erlandson, editors, Human Impacts on Ancient Marine Ecosystems: A Global Perspective, page 261:

Meagres (Argyrosomus regius, 230 cm, 103 kg) have been raised mainly in Spain, France and Italy.

2011, John S. Lucas, Paul C. Southgate, Aquaculture: Farming Aquatic Animals and Plants, unnumbered page:

Argyrosomus regius, an edible fish of the family Sciaenidae.


grig

Troilus and Cressida
William Shakespeare

The word is often used in the phrase "merry as a grig". The word is of uncertain origin, though various theories have been suggested, such as a corruption of "merry as a cricket" or "merry as a Greek", as in William Shakespeare's Troilus and Cressida: "Then she's a merry Greek indeed." Johnson suggested that the word originally meant "anything below the natural size" (compare Swedish krik and Scots crick).

The black rooks will fly away, my son, and you'll come back as brown as a berry, and as merry as a grig.

1926, Hope Mirrlees, chapter 5, in Lud-in-the-Mist:

[W]e assembled at one o'clock, at two sat down to dinner, consisting of capital stewed grigs, a dish Mrs Burt was famous for dressing, a large joint of roast or boiled meat, with proper vegetables and a good-sized pudding or pie […] .

1808–10, William Hickey, Memoirs of a Georgian Rake, Folio Society 1995, p. 41

Specifically, the broad-nosed eel. See glut.


grig

The further method of tillage pursued, was to make fallows; and if the season permitted, so that the ground could be cleared and burnt off, to destroy the grig or heath, […]

1791, Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, Transactions of the Society of Arts, volume 9, page 80:


discus

1656. From Latin discus, from Ancient Greek δίσκος (dískos, “disk, quoit, platter”). Doublet of dais, desk, disc, dish, disk, and diskos.

doublet

The main body of the Amazon River is too fast, too deep, and too silt laden for discus.

2008, Carol Roberts, “History of Discus”, in North American Discus Association, archived from the original on 2008-12-08:

(plural: discus) A discus fish (genus Symphysodon)


horseman

From Middle English horsman, equivalent to horse + man.

(archaic) Any fish of the genus Equetus.


grassy

Grass carp wise the best bit of advice I can give anyone is to ‘make them fight’ in the water. […] These days when a grassy comes to the net if it hasn’t done much I prod it with the net rather than netting them. This usually spooks them into battle.

2014, Shaun Harrison, “Comment section of ‘Handling cold water carp’”, in AnglingLines.com, archived from the original on 2015-03-19:

It had to be the grassy I was here to find.

2018, Drew Ross, “Grass Carp: Chasing the Eat”, in FlyLords.com, archived from the original on 2020-10-24:

2022, MidwestCarpFisherman, “Glorious 28 pound grassy! New grass carp PR by 10 pounds. Saltillo, Mississippi.”, in Reddit.com, archived from the original on 2022-03-21

(recreational fishing) Alternative form of grassie (“grass carp; white amur”).


carter

From Middle English carter, cartere, cartare, equivalent to cart + -er. Merged with Middle English careter, caretier (“coachman, charioteer”, a surname), from Anglo-Norman careter (compare French charretier).


lucy

That a lucy or luce is the mature pike, every piscatorial schoolboy knows.

1895, The Gentleman's Magazine, January to June issue, pg. 38:

(archaic) The northern pike (a kind of fish).


sockeye

en-noun

sockeye (countable and uncountable, plural sockeyes or sockeye)

Borrowed from Halkomelem sθəqəy̓, probably meaning red fish.


coaster

From coast (“edge of the land where it meets an ocean, sea, gulf, bay, or large lake”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns). Coast is derived from Middle English coste (“rib; side of the body, flank; side of a building; face of a solid figure; coast, shore; bay, gulf; sea; concavity, hollow; boundary, limit; land; country; district, province, region; locality, place; division of the heavens; compass direction; direction; location with reference to direction, side”) [and other forms], from Old French coste (“rib; side of an object; coast”) (modern French côte (“rib; coast; hill, slope”)), from Latin costa (“rib; side, wall”), from Proto-Indo-European *kost-.

navegador (de costas)

sailor who travels only in coastal waters

Salvelinus fontinalis
Salvelinus fontinalis#Translingual

(Canada, US) Short for coaster trout (“the brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in Lake Superior and Maine”).


coaster

Hollywood Dream – The Ride
Universal Studios Japan

From coast (“to glide along without adding energy; to make a minimal effort; to slide downhill (especially, to slide on a sled upon snow or ice)”) + -er (suffix forming agent nouns). Coast is derived from Middle English costeien (“to travel along a border or coast; to go alongside (something), skirt; to accompany, follow; to travel across, traverse; to be adjacent to, to border;”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman [Term?], Old French costoier (“to be at the side of”) [and other forms] (modern French côtoyer (“to pass alongside; (figuratively) to rub shoulders”)), from Latin costicāre, from costa (“rib; side, wall”); see further at etymology 1.
The sense 2.1 (“small stand or tray”) is from the fact that the object and the decanter or wine bottle on it “coast” or travel around a tabletop from person to person. The sense 2.2.2 (“useless compact disc or DVD”) refers to the fact that the object is only useful as a drink coaster.

nb...

cost, costay, coste, costey, costie, coost, coostie, costen, costien

kelkka

something that coasts or is used to coast

(Australia, slang) An itinerant person who shirks work but still seeks food and lodging; a loafer, a sundowner.

It was cold but still, and Polly trotted down the smooth, snow-covered mall, humming to herself, and trying not to feel homesick. The coasters were at it with all their might, and she watched them, till her longing to join the fun grew irresistible.

1869–1870, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “Polly’s Troubles”, in An Old-Fashioned Girl, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1870, →OCLC, page 42:

(US, winter sports) A person who uses a sled or toboggan to slide down a slope covered with ice or snow; a sledder, a tobogganist.

Something that coasts or is used to coast.


drummer

From drum + -er (occupational suffix) or + -er (relational noun suffix).

march to the beat of a different drummer

Bullock's liver will catch drummer.

1983, The Fisherman Who Laughed, page 67:

Any of various fish of the family Kyphosidae, which make a drumming sound.


ombre

(archaic) A large Mediterranean food fish, Umbrina cirrosa


xiphioid

en-adj

xiphioid (comparative more xiphioid, superlative most xiphioid)

more xiphioid (comparative)
most xiphioid (superlative)

From ξιφία (xiphía), from ξίφος (xíphos, “sword”) + -oid.

(zoology) Resembling or related to the genus Xiphias (swordfish).

(zoology) Resembling or related to the family Xiphiidae (a group of fish).


xiphioid

(zoology) Any member of the genus Xiphias or family Xiphiidae.


scombroid

en-noun

scombroid (countable and uncountable, plural scombroids)

From Ancient Greek σκόμβρος (skómbros, “tuna, mackerel”) + -oid.

der

(countable) Any fish of the family Scombridae, of which the mackerel (Scomber) is the type.


dreamer

From Middle English dremer, dremere, dremare, equivalent to dream + -er. Cognate with West Frisian dreamer (“dreamer”), Saterland Frisian Dröömer (“dreamer”), Dutch dromer (“dreamer”), German Träumer (“dreamer”), Danish drømmer (“dreamer”), Swedish drömmare (“dreamer”).

A swallow-wing puffbird (Chelidoptera tenebrosa)


dorado

From Spanish dorado, from the verb dorar (“gild, give a golden color”).

