zebra

1600; borrowed from Italian zebra, from Portuguese zebra, zebro (“zebra”), from Old Galician-Portuguese enzebro, ezebra, azebra (“wild ass”), from earlier cebrario (882), ezebrario (897), from Vulgar Latin *eciferus, from Latin equiferus (“wild horse”) (Pliny), from equus (“horse”) + ferus (“wild”).
While the word was traditionally pronounced with a long vowel in the first syllable in standard English, during the twentieth century a vowel shift occurred in regions of England, with the shortening of the first vowel. This pronunciation is now used throughout the UK and most Commonwealth nations. The long-vowel pronunciation remains standard in Canadian and American English.
(unlikely diagnosis): Originates in the advice often given to medical students, "when you hear hoofbeats, think of horses, not zebras".
(referee): In reference to the black and white striped shirts they wear.

(informal) A zebra cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata).


multi

(informal) Neolamprologus multifasciatus (small shell-dwelling cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika, popular as aquarium fish)


blacksmith

From black (color of forged iron) + smith (related to smite)..

compound

A blackish fish of the Pacific coast (Chromis punctipinnis).


acara

Any of a number of Central American and South American freshwater fish in the family Cichlidae.


convict

From Middle English convicten, from Anglo-Norman convicter, from Latin convictus, the past participle of convincō (“to convict”). Doublet of convince. Displaced native Old English forwyrċan (“to convict, condemn”).

ncog

The convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata), also known as the zebra cichlid, a popular aquarium fish, with stripes that resemble a prison uniform.


scar

From Latin scarus (“a kind of fish”), from Ancient Greek σκάρος (skáros, “parrot wrasse, Sparisoma cretense, syn. Scarus cretensis”).

der

A marine food fish, the scarus or parrotfish (family Scaridae).


tog

en-verb

tog (third-person singular simple present togs, present participle togging, simple past and past participle togged)

togs (present singular third-person)
togging (participle present)
togged (participle past)
togged (past)

Another mindset that seems to work well for new togging recruits is to ask them to wait until the fish ‘takes the rod down’.

2023, Jason Colby, “Tog Jigging: Do It Your Way!”, in The Fisherman:


wrasse

Plural of dialectal (Cornwall) wrah, wraugh, wrath, from Cornish wragh (“old woman, hag; wrasse”), lenited form of gwragh.

bor

Any one of numerous edible, marine, spiny-finned fishes of the family Labridae, of which several species are found in the Mediterranean and on the Atlantic coast of Europe. Many of the species are brightly colored.


bluefish

en-noun

bluefish (countable and uncountable, plural bluefishes or bluefish)

Pomatomus saltatrix
Pomatomus saltatrix#Translingual

A voracious fish (Pomatomus saltatrix) found in waters of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean.

(Bermuda) The puddingwife wrasse (Halichoeres radiatus).

A New Zealand bluefish (Girella cyanea).


cichlid

Learned borrowing from New Latin Cichlidae.

lbor

Any of many tropical fish, of the family Cichlidae, popular as aquarium fish.


tilapia

From translingual Tilapia, from Tswana tlhapi (“fish”).
The drag race slang usage is a reference to the comment by Gia Gunn on entering Ru Paul's Drag Race (season 6) "Just landed like fresh tilapia".

Well I dined last night with Scarface Ron
On tilapia fishcakes and fried black swan.

2006, Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan, Bottom of the World:

Any of various edible fish, formerly species of the genus Tilapia, but now placed in other cichlid genera (such as Oreochromis), native to Africa and the Middle East but cultivated worldwide.


angelfish

en-noun

angelfish (plural angelfish or angelfishes)

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


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


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


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)


clownfish

en-noun

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

fish of the genera Amphiprion or Premnas


cale

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


baldie

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


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).


fathead

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

California sheephead
California sheephead

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


parrotfish

parrotfish (plural parrotfishes or parrotfish)

parrotfishes (plural)
parrotfish (plural)

Any of several tropical marine fish of the family Scaridae known for their beak-like mass of teeth used to scrape algae from rocks or coral.


sergeant major

sergeant major (plural sergeant majors or sergeants major)

sergeant majors (plural)
sergeants major (plural)

non-commissioned officer
non-commissioned officer

(US, plural sergeants major) The most senior rank of non-commissioned officer in the United States Army, ranking above a first sergeant. In the United States Marine Corps it ranks above First Sergeant and is equal in grade to Master Gunnery Sergeant.


garibaldi

/ɡæɹɪˈbældi/

The jacket is named after Italian patriot Giuseppe Garibaldi, who wore a red shirt of similar appearance. The biscuit is also named after Garibaldi.

