What is "dogfish"

Houndfish \Hound"fish\, n. (Zo["o]l.) Any small shark of the genus Galeus or Mustelus, of which there are several species, as the smooth houndfish ( Galeus canis), of Europe and America; -- called also houndshark, and dogfish.

Note: The European nursehound, or small-spotted dogfish, is Scyllium canicula; the rough houndfish, or large-spotted dogfish, is Scyllium catulus. The name has also sometimes been applied to the bluefish ( Pomatomus saltatrix), and to the silver gar.

Roussette \Rous*sette"\, n. [F.; -- so called in allusion to the color. See Russet.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) A fruit bat, especially the large species ( Pieropus vulgaris) inhabiting the islands of the Indian ocean. It measures about a yard across the expanded wings.

2. (Zo["o]l.) Any small shark of the genus Scyllium; -- called also dogfish. See Dogfish.

Bowfin \Bow"fin`\, n. (Zo["o]l.) A voracious ganoid fish ( Amia calva) found in the fresh waters of the United States; the mudfish; -- called also Johnny Grindle, and dogfish.

Amia \Am"i*a\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ? a kind of tunny.] (Zo["o]l.) A genus of fresh-water ganoid fishes, exclusively confined to North America; called bowfin in Lake Champlain, dogfish in Lake Erie, and mudfish in South Carolina, etc. See Bowfin.

a name for various types of small shark, late 15c., dokefyche, from dog (n.) + fish (n.). Said to be so called because they hunt in packs. This was the image of sharks in classical antiquity as well.\n\nBut in the Mediterranean, among the Greeks and Romans of antiquity, closer contact with sharks had left an impression of vicious dogs of the sea. Thus, Pliny's canis marinus. The metaphor of the dog spread to the North to dominate the European image of the shark, from the Italian pescecane and French chien de mer to the German Meerhund and Hundfisch and English sea dog and dogfish.

[Tom Jones, "The Xoc, the Sharke and the Sea Dogs," in "Fifth Palenque Round Table, 1983," edited by Virginia M. Field, 1985.]

n. 1 Any of various small sharks 2 # especially those from the family Squalidae 3 # a catshark, any shark from family ''(taxlink Scyliorhinidae family noshow=1)'' 4 # a kitefin shark, any shark from family Dalatiidae 5 # (cx UK English) (taxlink Scyliorhinus canicula species noshow=1) or (taxlink Scyliorhinus stellaris species noshow=1) 6 # (cx Azores Is. English) (taxlink Scyliorhinus canicula species noshow=1) 7 # (cx Canada English) (taxlink Squalus suckleyi species noshow=1) 8 # (cx Bermuda English) (taxlink Mustelus canis species noshow=1) 9 # (cx Barbados English) (taxlink Bodianus rufus species noshow=1) 10 # (cx Guyana English) (taxlink Ginglymostoma cirratum species noshow=1) or (taxlink Mustelus canis species noshow=1) 11 # (cx Trinidad Tobago English) (taxlink Ginglymostoma cirratum species noshow=1) 12 # (cx Namibia English) ''Squalus acanthias'', (taxlink Squalus blainville species noshow=1), (taxlink Squalus megalops species noshow=1), or (taxlink Squalus mitsukurii species noshow=1) 13 (cx US English) The bowfin, ''Amia calva''.

1. n. primitive long-bodies carnivorous freshwater fish with a very long dorsal fin; found in sluggish waters of North America [syn: bowfin, grindle, Amia calva]

2. any of several small sharks

3. [also: dogfishes (pl)]

Dogfish may refer to: