moonfishn.
/ˈmuːnfɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈmunˌfɪʃ/ Any of various pale or silvery marine fishes with deep, usually laterally compressed bodies; esp. (a) the opah, Lampris guttatus; (b) the ocean sunfish, Mola mola (family Molidae); (c) any of several carangid fishes, such as the look-down, Selene vomer, and the swallowtail, Trachinotus russellii; (d) an Indo-Pacific fingerfish, Monodactylus argenteus (family Monodactylidae); (e) a spadefish, Chaetodipterus faber (family Ephippidae), of the Atlantic coast of North and South America and the Gulf of Mexico.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > [noun] > order Lampridiformes > member of family Lamprididae (opah)
moonfish1646
kingfish1653
opah1752
sea-pert1880
sunfish1880
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Percoidei > [noun] > family Ephippidae (spade-fishes) > chaetodipterous faber (spade-fish)
moonfish1646
spade-fish1704
porgy1725
angelfish1888
sheep's head1888
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > suborder Scombroidei (mackerel) > [noun] > family Carangidae (scads) > member of genus Selene or Vomer (moon-fish)
moonfish1646
hogback1832
sunfish1877
lookdown1882
horse-fish1883
horse-head1884
the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Tetraodontiformes (puffers) > [noun] > family Molidae (ocean sun-fish) > member of genus Mola
molebat1598
mole1601
sunfisha1630
moonfish1646
mola1678
sun perch1804
ocean sunfish1900
short diodon-
1646 Sir T. Browne Pseudodoxia Epidemica iii. xxiv. 169 The Moone fish, or Orthragoriscus. View more context for this quotation
1681 N. Grew Musæum Regalis Societatis i. 102 Moon~fish, Mola Salviani Luna; Because the Tail-fin is shaped like a Half-Moon.
1753 Chambers's Cycl. Suppl. Columba marina, the sea dove..the name of an East Indian fish, and appearing to be a species of the orbis, or moon-fish.
1810 Nat. Hist. in Ann. Reg. 631/2 The moon-fish (tetraodon mola).
1845 D. H. Storer Synopsis Fishes N. Amer. in Mem. Amer. Acad. II. 339 Ephippus gigas, Parkinson... Called ‘Moon-fish’ in the Antilles.
1878 Proc. U.S. National Mus. 1 376 Argyriosus vomer.—Moon-fish.
1878 Proc. U.S. National Mus. 1 376 Selena argentea.—Moon-fish... Not common.
1878 Proc. U.S. National Mus. 1 376 Vomer setipinnis.—Moon-fish; Sun-fish.
1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 322 Selene setipinnis..known..in North Carolina as the ‘Moonfish’ or ‘Sunfish’.
1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 323 The Silver Moonfish—Selene argentea.
1896 D. S. Jordan & B. W. Evermann Check-list Fishes & Fish-like Vertebr. N. & Middle Amer. 350 Lampris luna... Mariposa; Opah;..Gudlax; Moonfish.
1903 T. H. Bean Fishes N.Y. 603 The moonfish has occasionally been taken as far north as Cape Cod.
1959 A. Hardy Fish & Fisheries II. iv. 75 Another wanderer from warmer waters, coming right into the North Sea..is the most brilliantly coloured of all our fishes, the opah or moon-fish, Lampris guttatus.
1965 A. J. McClane Standard Fishing Encycl. 499/2 Both the lookdowns and the moonfish grow to about 10–12 inches.
1990 House & Garden Aug. 122/1 The following are highly-rated by fish connoisseurs: white pomfret..porgy (black sea bream), moonfish..and..the sailfish.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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