Coryphaena hippurus
Coryphaena hippurus#Translingual

A mahi-mahi or dolphinfish (Coryphaena hippurus), fish with a dorsal fin that runs the length of the body, also known for iridescent coloration.


halfbeak

(zoology) Any slender, marine fish of the family Hemiramphidae, having the upper jaw much shorter than the lower, the balahoos or ballyhoos.

migbec

any slender, marine fish of the family Hemiramphidae


nibbler

A fish of the sea chub subfamily Girellinae.


beluga

Borrowed from Russian белу́га (belúga), from бе́лый (bélyj, “white”).
In modern standard Russian, белу́га (belúga) denotes the fish Huso huso only, while белу́ха (belúxa) denotes the cetacean.

A fish, Huso huso, that is a source of caviar, which is found in the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.


hind

Wikispecies
From Middle English hind, hinde, hynde, from Old English hind, Proto-West Germanic *hindu, from Proto-Germanic *hindō, *hindiz, from a formation on Proto-Indo-European *ḱem- (“hornless”). Cognate with Dutch hinde, German Hinde, Danish hind.

A spotted food fish of the genus Epinephelus.


muskellunge

en-noun

muskellunge (plural muskellunges or muskellunge)

muskellunges (plural)
muskellunge (plural)

From French masque allongé (“long mask”), a corruption of Ojibwe maashkinoozhe (“ugly pike”) or Algonquin maskinunga. Not related to German Muskel (“muscle”), Lunge (“lung”).

Esox masquinongy
Esox masquinongy#Translingual

A large freshwater gamefish of the pike family, native to the lakes and rivers of eastern and middle western North America; Esox masquinongy.


birk

From Northern Middle English birk, birke, byrke (“birch”), (southern Middle English birche). More at birch.
(tree): Cognate with Scots birk.

Shadows of the silver birk / Sweep the green that folds thy grave.

1842, Alfred Tennyson, “A Dirge”, in Poems. […], volume I, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, stanza I, page 56:


clownfish

clownfish (plural clownfish or clownfishes)

Any of colorful fish of genera Amphiprion and Premnas in subfamily Amphiprioninae of family Pomacentridae, native to the Pacific and Indian Oceans, notable for their mutual relationship with sea anemones.

小丑魚 /小丑鱼

fish of the genera Amphiprion or Premnas


puffer

From puff + -er.
The cellular automata definition is a clipping of puffer train.

Any of several poisonous fish, of the family Tetraodontidae, which have the ability to inflate their bodies when in danger.


rasbora

Any similar fish formerly classified in that genus.


lionfish

lionfish (plural lionfish or lionfishes)

Any of the venomous fish of the Scorpaenidae family, notable for their long and separated spines


Siamese fighting fish

Siamese fighting fish (plural Siamese fighting fishes or Siamese fighting fish)

Siamese fighting fishes (plural)
Siamese fighting fish (plural)


corsair

Borrowed from French corsaire, from Medieval Latin cursārius (“pirate”), from Latin cursus (“course, a running; plunder, hostile inroad”). Doublet of courser and hussar.

der

A Californian market fish (Sebastes rosaceus).


kissing gourami

en-noun

kissing gourami (plural kissing gouramis or kissing gouramies)

kissing gouramis (plural)
kissing gouramies (plural)

A large tropical freshwater fish (Helostoma temminckii), commercial food fish which are farmed in their native Southeast Asia and are also popular with aquarists for the fish's peculiar "kissing" behaviour.


snook

A freshwater and marine fish of the family Centropomidae in the order Perciformes.


snook

en-verb

snook (third-person singular simple present snooks, present participle snooking, simple past and past participle snooked)

snooks (present singular third-person)
snooking (participle present)
snooked (participle past)
snooked (past)


snook

From the 19th century. Unknown origin, possibly related to snoot or snout.


oblique-swimming triplefin

en-noun

oblique-swimming triplefin (plural oblique-swimming triplefins)


mackinaw trout

Salvelinus namaycush
Salvelinus namaycush#Translingual

The lake trout or North American lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush.


huso

From German Hausen and English isinglass.

A large European sturgeon (Huso huso), inhabiting the Black Sea and Caspian Sea; the beluga.


humpback

[…] Tom’s more specific and kindly impressions gradually melted into the old background of suspicion and dislike toward him as a queer fellow, a humpback, and the son of a rogue.

1860, George Eliot, The Mill on the Floss, Book 2, Chapter 6:

[…] I stared up at the raw spots on his cheek and thought, there is no safety anywhere: a humpback, a cripple—they all have the trigger that sets love off.

1951, Graham Greene, The End of the Affair, Penguin, published 1975, Book 2, Chapter 7, p. 81:

(derogatory, now offensive) A person with a humpback; a person who suffers from kyphosis.


humpback

en-verb

humpback (third-person singular simple present humpbacks, present participle humpbacking, simple past and past participle humpbacked)

humpbacks (present singular third-person)
humpbacking (participle present)
humpbacked (participle past)
humpbacked (past)

The captain of the James Rodgers […] was an old hand at humpbacking […]

1895, Charles Nordhoff, chapter 10, in Whaling and Fishing, New York: Dodd, Mead, page 191:

[…] the Alice Knowles […] did her whaling in the south Atlantic, by turns humpbacking off the African coast and cruising around Tristan in season.

1953, Emma Mayhew Whiting, Henry Beetle Hough, chapter 16, in Whaling Wives, Boston: Houghton Mifflin, page 240:


vendace

Coregonus albula
Coregonus albula#Translingual

Either of two types of whitefish, Coregonus albula and Coregonus vandesius.


barramundi

Likely from a Pama-Nyungan language. Said to be from a language spoken in the Rockhampton area in Queensland, but this cannot be confirmed.

Lates calcarifer
Lates calcarifer#Translingual

A diadromous fish of species Lates calcarifer, of the Centropomidae family, order Perciformes, widely distributed in the Indo-West Pacific; a popular food fish.

For other English common names see barramundi at Fishbase

(Australia) Either of two fish, Scleropages leichardti and S. jardinii, of the family Osteoglossidae.

(Australia, obsolete) The fish Neoceratodus forsteri of the family Neoceratodontidae; the Australian lungfish.


bichir

From the species epithet of Polypterus bichir taken over in 1802/1803, the years of its collection and description, after Arabic بَشِير (bašīr).

Any of a group of ray-finned fish of the family Polypteridae in the order Polypteriformes.


clingfish

en-noun

clingfish (plural clingfish or clingfishes)

A small marine fish of the family Gobiesocidae which has a sucking disc on its underside that it uses to cling to rocks and seaweed.


humuhumunukunukuapuaa

I want to go back to my little grass shack in Kealakekua, Hawaii / Where the humuhumunukunukuapua'a goes swimming by

1933, “My Little Grass Shack In Kealakekua, Hawaii”, Bill Cogswell, Tommy Harrison, Johnny Noble (music):

Rhinecanthus aculeatus
Rhinecanthus aculeatus#Translingual

Either of two species, Rhinecanthus aculeatus and Rhinecanthus rectangulus, of triggerfishes native to the reefs of Hawaii.


triggerfish

triggerfish (plural triggerfish or triggerfishes)

triggerfish (plural)
triggerfishes (plural)

Any of several brightly coloured fish, of the family Balistidae, that inhabit tropical reefs and have an erectile spine on the dorsal fin.


kob

Any of several large game fish of the family Sciaenidae, especially the kabeljou (dusky kob or great kob or perhaps the smaller squaretail kob.


neon tetra

A swarm of thin neon tetra with red bellies and bright blue backs flash by.