(British) a biscuit consisting of currants squashed between layers of flaky pastry.


doncella

Borrowed from Spanish doncella (“maid”). Doublet of damsel, demoiselle, and donzella.

doublet

A fish of Florida and the West Indies (Halichoeres radiatus).


yellowfin

en-noun

yellowfin (plural yellowfin or yellowfins)

yellowfin cutthroat trout (†Oncorhynchus clarkii macdonaldi, in the family Salmonidae)

yellowfin sea bream, any of several species in family Sparidae

Any of various fish with yellow fins.
yellowfin sole (Limanda aspera)


blackfish

blackfish (plural blackfishes or blackfish)

(Canada, US) Either of two dark-coloured fish of the west Atlantic, the tautog of New England (Tautoga onitis) and the black sea bass (Centropristis striata).


cunner

A marine European fish (Symphodus melops).


discus fish

discus fish (plural discus fish or discus fishes)

discus fish (plural)
discus fishes (plural)

Any of three cichlid fish species from the genus Symphysodon, popular as aquarium fishes.


anemonefish

anemonefish (plural anemonefishes or anemonefish)

anemonefishes (plural)
anemonefish (plural)

From anemone + fish, due to the species' symbiotic relationship with sea anemones.

Any of the clownfish, principally in the Amphiprion genus.


damselfish

damselfish (plural damselfishes or damselfish)

damselfishes (plural)
damselfish (plural)


bergylt

Sebastes norvegicus
Sebastes norvegicus#Translingual

A rose fish (Sebastes norvegicus), an edible red fish of the North Atlantic.


butterfish

butterfish (plural butterfish or butterfishes)

butterfish (plural)
butterfishes (plural)

Any of various species of fish having a slippery mucous coating, especially

Perciform fish of the family Stromateidae, including the genera Pampus, Peprilus and Stromateus.

A rock gunnel, Pholis gunnellus, an eel-like fish found in the intertidal and subtidal zones of the North Atlantic.

The New Zealand fish Odax pullus, also known as greenbone.

(obsolete) The Murray perch, Oligorus mitchelli; an Australian perciform fish of Murray river, now known as trout cod, Maccullochella macquariensis http://www.fishbase.org/Nomenclature/SynonymsList.php?ID=6308&SynCode=26048&GenusName=Maccullochella&SpeciesName=macquariensis, http://www.fishbase.org/summary/Maccullochella-macquariensis.html.


hogfish

Percina caprodes, an American freshwater fish, the log perch, rockfish, a kind of darter.

The fishermen crowding in the cafés were also waiting for the end of the storm, when the fish, reassured, would rise to the surface after the bait. Soles, hog fish and skate were returning from their nocturnal expeditions. Day was now breaking.

1952, Nikos Kazantzakis, chapter 1, in Carl Wildman, transl., Zorba the Greek, New York, N.Y.: Simon & Schuster, translation of Βίος και πολιτεία του Αλέξη Ζορμπά [Víos kai politeía tou Aléxi Zormpá], →ISBN, page 3:

A large, red, spiny-headed, European marine fish (Scorpaena scrofa).

A pinfish, Lagodon rhomboides, ranging from Massachusetts to Texas.


tautog

Borrowed from Narragansett tautauog, plural of taut.

The fish he found were nothing unusual: cunner and tautog, small fish generally found around pilings or rocky shores, and one weakfish.

2007 August 22, Ellen Barry, James Estrin, “Like Ducks and Penguins, With Nervous Stomachs”, in New York Times:

A fish of the wrasse family found in salt water off of eastern North America from Nova Scotia to South Carolina (Tautoga onitis).


ladyfish

ladyfish (plural ladyfishes or ladyfish)

Eventually we yielded to the urge to catch something — anything — so we sought out a channel where we boated seatrout, ladyfish and one lizard fish.

