mutton-fishn.
/ˈmʌtnfɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈmətnˌfɪʃ/ 1. Chiefly U.S. Any of various marine fishes of the Caribbean and western Atlantic whose flesh when cooked is supposed to taste of mutton; esp. (a) the mutton snapper, Lutjanus analis; (b) the ocean pout, Macrozoarces americanus; (c) the Irish pompano, Diapterus auratus.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > [noun] > suborder Blennioidei > member of family Zoarcidae (klipfish)
eel-poutOE
green-bone1525
rockfish1731
mutton-fish1736
klipfish1790
1736 Philos. Trans. 1735–6 (Royal Soc.) 39 112 The Mutton-Fish. This is reckon'd one of the most delicate Fish of the Bahama Islands.
1754 M. Catesby & G. Edwards Nat. Hist. Carolina (rev. ed.) II. 25 Anthea quartus Rondeletii... The Mutton Fish. The Size of these Fish is various, some being smaller and others much larger then the Figure.
1775 B. Romans Conc. Nat. Hist. E. & W. Florida App. 52 The fish caught here..are such as..red, grey and black snappers, dog snappers, mutton-fish.
1877 Scribner's Monthly 15 22/2 The ‘mutton-fish’ and the ‘groupers’ were the largest we saw.
1884 G. B. Goode in G. B. Goode et al. Fisheries U.S.: Sect. I 247 The Mutton-fish Zoarces anguillaris..is occasionally eaten by the Cape Ann fishermen, by whom it is known as the Mutton-fish, the name referring to a supposed resemblance of its flesh to mutton.
1896 Rep. U.S. Bureau Fisheries 1895 392 Irish Pompano; Mutton Fish.
1911 Rep. Comm. U.S. Bureau Fisheries 1908 313/1 Mutton-fish (Zoarces anguillaris). The name is also given to the snapper..of Florida.
1939 Florida: Guide to Southernmost State (Federal Writers' Project) i. 30 Colorful tropical fish are..muttonfish..and red mahoganies.
1987 Chicago Tribune (Nexis) 21 May (Food Guide) c17 Ocean pout (yellow eel, muttonfish, ling or laughing Jack) has a more meaty texture.
2. Australian. Any of various edible gastropod molluscs of the genus Haliotis; an abalone; esp. the large H. ruber, common in southern and eastern Australia. Also: the flesh of such molluscs used as food.
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the world > food and drink > food > animals for food > seafood > [noun] > shell-fish or mollusc > other edible molluscs
musseleOE
palour1589
ormer1637
mutton-fish1830
pipia1837
abalone1850
moule1867
toheroa1873
steamer clam1909
praire1929
the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Triploblastica or Coelomata > class Gastropoda > [noun] > superorder Branchifera > order Prosobranchiata > section Holostomata > genus Haliotis > flesh of member of genus Haliotis
mutton-fish1830
1830 G. A. Robinson Jrnl. 15 Feb. in N. J. B. Plomley Friendly Mission (1966) 120 The natives procured some mutton-fish, which the natives of the south call par.rar.
1843 E. Dieffenbach Trav. N.Z. II. x. 239 Haliotis iris... Inhabits New Zealand... The ‘mutton-fish’ of the colonists; eaten boiled, but very tough.
1874 A. Bathgate Colonial Experiences xvii. 245 The beautiful iridescent shell of the mutton-fish..is not uncommon in the south.
1882 J. E. Tenison-Woods Fish & Fisheries New S. Wales 92 Then mutton fish were speared. This is the ear shell-fish (Haliotis nævosa), which was eagerly bought by the Chinese merchants.
1944 Living off Land: Man. Bushcraft ii. 30 In the case of molluscs like mutton fish, cook until most of the natural moisture has boiled out of the shell.
1959 W. G. McClymont Explor. N.Z. (ed. 2) 42 They lived on mutton fish.
1966 Austral. Encycl. VI. 124/2 Several large and small species of ear shells (Haliotidae)..cling to the rocks like limpets. Also called mutton-fish in Australia, these shells have their equivalent in the ‘paua’ in New Zealand.
1974 J. M. Thomson Fish, Ocean & Shore 89 Abalone..were known as mutton fish in Australia before the American term abalone took over.
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1884 Stand. Nat. Hist. (1888) I. Index Mutton-fish 93 [text on p. 93 has ‘mutton-fish thimble’].
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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