2021, Jenni Fagan, Luckenbooth, William Heinemann, page 270:

Paracheirodon innesi (syn. Hyphessobrycon innesi), a small, tropical American fish, popular as an aquarium fish.


rotan

Borrowed from Russian рота́н (rotán, “Amur sleeper”).

A single individual requires as much as 30 kg of other fish (including its own species) to gain 1 kg of weight. The resilience of the rotan, which requires 20 times less oxygen than other species, is best illustrated by its ability to revive a day after being left in open air. In one such instance, the first individual to rebound in a group ate up the others, according to Itar-Tass news agency.

1998, Dianne Louise Draper, Our Environment: A Canadian Perspective, 1st edition, Toronto: ITP Nelson, →ISBN, page 5b:

2007, Volodymyr I. Lushchak, Tetyana V. Bagnyukova, “Hypoxia induces oxidative stress in tissues of a goby, the rotan Perccottus glenii”, in Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, volume 148, number 4, →DOI, pages 390–397:

(uncommon) Amur sleeper (Perccottus glenii)


fat catshark

A shark (Apristurus pinguis) of the family Scyliorhinidae, closely related to the Japanese catshark (Apristurus japonicus).


striped catfish

striped catfish (plural striped catfish or striped catfishes)

striped catfish (plural)
striped catfishes (plural)

Plotosus lineatus, a type of eeltail catfish with a long, cylindrical body, black with horizontal white stripes and venomous spines on its dorsal and pectoral fins, found in the Indian Ocean, the western Pacific, and invasive in the Mediterranean.


chinook

Borrowed from Lower Chehalis c̓inúk (“the name of a Chinook village on the Columbia River”).

bor+

Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
Oncorhynchus tshawytscha#Translingual

The chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha).


sawyer

From Middle English sawyer, sawier, sawior, equivalent to saw + -yer. Doublet of sawer.

One who saws timber, especially in a sawpit.

‘A’most used-up I am, I do declare!’ she observed. ‘The jolting in the cars is pretty nigh as bad as if the rail was full of snags and sawyers.’

1842 December – 1844 July, Charles Dickens, The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1844, →OCLC:

(US) A large trunk of a tree brought down by the force of a river's current.

A beetle, mostly in the genus Monochamus, that lives and feeds on trees, including timber.


spitchcock

American Journal of Philology
Johns Hopkins University Press

The noun is derived from Middle English spiche-coke (“eel split lengthwise and broiled”). The further etymology is uncertain; the following possibilities have been suggested:
* From Middle English *speche, *spiche (“to split”) + cock, coken (“to allow (something) to cook; to cook”) (from cok (“person who cooks food, cook”), from Old English cōc (“a cook”)).
* From spik (“animal fat, especially lard”) (from Old English spiċ (“bacon; lard”)), spik, spike (“large nail; pointed stud”) (possibly from Old Norse spík, spíkr (“nail”)), or spit, spite (“rod for cooking meat, spit; pointed object”) (from Old English spitu, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“sharp point; stick”)) + cok (“male of the common domestic fowl, cock, rooster”) (from Old English coc, cocc).
The verb is probably derived from the noun.

inh

(obsolete) A method of cooking an eel (or occasionally some other fish) by splitting it along the back, cutting it into pieces, and broiling or frying it.

(by extension, archaic or obsolete) An eel (or other fish) prepared in this way.

змиорка на шиш

eel or other fish prepared by spatchcocking


spitchcock

en-verb

spitchcock (third-person singular simple present spitchcocks, present participle spitchcocking, simple past and past participle spitchcocked)

spitchcocks (present singular third-person)
spitchcocking (participle present)
spitchcocked (participle past)
spitchcocked (past)

(transitive, cooking, archaic or obsolete) To cook (an eel, or occasionally some other fish) by splitting it along the back, cutting it into pieces, and broiling or frying it.


flagtail

A perciform fish, of genus Kuhlia, distinctive due to their scaly sheaths around the dorsal and anal fins.


aholehole

en-noun

aholehole (plural aholehole or aholeholes)


airbreathing catfish

airbreathing catfish (plural airbreathing catfish or airbreathing catfishes)

airbreathing catfish (plural)
airbreathing catfishes (plural)

Any fish of the family Clariidae, which can breathe air for short periods.


beachsalmon

A fish (Leptobrama muelleri) native to the coasts of southern New Guinea, Queensland, and Western Australia.


blackchin

Any of several species of fish with a black jaw, especially

in the species of the family Neoscopelidae, particularly;

A Pacific blackchin (Scopelengys tristis)


Pacific blackchin

Pacific blackchin (plural Pacific blackchins)

A dark brown oceanodromous fish, Scopelengys tristis, of the family Neoscopelidae.


popeye blacksmelt

popeye blacksmelt (plural popeye blacksmelts)

A deep-water fish, Lipolagus ochotensis, with a slender compressed body and an anal fin base slightly shorter than its dorsal fin base.


robust blacksmelt

robust blacksmelt (plural robust blacksmelts)

An oviparous deep-water fish, Pseudobathylagus milleri, with an adipose fin far back on its caudal peduncle.


hypural joint

The joint between the caudal fin of a fish and the last of its vertebrae.


hepatopancreas

hepatopancreas (plural hepatopancreases or hepatopancreata)

hepatopancreases (plural)
hepatopancreata (plural)

An organ of the digestive tract of arthropods and fish, which provides the functions which in mammals are provided separately by the liver and pancreas.


ziege

From German Ziege, from Middle High German zige, from Old High German ziga, from Proto-West Germanic *tigā. Compare Old Armenian տիկ (tik, “wineskin”), Albanian dhi (“she-goat”), Ishkashimi dec (“goatskin bag”), and further German Zicke, which is cognate with English tick (“goat”).

An edible freshwater fish, Pelecus cultratus, of the order Cypriniformes, with an oblique mouth, a low wavy lateral line and a sharp-edged belly.


lateral line

A sense organ of a fish running lengthwise down each of its sides from the vicinity of the operculum to the base of the tail, used to detect movement and vibration in the surrounding water.


yellowbelly

The creeks gave us lots of food, too—yellow belly and jew, perch and eel.

1994, Rita Huggins & Jackie Huggins, Auntie Rita, in Heiss & Minter, Macquarie PEN Anthology of Aboriginal Literature, Allen & Unwin 2008, p. 151

(Australia) The golden perch, Macquaria ambigua.


tombo

From Japanese トンボ (tonbo, “dragonfly”, a nickname for the albacore tuna).

bor

Thunnus alalunga
Thunnus alalunga#Translingual

(Hawaii) Albacore, longfin tuna (Thunnus alalunga)


cale

(Australia) Any of a number of marine fish in the family Odacidae


brotula

A family of ophidiiform fishes, of the taxonomic family Bythitidae, who bear live young.


burbot

Borrowed from French barbote, from Latin barba (“a beard”). Displaced native eelpout.

A freshwater fish, taxonomic name Lota lota, which is similar to the ling and the cusk and spawns in the winter.


mahi-mahi

en-noun

mahi-mahi (plural mahi-mahis or mahi-mahi)

A large food and game fish of the family Coryphaenidae which is commonly found in tropical and subtropical waters.


dolphinfish

dolphinfish (plural dolphinfishes or dolphinfish)

dolphinfishes (plural)
dolphinfish (plural)

A large food and game fish of the Coryphaenidae family which is commonly found in tropical and subtropical waters.


bocaccio

A venomous marine fish, taxonomic name Sebastes paucispinis, in the subfamily Sebastinae found in the subtropical Eastern Pacific.


lumpsucker

Any of the scorpaeniform fish in the family Cyclopteridae, with adhesive pelvic discs.


lumpfish

lumpfish (plural lumpfishes or lumpfish)


grubby

(US, dialect) Any species of Cottus; a sculpin.


shining tubeshoulder

shining tubeshoulder (plural shining tubeshoulders)

A ray-finned fish, Sagamichthys abei, native to the Pacific Ocean.


pitted tubeshoulder

pitted tubeshoulder (plural pitted tubeshoulders)

The palegold searsid (Maulisia argipalla).


palegold searsid

palegold searsid (plural palegold searsids)

A deep-water ray-finned fish, Maulisia argipalla.


spanner barb

A freshwater, open-water, substrate egg-scatterer fish commonly found in the Malay Peninsula and Borneo, Systomus lateristriga syn. Puntius lateristriga.


streaklight tubeshoulder

streaklight tubeshoulder (plural streaklight tubeshoulders)

A dark-colored deep-water ray-finned fish, Holtbyrnia latifrons, found near the coasts of America.


teardrop tubeshoulder

teardrop tubeshoulder (plural teardrop tubeshoulders)

A deep-water ray-finned fish, Holtbyrnia innesi.


firehead tetra

A freshwater ray-finned fish, Hemigrammus bleheri, native to South America.


brilliant rummynose tetra

brilliant rummynose tetra (plural brilliant rummynose tetras)


rummy-nose tetra

rummy-nose tetra (plural rummy-nose tetras)


thornfish

thornfish (plural thornfishes or thornfish)

A dragonet, any of the small perciform marine fish of the family Callionymidae.


jarbua terapon

An edible omnivorous fish of species Terapon jarbua, fawn in color on top, cream-colored below, with a dark nape, and three or four curved dark brown bands run from the nape to the hind part of the body, the lowermost continuing across the middle of the caudal fin, of the Actinopterygii order.

பாலீன் கீசசான்

pālīṉ kīcacāṉ

சாவாதீன்னீகீளீ

cāvātīṉṉīkīḷī


inconnu

A large salmonid fish, Stenodus nelma, with a large mouth with a protruding lower jaw and a high and pointed dorsal fin.


bonefish

bonefish (plural bonefish or bonefishes)

Any of various game fish, of the family Albulidae, found in shallow, tropical waters.

Albula vulpes, the type of the genus and family.

A surgeonfish of the family Acanthuridae, especially genus Acanthurus.


mado

mado (usually uncountable, plural mados)

(Australia, New Zealand) Any fish in the genus Atypichthys, in Australia mostly Atypichthys strigatus and in New Zealand Atypichthys latus.


White Cloud Mountain minnow

White Cloud Mountain minnow (plural White Cloud Mountain minnows)

After the White Cloud Mountain in Canton, China. The Latin name is in honour of Tan, a boy scout who first discovered the minnows in the 1950s and brought them to the attention of ichthyologist Lin Shu Yen.

A popular aquarium fish, Tanichthys albonubes.


ling

ling (countable and uncountable, plural lings or ling)

From Middle English lenge, lienge, from Middle French leynge (compare French lingue), from Middle Dutch *lenge. Cognate with Old Norse langa. Probably related to long.

Other deep creatures now being harvested or targeted as seafood include rattails, skates, squid, red crabs, orange roughy, black oreos, smooth oreos, hoki, blue ling, southern blue whiting, sablefish, black scabbard fish and spiny dogfish.

1995 December 26, William J. Broad, “Creatures of the Deep Find Their Way to the Table”, in The New York Times:

Any of various marine food fish, of the genus Molva, resembling the cod.


neon fish

neon fish (plural neon fishes or neon fish)


wobbegong

From Dharug wabigang. A parallel in Tharawal dhabigang suggests a common Yuin-Kuric origin.

refn

In its early recording, transcribed wahbegong.

In its early recording, transcribed thubbegong.

The wobbegong is of little use; the liver will make some oil, and which is particularly good for parasites on animals, but the fish is not sought after, and the natives attack it when in their way, but do not meddle with it otherwise. South, as far as Jervis Bay, they call this fish thubbegong.

1882, Julian Edmund Tenison-Woods, “Sharks”, in Fish and Fisheries of New South Wales, Thomas Richards, page 95:

The Shark Attack File lists only one authenticated wobbegong attack, but contains fourteen "unauthoritative" attacks, and given the distinctive appearance of these sharks, it is very likely that at least some of the sharks were wobbegongs.

1983, Richard Ellis, The Book of Sharks, Knopf, →ISBN, page 98:

Any of several species of bottom-dwelling carpet sharks in the family Orectolobidae, distinguished by their small vegetation-like flaps of skin around the mouth.

Edward Smith Hill
Tharawal language
Yuin-Kuric languages
wobbegong


bull shark

Carcharhinus leucas
Carcharhinus leucas#Translingual

A shark, Carcharhinus leucas, that is common in both temperate and tropical coastal waters.


comber

Serranus cabrilla, the gaper, a fish found in European waters.

comber wrasse

comb wrasse, Labrus bergylta, syn. Labrus comber


prill

Unknown. OED mentions Cornish pryl (“sheep-droppings”) as a likely loan from English.

rich copper ore remaining after removal of low-grade material; a droplet of copper suspended in molten slag


racer

→ Japanese: レーサー (rēsā)

An animal known for its fast speed, or suitable for racing; applied especially to a number of North American snakes, certain kinds of lake trout, etc.


baldie

"Baldies. Baldchin gropers. Tastiest fish I've caught this week," I replied.

(slang) The baldchin groper (Choerodon rubescens).


scombral

From Latin scomber, scombri (“mackerel”).


chucklehead

/ˈt͡ʃʌkl̩ˌhɛd/

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From chuckle + -head, from chuckle (“clumsy”).

A coastal rockfish of California, Sebastes chlorostictus.


bullhead

(Canada, US) any of a variety of related species of generally dark-colored catfish in the family Ictaluridae.

(Canada, US) The black bullhead, Ameiurus melas.

Ameiurus nebulosus
Ameiurus nebulosus#Translingual

(Canada, US) The brown bullhead, Ameiurus nebulosus.

(Canada, US) The yellow bullhead, Ameiurus natalis.

(New Zealand) A fish of species Gobiomorphus gobioides.


betta

Rather than simply waiting for a clockwise turn and then presenting the mirror, past experience with another betta suggested that the turning behavior could be established more rapidly using a shaping procedure.

2005, Russell A. Powell, Introduction to Learning and Behavior, page 245:

"Do you know that Siamese fighting fish—bettas—excrete ammonia in their waste, and that ammonia is toxic to fish? Twenty-four hours flapping their little gills in the same, unfiltered water, and they're history.[…]"

2006, Kasey Michaels, Everything's Coming Up Rosie, page 82:

I had previously bought a bright red betta fish from the Chinese spiritual store, which I also sense had been sent for Aurayah.

2010, Nicole M. Jenkins, Glass Rock, page 163:

Siamese fighting fish
Siamese fighting fish

Any fish of the genus Betta, especially Betta splendens (the Siamese fighting fish).


bluegill

Lepomis macrochirus
Lepomis macrochirus#Translingual

A North American sunfish; Lepomis macrochirus.


alligator gar

Alligator Gar of South grows 10 feet long, 100 pounds.