2008 March 5, Norm Zeigler, “Seeking Florida Redfish, Catching Only Glimpses”, in New York Times:

A coastal dwelling fish (Elops saurus), found throughout the tropical and sub-tropical regions.


maomao

A number of different fish of the Pacific Ocean

Abudefduf abdominalis (green damselfish)


ram cichlid

Mikrogeophagus ramirezi
Mikrogeophagus ramirezi#Translingual

Mikrogeophagus ramirezi, a species of freshwater fish endemic to the Orinoco River basin


tigerfish

tigerfish (plural tigerfishes or tigerfish)

Any of a number of species of fish with stripes on their bodies, otherwise fearsome appearance, or aggressive predatory behavior, including, among others:

(Africa) Any fish in the genus Hydrocynus of characins.

Any fish in the percoid genus Datnioides.

Any of the genus Pterois of east Asian lionfishes.


jewelfish

jewelfish (plural jewelfishes or jewelfish)

Any fish in the genus Hemichromis, native to Africa.


combfish

combfish (plural combfishes or combfish)

A comb wrasse, an Australasian wrasse (Coris picta), having a comb-like stripe.


lionhead cichlid

lionhead cichlid (plural lionhead cichlids)

a cichlid rheophile freshwater fish from Africa.


razorfish

razorfish (plural razorfishes or razorfish)

Any of various not closely related fish, including those of the genera Aeoliscus, Centriscus, and Xyrichtys.


severum

The banded cichlid, Heros severus (previously Cichlasoma severum), a freshwater tropical fish of South America.


guapote

I had caught wild trout in the mountains, small snook in the surf, even a rainbow-colored guapote in a city park pond in the country's capital, San José.

2007 December 25, Dave Sherwood, “Fishing and Floating in Costa Rica”, in New York Times:

Parachromis managuensis, a cichlid fish native to Nicaragua.


gilthead

Sparus aurata
Sparus aurata#Translingual

A marine fish, Sparus aurata (gilt-head bream), with a golden-coloured head; the giltpoll.

Symphodus melops, a coastal fish; the golden maid, conner, or sea partridge.


greenbone

From green + bone, because the bones are green when boiled.

(New Zealand) A common food fish, Odax pullus


sea partridge

A gilthead or corkwing wrasse (Symphodus melops), a fish of the British coasts.


bolty

An edible fish of the Nile, the Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus, formerly Chromis nilotica).


embiotocoid

en-adj

embiotocoid (comparative more embiotocoid, superlative most embiotocoid)

more embiotocoid (comparative)
most embiotocoid (superlative)

(ichthyology) Belonging to the fish family Embiotocidae.


goldfinny

One of two or more species of European labroid fishes, Symphodus melops and Ctenolabrus rupestris.


foxfish

An Australian fish, Bodianus frenchii, and related species.


chogset

Shortening of cachogset, from an Algonquian language; probably Mohegan-Pequot cachauxet (“cunner”).


burgall

Tautogolabrus adspersus
Tautogolabrus adspersus#Translingual


labrid

(zoology) Any of the family Labridae of marine fishes.


odacid

(ichthyology) Any of the family Odacidae of perciform fishes


scarid

(ichthyology) Any of the family Scaridae; parrotfishes.


bluehead

The blunt-headed wrasse or blue-headed wrasse, a fish of the species Thalassoma amblycephalum or Thalassoma bifasciatum.


pigfish

Any of several other fishes thought to resemble pigs, including


alfione

(dated) A species of surfperch found in the eastern Pacific California (Rhacochilus toxotes).


pomacentrid

(Ichthyology) Any of the Pomacentridae, a family of perciform fish comprising the damselfishes and clownfishes


scarus

From Latin scarus. See scar (“a kind of fish”).

A parrotfish, a Mediterranean food fish (any of various Scaridae species).


oscar

A cichlid fish of species Astronotus ocellatus, native to South America, sometimes kept in aquariums.


bergall

/ˈbɜː(ɹ)ɡɔːl/

From Norwegian berggalt (“a labrid fish”), equivalent to berg (“mountain, hill; rock”) + galte (“boar”).

