rabbitfishn.
/ˈrabɪtˌfɪʃ/, U.S. /ˈræbətˌfɪʃ/ 1. A cartilaginous fish of the order Chimaeriformes, typically having flat, rodent-like front teeth; a chimaera; esp. Chimaera monstrosa, found in the north-east Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and around South Africa, which has a blunt snout and a long thin tail. Cf. ratfish n. at rat n.1 Compounds 2.
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the world > animals > fish > subclass Holocephali > [noun] > member of family Chimaeridae > chimaera monstrosa (rabbit-fish)
sea-cat1601
chimera1804
rabbitfish1828
sea-ape1862
1828 J. Fleming Hist. Brit. Animals 173 The specimen [of Chimæra], from which the preceding description was taken, was sent from Unst, where it is termed the Rabbit-fish.
1848 S. Maunder Treasury Nat. Hist. 560/1 Rabbit-fish, a local name for the Northern Chimæra, or King of the Herrings.
1925 J. T. Jenkins Fishes Brit. Isles 349 From its great cutting teeth it [sc. Chimæra monstrosa] is known to the Shetlanders as the Rabbit-fish.
1975 Times 5 Dec. 12/3 The deep-sea species..can be portrayed as menacing horrors. The specific name for one of them, rabbitfish, is Chimaera Monstrosa.
1994 Nature 10 Feb. 522/2 (caption) The Pacific spookfish (Rhinochimaera pacifica), also known as the narrownose chimaera or rabbitfish,..lives at depths up to 1,300 m.
2. U.S. Any of several globefishes; esp. the smooth puffer, Lagocephalus laevigatus. Now rare.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Tetraodontiformes (puffers) > [noun] > family Tetraodontidae (puffers) > member of (puff-fish)
globe fish1668
sea-orb1774
Tetrodon1774
puff-fish1807
puffer1814
swell-fish1839
rabbitfish1842
tambour1854
swallow1876
blaasop1902
toado1943
the world > animals > fish > miscellaneous types > [noun]
mudfish1502
sprat1552
frogfish1598
rockfish1605
yellowtaila1622
sleeper1668
picarel1688
hogfish1735
porkfish1735
sucker1753
zebrafish1771
yellowbelly1775
white steenbras1801
stone-toter1817
stargazer1842
warehou1848
baardman1853
goatfish1864
holostome1864
spot snapper1876
suck-fish1876
mademoiselle1882
queenfish1883
cigar-fish1884
emperor fish1884
rock beauty1885
oilfish1896
aholehole1897
berrugate1898
Photoblepharon1902
sweet-lip1934
rabbitfish1941
redbait1960
1842 J. E. De Kay Zool. N.-Y. iv. 330 The Lineated Puffer..is called Rabbit-fish, according to Schoepfi, on account of the whiteness of its flesh.
1897 Rep. N.Y. Forest, Fish, & Game Comm. II. 224 Rabbit-fish; Smooth Puffer.—Occasionally taken in the fall in Gravesend Bay.
1905 D. S. Jordan Guide Study of Fishes II. xxiv. 423 In the [American] rabbit-fishes..the body is box-shaped.
1941 R. Faherty Big Old Sun xi. 255 ‘I'm a blow-puffing rabbitfish,’ he sputtered.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > order Scorpaeniformes (scorpion-fish) > [noun] > family Triglidae (gurnards) > genus Trigla > trigla lineata (French gurnard)
French gurnard1836
rock gurnard1836
rabbitfish1880
1880–4 F. Day Fishes Great Brit. & Ireland I. 57 Streaked gurnard:..rock gurnard: rabbit fish.
4. Any of the small herbivorous fishes constituting the family Siganidae, found in inshore waters of the tropical Indo-Pacific, esp. around reefs, having a blunt snout and small rabbit-like jaws, and bearing venom glands on the fins; esp. Siganus oramin of the Indian Ocean.
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the world > animals > fish > superorder Acanthopterygii (spiny fins) > order Perciformes (perches) > [noun] > member of suborder Siganoidei (rabbit fish)
rabbitfish1953
1953 J. L. B. Smith Sea Fishes S. Afr. 328 Rabbitfishes. Compressed ovate body with slippery skin and minute concealed scales.
1973 Aquaculture 1 361 Rabbitfish are widely spread throughout the Indian and the western and central Pacific oceans.
2001 Limnol. & Oceanogr. 46 26/1 Occasionally, clusters of parrotfish (Scaridae) and rabbitfish (Siganidae) are observed inside the seagrass meadow.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2008; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1828