1967, George K. Reid, edited by Herbert S. Zim and George S. Fichter, Pond Life, New York: Golden Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 128:

A species of gar native to the US, Atractosteus spatula, known for its extremely large size (in excess of 200 lbs).


crappie

If it's crappies you like, they're biting in 45-degree water.

2008 December 18, Gene Mueller, “More and more stripers making their way up Bay”, in Washington Times:

A member of either of two species of North American sunfish of the genus Pomoxis. Both are silvery-white with black speckles, and prized as gamefish.


footballer

/ˈfʊtbɔːləɹ/

(Australia) Any fish in the kyphosid subfamily Microcanthinae, so named for the resemblance of their stripes to football uniforms.


muskie

As is the case with northerns, the female muskie, trailed by her attendant males, may broadcast eggs over several hundred yards.

1993, Barry Reynolds, John Berryman, Pike on the Fly: The Flyfishing Guide to Northerns, Tigers, and Muskies:

(informal) muskellunge; a large freshwater gamefish of the pike family.


mandarin fish

en-noun

mandarin fish (plural mandarin fishes or mandarin fish)

mandarin fishes (plural)
mandarin fish (plural)

A carnivorous freshwater fish, Siniperca chuatsi, from China.


silver dollar

Several species of tropical freshwater fish of the genus Metynnis, of the family Characidae or Serrasalmidae, of which Metynnis argenteus is one; popular for aquariums; so named from their shape and flashing silver color.


pink snapper

These traps are used in southern Australia to take leatherjackets (Monocanthidae) in deeper waters of the continental shelf and pink snappers (Pagridae) and other bottom-dwelling fish in shallower waters.

2001, R. J. Slack-Smith, Fishing with Traps and Pots, Food and Agriculture Organization, page 33:

Like the dhufish, the pink snapper is high up on the list of popular species that anglers love to catch.

2006, Kurt Blanksby, Fishing Guide to Western Australia, Revised edition, page 52:

(Australia, Western Australia) The fish Chrysophrys auratus (or Pagrus auratus).


snapper

Heigh-ho ye trawler men come on, forget the snapper and the prawn,

1971, Harry Robertson, “Ballina Whalers” (lyrics)

And it’s out of Ballina we’ll sail, a-fishing for the Humpback whale.

Any of approximately 100 different species of fish.

(Australia, New Zealand) The fish Chrysophrys auratus, especially an adult of the species.


sweetfish

sweetfish (plural sweetfishes or sweetfish)

Plecoglossus altivelis
Plecoglossus altivelis#Translingual

An amphidromous fish, the ayu of East Asia (Plecoglossus altivelis), the only member of its genus and family Plecoglossidae, named and prized for its sweet-tasting flesh, especially in Japan, as a game fish, and is also subject to extensive aquaculture.


luderick

A borrowing into English of the Australian aboriginal name for the fish. (Reference: Australian Fish and How to Catch Them, Richard Allan, Landsdowne Publishing, 1990, →ISBN.)


sergeant baker

Probably named after Governor Phillip's orderly sergeant, William Baker. https://australianmuseum.net.au/Sergeant-Baker-Hime-purpurissatus-Richardson-1843/

The fish Latropiscis purpurissatus, of Australia.


yellowtail

yellowtail (plural yellowtails or yellowtail)

yellowtails (plural)
yellowtail (plural)

Any of various fish with yellow tails, including:

yellowtail amberjack
yellowtail amberjack

Seriola lalandi
Seriola lalandi#Translingual

Japanese amberjack (Seriola quinqueradiata), native to the northwest Pacific, often used in sushi, .

Atlantic bumper (Chloroscombrus chrysurus).

yellowtail flounder (Limanda ferruginea).

whitespotted devil (Plectroglyphidodon lacrymatus).

yellowtail horse mackerel (Trachurus novaezelandiae).


mulloway

I clawed my way up a long, evil hissing slope and saw the light on the lonely beach and my father with a mulloway slung across his back like an aura […].

1993, Tim Winton, Land's Edge, Picador, published 2012, page 79:

To us, a rainy day may mean that we have to rug up and stay inside out of the elements, but the coming of a storm or the rising swell will find a mulloway that lives and feeds along the beaches, waiting around a river entrance for the mullet...

2005, Gary Brown, Beach and Rock Fishing:

Any of the species Argyrosomus japonicus of large fish, found along the eastern coast of Africa and the coasts of Australia, prized for sport.


sunperch

sunperch (plural sunperches or sunperch)

All Bill caught were two smallish sunperch, barely worth the effort to clean and cook.

(US) Regional name for any of various North American sunfish caught as panfish.


punkie

Possibly an alteration of the first two syllables of pumpkinseed (“the North American sunfish Lepomis gibbosus”) + -ie (diminutive suffix).

But, although anything but a wary fish, the sunfish is not easy to catch because of its small mouth. Unless a small hook is used, meager results are secured in proportion to the antics of the cork or bobber, which in good "punkie" territory is likely to jiggle, stand on end and depart bottomward on short notice.

1949 October–November, John R. Greeley, “Sunfishes”, in P. W. Fosburgh, editor, New York State Conservationist, volume 4, number 2, Albany, N.Y.: State of New York Conservation Department, →OCLC, page 14, column 2:

(US) Synonym of pumpkinseed (“a North American sunfish, Lepomis gibbosus”).


silverside

Any of several small fish, mostly in families Atherinidae and Atherinopsidae, both in order Atheriniformes, that are characterized by bright, silvery scales.

ateriinlane

fish of the families Atherinidae and Atherinopsidae


sand whiting

A fish of species Sillago ciliata, found in tidal waters off Australia.


corydoras

Any of the genus Corydoras of small freshwater tropical catfish often kept in aquariums.


silver bream

Blicca bjoerkna (white bream), a freshwater species of cyprinids from Europe and Western Asia.


silver trevally

silver trevally (plural silver trevallies)

A silver-coloured fish with a dark back, of speciesPseudocaranx dentex, found in warm waters worldwide.


fathead

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California sheephead
California sheephead

A labroid food fish of California; the California sheephead. Semicossyphus pulcher.


blue eye cod

A fish, Hyperoglyphe antarctica, found in deep offshore waters off southern Australia.


gemfish

A bottom-dwelling fish of the family Gempylidae, inhabiting deep waters off southern Australia.


snoek

Borrowed from Afrikaans snoek, from Dutch snoek, from Middle Dutch snoec, from Old Dutch *snuoc. Some senses come from or are influenced by Dutch zeesnoek (“barracuda”, literally “sea pike”), a word that Van Riebeeck applied to the Thyrsites atun.

cog

2003, Oceanographic Literature Review, Volume 50, Issues 1-2600, page 348,
Snoek (Thyrsites atun) is a valuable commercial species and an important predator of small pelagic fishes in the Benguela ecosystem. The South African population attains 50% sexual maturity at a fork length of ca.73.0 cm (3 years). Spawning occurs offshore during winter-spring, along the shelf break (150-400 m) of the western Agulhas Bank and the South African west coast

My friend Jeffrey Jowell, who grew up in Cape Town, has lived away from South Africa for more than forty years, yearning for snoek the entire time. He thinks about fried snoek and grilled snoek and dried snoek and snoek made into pâté. He may miss smoked snoek most of all. Any mention of snoek—a long, bony fish that looks like a second cousin of a barracuda—triggers memories in Jeffrey of his childhood.