Tautogolabrus adspersus, a wrasse native to the western Atlantic, inhabiting inshore waters near the sea floor at depths of 10–128 metres (33–420 feet) and at latitudes of 36°–49° north, and reaching up to 38 centimetres (15 inches) in total length and up to 1 kilogram (2·2 pounds) in weight.


blue acara

Any of species Andinoacara pulcher of blue-grey freshwater cichlids found in Central and South America.


mango tilapia

en-noun

mango tilapia (plural mango tilapia or mango tilapias)

mango tilapia (plural)
mango tilapias (plural)


puddingwife wrasse

puddingwife wrasse (plural puddingwife wrasses)

Perhaps corrupted from the Spanish name in Cuba, pudiano verde.

Halichoeres radiatus, an American wrasse.


surfperch

Any of the family Embiotocidae of viviparous perciform fishes, found mainly in the northeast Pacific Ocean.


baldchin groper

baldchin groper (plural baldchin gropers)

From bald + chin + groper, because it looks like a baldhead from below.

A type of wrasse, Choerodon rubescens, endemic to the waters of Western Australia.


knifefish

knifefish (plural knifefishes or knifefish)

Any of numerous fish with knife-shaped bodies, from several different families.


mbuna

Borrowed from Tonga (Malawi) mbuna (“cichlid”).

The mbunas have suffered such local extinctions for a number of reasons. These include shifts in eating habits for the fisher folk who prefer eating mbunas and save the prime species for their market (in contrast to original beliefs that mbunas are not edible), habitate loss and fragementation leading to loss of breeding sites (especially along the western side of the arm where much development is taking place, for instance, the construction of resorts).

2014, Steve Donda, Fragmentation of Resource Management on the South East Arm of Lake Malawi: Dynamics Around Fisheries:

One of a group of haplochromine cichlids from Lake Malawi.


Jack Dempsey

Named after the American boxing champion Jack Dempsey (1895–1983), because of its aggressive nature and strong facial features.

Rocio octofasciata, a cichlid fish Native to Mexico and Honduras, but widely kept in aquaria and introduced elsewhere in the wild.


trimac cichlid

A large cichlid, Cichlasoma trimaculatum.


convict cichlid

convict cichlid (plural convict cichlids)

Its stripes are supposed to resemble a prison uniform.

Amatitlania nigrofasciata, a cichlid fish native to Central America, with black and white stripes.


zebra cichlid

Named from its black and white stripes, like those of a zebra.

Synonym of convict cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata)


Texas cichlid

Herichthys cyanoguttatus, a freshwater cichlid native to the United States, having cream and turquoise spots.


flowerhorn

Could you give information on flowerhorns? I have heard that they were formed by crossbreeding blood-red parrot cichlids to trimacs. Is that true?

2006, Tropical Fish Hobbyist, volume 54, numbers 9-12, page 19:

A brightly-coloured ornamental cichlid with a distinctive nuchal hump.


pintano

Abudefduf saxatilis, a species of damselfish.


California sheephead

Semicossyphus pulcher, a species of wrasse native to the eastern Pacific Ocean.


old wife

From Middle English ald wyf, eld wiif, olde wyffe.

A species of perciform fish endemic to the temperate coastal waters of Australia (Enoplosus armatus)


pompadour fish

pompadour fish (plural pompadour fishes or pompadour fish)

pompadour fishes (plural)
pompadour fish (plural)


tuskfish

tuskfish (plural tuskfishes or tuskfish)


lamprologine

Any cichlid fish of the tribe Lamprologini


humphead wrasse

humphead wrasse (plural humphead wrasses)


austrotilapiine

Any of a certain genus of African cichlid


slingjaw wrasse

slingjaw wrasse (plural slingjaw wrasses)


blueside wrasse

blueside wrasse (plural blueside wrasses)

Cirrhilabrus cyanopleura, a wrasse native to the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.


patwa

(Guyana) Any of the genus Cichlasoma of fishes.


Maori wrasse

They've been feeding a couple of Maori wrasse so they come up onto the platform and swim through the legs of the delighted tourists.

2008, Monte Dwyer, Red In The Centre: The Australian Bush Through Urban Eyes, Monyer Pty Ltd, page 57:

The Humphead wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus).


Nemo

Audio (US)

The "clownfish" meaning comes from the film Finding Nemo, where Nemo is a clownfish.

A diminutive of the male given name Geronimo


peacock bass

peacock bass (plural peacock basses or peacock bass)

peacock basses (plural)
peacock bass (plural)

Any of the large freshwater cichlids of the genus Cichla.