butterfish

Plural: butterfish, butterfishes

Noun

• any of numerous small flat Atlantic food fish having smooth skin
• small marine fish with a short compressed body and feeble spines
• slippery scaleless food fish of the northern Atlantic coastal waters
• 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.
• Any of various species of fish having a slippery mucous coating, especially
• A rock gunnel, Pholis gunnellus, an eel-like fish found in the intertidal and subtidal zones of the North Atlantic.
• Any of various species of fish having a slippery mucous coating, especially
• The New Zealand fish Odax pullus, also known as greenbone.
• Any of various species of fish having a slippery mucous coating, especially
• 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.
• A sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria).

Synonyms

Pholis gunnellus, rock gunnel, stromateid, stromateid fish