2004, Calvin Trillin, The strange attraction of snoek: The New Yorker, volume 80, page lxxxvi:

Snoek need not be scaled. The scales are very fine and usually slip off during handling.

2005, Alicia Wilkinson, Complete South African Fish & Seafood Cookbook, page 58:

(South Africa) An edible fish, Thyrsites atun, native to South African (Cape), South American and Australian waters, often smoked or salted.


requin

From French requin (“shark”); see below.

The big gullet of the requin shark, for example, could do so. It has been killed with men inside whole.

1893, Rev. H. J. Foster, “Jonah”, in The Thinker, volume 9, page 124:

Carcharodon carcharias
Carcharodon carcharias#Translingual

(dated) The great white shark (Carcharodon carcharias).


mahseer

An endangered large-scaled carp of the family Cyprinidae, found in rivers and lakes of India, Malaysia, and Southern Asia generally, valued as a game fish.


skirling

When the skirling of the pipes cleft the air his cold eyes softened.

1885, Juliana Horatia Ewing, The Story of a Short Life:

(Northern England and Scotland) A shrill cry or sound; a crying shrilly; a skirl.


prodigal son

Rachycentron canadum
Rachycentron canadum#Translingual

A marine fish, the cobia (Rachycentron canadum).


grilse

From Middle English grills, grilles, of unknown origin. Cognate with Scots grils, grissill, girls (“young salmon”). Compare English grawl, Scots grawl, graulse (“young salmon, grilse”).

[T]hey ca' it fasting when they hae the best o' fish frae Hartlepool and Sunderland by land carriage, forbye trouts, gilses, salmon, and a' the lave o't, and so they make their very fasting a kind of luxury and abomination; […]

1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter [VI], in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 133:

They call it fasting when they have the best of fish from Hartlepool and Sunderland by land carriage, forby [i.e., besides] trouts, grilses, salmon, and all the rest of it, and so they make their fasting a kind of luxury and abomination; […]

In our own tongue salmon are fry as babies, parr as children, smolt as adolescents, and grilse as adults.

1961, Albert Upton, Design for Thinking: A First Book in Semantics, Stanford University Press, page 4:

A young salmon after its first return from the sea.


smolt

en-adj

smolt (comparative more smolt, superlative most smolt)

more smolt (comparative)
most smolt (superlative)

From Middle English smolt, smylt, from Old English smolt, smeolt (“mild, peaceful, serene, still, gentle, clear, bright”), from Proto-Germanic *smultaz, *smeltaz (“quiet, gentle”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)meld- (“to beat, grind, crush, make weak”). Cognate with Scots smolt (“calm”), Old Saxon smulto (“calmly”), Middle Dutch smolt, smout (“weak, gentle, quiet”), Middle High German smolz (“dear, lovely, beautiful, sheen”).

cog

(UK dialectal, of weather) Calm; fine; fair.


smolt

Probably an alteration of smelt, due to smolt (“smooth”). See above.

A young salmon two or three years old, when it has acquired its silvery color.


domine

From Latin dominus. Doublet of dom, dominie, dominus, and don.

doublet

A West Indian fish (Epinnula magistralis), of the family Trichiuridae.


whitefish

en-noun

whitefish (plural whitefishes or whitefish)

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-whitefish.wav

Bear Lake whitefish Prosopium abyssicola

Any of several North American freshwater fish, of the genus Coregonus, used as food.


latid

(zoology) Any fish in the family Latidae.


lates

Scientific Latin, from Ancient Greek λάτος (látos, “Nile perch”), of uncertain origin.

der

Lates niloticus
Lates niloticus#Translingual

Any of various large fish of genus Lates, especially the Nile perch (Lates niloticus) and the barramundi (Lates calcarifer).


pintado

en-noun

pintado (countable and uncountable, plural pintados or pintadoes)

From Portuguese pintado (literally “painted”).

bor

We now bore away SSE, SE & SEBS as the ice trended, keeping close by the edge of it, where we saw many penguins and whales and many of the ice birds, small grey birds and pintadoes.

1772, James Cook, The Journals, Second Voyage, 14 December

Daption capense
Daption capense#Translingual


wiper

en-noun

wiper (countable and uncountable, plural wipers)

As is the customary method for catching wipers at Keith Sebelius Reservoir, the trio was trolling with crank baits.

1983, Kansas Fish, Game Commission, “Fishing”, in Kansas Wildlife, page 16:

M. saxatilis X M. chrysops hybrids (wipers) are difficult to distinguish, showing intermediacy from parental types in basihyal tooth formation

2013 January 23, Texas State University San Marcos Department of Biology, “Morone saxatilis”, in Texas Freshwater Fishes:

With good reason, wipers are among the most stocked hybrid gamefish in the United States. They won’t rival actual stripers for overall size, but wiper find a happy medium between the revered striper and the much smaller, pesky white bass.

2021 April 23, Stephen Klobucar, “The history and mystery of hybrid fishes”, in Meat Eater:

A hybrid fish variety artificially bred from eggs of striped bass (Morone saxatilis) fertilized with white bass (Morone chrysops) sperm, or the opposite combination.


weakfish

weakfish (plural weakfishes or weakfish)

Calque from Dutch weekvis, weekvisch (“weakfish”), equivalent to weak + fish, because of its tender mouth.

Weakfishes have no adipose fin, such as fresh-water trouts possess:[…].

1962, International Oceanographic Foundation, Sea Secrets, volumes 6-8, page 2084:

Larger fish tend to migrate farther north than smaller ones; thus, the New England weakfish fishery may possess a higher percentage of large individuals than is characteristic of the coastwide fishery. Weakfish tend to move about in schools of similar-sized individuals.

1991, Michael R. Ross, Recreational Fisheries of Coastal New England, page 194:

The weakfish is referred to as a gray trout from Maryland south, mainly to separate it from the spotted seatrout (p. 36), which is found in the southern portion of the weakfish’s range. Weakfish (Cynoscion regalis) look very much like a freshwater trout, although they exhibit few characteristics of this species.

2001, “Inshore Salt Water Fishing: Learn from the Experts at Salt Water Magazine”, in Salt Water Sportsman, page 90:

The weakfish is also a member of the Sciaenidae family, and its name refers to the tender, easily torn membrane in the fish's mouth, not its fighting ability.

2009, Ken Schultz, Ken Schultz's Essentials of Fishing, page 73:

Any of several species of game fish, of the genus Cynoscion, found in North American waters.


squeaker

An animal that squeaks.
Any of genus Synodontis, of catfish.


greenie

From green + -ie. Environmentalist sense first attested in Australia in 1973, referring to trade unionists who supported green bans.


crab-eater

A cobia, a fish of species Rachycentron canadum.


stockfish

stockfish (countable and uncountable, plural stockfishes or stockfish)

From Middle English stokfissh, stokfysch, from Middle Dutch stocvisch and/or Middle Low German stokvisch (“stick fish”). Equivalent to stock + fish.

der

So the Prior of Saint Botolph’s hobbled back again into the refectory, to preside over the stockfish and ale, which was just serving out for the friars’ breakfast.

We saw the codfish here in all the stages of preparation for the table and the market; the stockfish, dried in the open air, without salt; crapefish, salted and pressed

1856, Elisha Kent Kane, Arctic Explorations:

A cod (or similar fish) having been cut open and cured in the open air without salt.


stockfish

en-noun

stockfish (plural stockfishes or stockfish)

From Afrikaans stokvis, from Dutch stokvis.

(South Africa) The shallow-water Cape hake (Merluccius capensis)


goatfish

goatfish (plural goatfishes or goatfish)

Any of many brightly coloured fishes, of the family Mullidae, having two barbels on the chin.


leatherjacket

Any of several brightly coloured tropical fishes, of the family Balistidae, including the filefish and the triggerfish; leatherfish

Any of several Atlantic fishes, of the genus Oligoplites, that have a leathery skin; leatherjack


surgeonfish

surgeonfish (plural surgeonfishes or surgeonfish)

surgeonfishes (plural)
surgeonfish (plural)

Any of many species of reef-dwelling fishes, most of them brightly coloured, of the family Acanthuridae. They bear erectile, scalpel-like, dangerously sharp spines on either side of the caudal peduncle.

doktervis

any of many brightly coloured fishes, of the family Acanthuridae


duckbill

duckbill eel

Nettastoma parviceps, or Nessorhamphus ingolfianus

duckbill ray

Aetobatus narinari or Pteromylaeus bovinus

duck-billed platypus
duck-billed platypus

Percophis brasiliensis (Brazilian flathead).


poacher

Any of type of fish in the family Agonidae, also known as alligatorfish, starsnout, hooknose and rockhead.


pompano

From Spanish pámpano (“Stromateus fiatola”). Compare pomfret.

Any of various carangid fish, of the genus Trachinotus or species Alectis ciliaris, the African pompano, from coastal parts of the North Atlantic.


gade

Any of various fish of the cod family found in British waters; especially those of the genera Gadus and Motella.


appaloosa

Ellipsis of Appaloosa cat, Apaloosa catfish.
Shortening of "Appaloosa cat" (itself a shortening of "Apaloosa catfish"), after the Appaloosa (Opelousa) tribe which resided in Louisiana. The tribe's name is Choctaw, the second element of it being losa (“black”); the first element is variously supposed to be a term for "head" or "skull", "leggings", "moccasins", or "body".

ellipsis

A big fish wends its way towards the shape the light makes, stops and sucks at air. Mottled brown and black, with a pink, appaloosa mouth.

2005, David Francis, The Great Inland Sea, page 141:

On a two-day camp out at Red Bluff on the Angelina River in East Texas, we had out twelve trotlines, fishing for mud, appaloosa, blue and channel catfish.

2008, Harry Noble, Me and Burnice: A Simpler Time, page 167:


dicky

→ Urdu: ڈِکّی (ḍikkī), ڈِگّی (ḍiggī)

→ Pashto: ډِګّۍ (ḍiggay)

From dick + -y (diminutive suffix).
* In cover/apron senses: perhaps from English dialect dick (“leather apron”) + -y; perhaps from Dutch dek (“a cover”).


chimaera

A variant of chimera under influence from Latin Chimaera.

A cartilaginous marine fish in the subclass Holocephali and especially the order Chimaeriformes, with a blunt snout, long tail, and a spine before the first dorsal fin


cuddy

Uncertain. Perhaps a contraction from Dutch kajuit (“cabin”).

folk said the cuddy had bided so long with Pooty that whenever it opened its mouth to give a bit bray it started to stutter.

1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song (A Scots Quair), Polygon, published 2006, page 31:

w:Webster's Dictionary#Webster's New International Dictionary 1909

(Scotland, Durham, Northumberland, historical) A donkey, especially one driven by a huckster or greengrocer.

(UK, mining) A pony that works in a mine.

Edward H[enry] Knight
w:Edward H. Knight

A lever mounted on a tripod for lifting stones, leveling up railroad ties, etc.


cuddy

From Scots cuddie; compare Gaelic cudaig, cudainn, or English cuttlefish, or cod.

Pollachius virens
Pollachius virens#Translingual


cuddy

From buddy, with the initial "B" replaced with "C" in Crip slang.

I can't lie, I like to get high and figure-8 when I drive / Blow doja rope in the sky for all my cuddies that died

1996 April 23, “Get Right”, in Untouchable, performed by Mac Mall ft. LeVitti:

I could never imagine myself raising my hand to hit my Jasmine. She's my cuddy. We practically grew up together.

2012, Zonie Felder, January Jackson & Friends: The Premiere, Bloomington, I.N.: iUniverse, Inc., →ISBN, page 71:

Good night to my cuddies.. meek.. drake.. the ghostwriter and el chapo

2015 July 22, @kevinedwardsjr, Twitter, archived from the original on 2024-06-15:

(African-American Vernacular, slang) A close friend or buddy.


spotted eagle ray

en-noun

spotted eagle ray (plural spotted eagle rays)

A large ray, Aetobatus narinari, that inhabits benthic waters of the Atlantic and Pacific.

обыкнове́нный пятни́стый орля́к

A large ray, of the orders Aetobatus narinari


mola

The classic mola is pure applique and is distinguished by alternating bands of color.

1977, Rhoda L. Auld, Molas: What they are, How to make them, Ideas they suggest for creative appliqué, page 67:

Molas originally served, and still serve, as blouse front and backs.

1979, Kax Wilson, A History of Textiles, Westview Press, →ISBN, page 339:

A traditional textile art form of the Kuna people of Panama and Colombia, consisting of cloth panels to be worn on clothing, featuring complex designs made with multiple layers of cloth in a reverse appliqué technique.


sailfish

sailfish (plural sailfishes or sailfish)

A fish of the genus Istiophorus, having a characteristic sail-like fin on its back.


scrod

One theory derives it from scrawed, past participle of Cornwall dialect scraw (“to split and dry fish”), but the further origin of this word seems not to have been traced.
Another theory derives it from an obsolete Dutch term: either from schrood (“slice, shred”), from Middle Dutch schrode, schroode, referring to the splitting of the fish; or alternatively from the related schrot (“inferior product, cull”), the scrod being originally a cod too small for filleting. In both of these cases, the word is ultimately cognate to shred. Compare East Frisian schrod (“small or worthless thing; shred”), German Schrott (“scrap”).

(New England) Any cod, pollock, haddock, or other whitefish.


bluenose

(US, Australia) A trout cod (Maccullochella macquariensis)


schoolie

From school + -ie (“diminutive suffix”).

Known as the Drug Awareness Network, it was able to find funding assistance for its work from the National Drug Education unit. The network devised a programme of activities which was later advertised to intending Schoolies by helpers walking the streets and distributing leafets containing information about forthcoming events.

1996, John Cotterell, Social Networks and Social Influences in Adolescence, page 176:

Some of the locals prey on the Schoolies.

2007, John Chalmers, Byron Bay Taxis and Lunacies, page 78:

If staying in November or December, the place is filled with hundreds of schoolies.

2009, Justine Vaisutis, Australia, Lonely Planet, page 338:

But the victim in this case had been a schoolie, she′d been assaulted during Schoolies Week, and her attacker might have been a fellow schoolie.

2010, Garry Disher, Blood Moon, page 17:

(Australia) A senior school student, especially a school-leaver, engaged in unsupervised celebrations during schoolies week.

leaver

senior school student attending school-leaving celebrations

1997 August, Lawrence Pine, Massachusetts′s Plymouth Rock Bass, Field & Stream, page 94,
Poppers and Clouser-style flies can produce large numbers of schoolies that average 16 to 24 inches, with a sprinkling of fish from 24 to 28 inches.

Oklahomans Jim Campbell and Gary Tyler caught 123 peacocks (including two teeners) by concentrating on the schoolies with jigs and other small lures that day.

2003, Larry Larsen, Amazon Peacock Bass Fishing: Top Tactics for Top Locations, page 150:

Schoolies tend to concentrate inside harbors and along beaches, often moving far inside tidal creeks and salt ponds.

2009, Tom Rosenbauer, Nick Lyons, The Orvis Guide to Beginning Fly Fishing: 101 Tips for the Absolute Beginner, page 88:

(US, fishing) A juvenile gamefish (especially striped bass) at a stage where it tends to swim with others in schools rather than stay to itself.

(equestrianism, informal) Synonym of school horse


garfish

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-garfish.wav

From Middle English garfysche, equivalent to gar (“spear”) + fish.

(especially US, Canada) Any North or Central American fish of the family Lepisosteidae.


wels catfish

Silurus glanis
Silurus glanis#Translingual

A scaleless fresh-water catfish (Silurus glanis), of much of temperate western Eurasia, recognizable by its broad, flat head and wide mouth.


hawkfish

hawkfish (plural hawkfish or hawkfishes)

Any of various tropical, perciform marine fish of the family Cirrhitidae, found around the coral reefs of the western and eastern Atlantic and Indo-Pacific.


sharkskin

sharkskin (countable and uncountable, plural sharkskins)

A shiny fabric made from synthetic fibers.


sheatfish

sheatfish (plural sheatfishes or sheatfish)

The wels catfish (Silurus glanis), a catfish, the largest freshwater fish in Europe.


characin

Any of many diverse fish, of the order Characiformes, related to the carp and catfish and including the tetra, which were formerly all included in the family Characidae.


globefish

globefish (plural globefishes or globefish)

Fugu, the blowfish or globefish, offers taste, health and adventure in every bite.

1981 November 29, Steve Lohr, “ONE MAN'S FUGU IS ANOTHER'S POISON”, in The New York Times:

Westerners have never quite understood the reverence in Japan for fugu, alternately known in English as puffer fish, globefish or blowfish, of the family Tetraodontidae.

2020 December 4, Ligaya Mishan, “The Appealing and Potentially Lethal Delicacy That Is Fugu”, in The New York Times Style Magazine:

Any of many marine fish in the family Tetraodontidae, especially the puffer or sunfish, that can inflate itself to form a globe.


goblin shark

Calque of Japanese 天狗鮫 (tenguzame), from 天狗 (tengu, “a mythical creature with a long nose”) + 鮫 (same, “shark”).

The long flexible caudal fin, without a ventral lobe, the soft, flabby body, and small, soft paired and unpaired fins, suggest that the goblin shark is a relatively inactive, slow swimming species with a density close to seawater.

2001, Leonard J. V. Compagno, Sharks of the World: An Annotated and Illustrated Catalogue of Shark Species, page 70:

Humans rarely see the goblin shark and we do not have a lot of information about them. Goblin sharks have a long, flat, pointy snout and their jaws protrude when they are eating. This makes the goblin shark look very unusual.

2007, Kimm Bellotto, Katie Kubesh, Niki McNeil, Sharks, page 8:

From the few goblin sharks that have been caught and studied, scientists believe them to be ambush predators that sit and wait for prey such as small midwater fishes, crustaceans, and squids.

2011, Ellen Prager, Sex, Drugs, and Sea Slime: The Oceans' Oddest Creatures and Why They Matter, page 102:

Mitsukurina owstoni
Mitsukurina owstoni#Translingual

A species of mackerel shark, Mitsukurina owstoni, that has a long snout-like protrusion from its forehead and grows to 3.8 meters in length.

ഗോബ്ലിൻ ഷാർക്ക്

gōbliṉ ṣāṟkkŭ


pleco

Shortened from plecostomus, from translingual Plecostomus.

Any of several tropical American fish, of the family Loricariidae, popular in aquaria for their ability to clean tanks by eating algae growth.


raad

Borrowed from Arabic رَعْد (raʕd, “thunder”).

"It might reasonably be expected," says Sir J. Gardner Wilkinson, "that the raad, or electric fish of the Nile, would be one of the most sacred, and forbidden for food; and it seems not to be represented among those caught in the ancient fishing scenes." He adds regarding the raad:—"It is a small fish, and the one I saw measured little more than a foot long by four inches in depth, but it had the power of giving a very strong shock. It is the Melapterurus electricus, and may have been the ancient Latus."

1858, George Wilson, “On the electric fishes as the earliest electric machines employed by mankind”, in The Canadian Journal of Industry, Science and Art, volume 3:


grunion

Uncertain, but probably from American Spanish gruñón (“grunter, grouch”), from gruñir (“to grunt”).

Either of two small fish, of the genus Leuresthes, found along the coast of Mexico and southern California, that spawn in the wet sand at certain high tides.


bitterling

From German Bitterling, calque from Latin amārus (“bitter”), equivalent to bitter + -ling. Compare grayling, fingerling.

Any of various species of small cyprinid fish in the genus Rhodeus.


stargazer

/ˈstɑɹˌɡeɪzɚ/

A stargazer is a frightening fish by any srtetch of the imagination, but not until the day I first saw one in its own world did I understand its true nature.

2001, Richard Flanagan, Gould's Book of Fish, Vintage, published 2016, page 187:

(zoology) A perciform fish in the family Uranoscopidae.

uranoscopo

a perciform fish in the family Uranoscopidae


common minnow

Phoxinus phoxinus
Phoxinus phoxinus#Translingual

A species of minnow widespread in the fresh waters of northern Eurasia, Phoxinus phoxinus.


loach

Wikispecies
From Middle English loche, from Old French loche, further origin uncertain, possibly from Vulgar Latin *laukka (“loach”), which could be from Gaulish *leuca (“loach, slug”), also attested as the feminine name Leuca, from leux (“bright, light”), a reference to slugs' bright appearance, the fish later being associated due to similarities to the slug.

A bottom-feeding freshwater fish in the superfamily or suborder Cobitoidea.

Any true loach, of the family Cobitidae.

A similar fish in one of three other families of Cypriniformes: Botiidae, Balitoridae, and Gyrinocheilidae.


loach

From the pronunciation of the acronym LOH (“loach”).

(slang) Synonym of LOH (light observation helicopter)


chondrichthyan

Any of the cartilaginous fish, especially those of the class Chondrichthyes.


sculpin

From earlier scorpene, from Latin scorpaena, from Ancient Greek σκόρπαινα (skórpaina, “kind of fish”), diminutive of σκορπίος (skorpíos). Compare scorpionfish.

der

A small fish of the family Cottidae, usually lacking scales. Often found on river bottoms and in tidal pools.


leopard shark

A hound shark, Triakis semifasciata, having distinctive markings; it is found in the coastal waters of the eastern Pacific Ocean.


hound shark

Any of several small sharks, of the family Triakidae, found throughout the world.


ground shark

Any member of the order Carcharhiniformes, the largest order of sharks with over 270 species.


porgy

From Portuguese or Spanish pargo, from Latin phagrum, accusative of phager, from Ancient Greek φάγρος (phágros, “sea bream”).
The similarity of porgy to paugie, especially in non-rhotic accents, may have reinforced both terms.

Any of several fish of the family Sparidae; the seabream.

Cooper’s was also a fishmonger, with rows of porgies, snapper, and flounder on ice that slowly melted and dribbled pink water into white buckets.

2023, Colson Whitehead, Crook Manifesto, Fleet, pages 244-245:

In particular, the scup (paugie, Stenotomus chrysops).


fathead minnow

Pimephales promelas
Pimephales promelas#Translingual

A small freshwater fish of the minnow family, Pimephales promelas, native to North America.