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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

(Zool.)

A name given to several different fishes, in allusion to their slippery coating of mucus, as the

Stromateus triacanthus

of the Atlantic coast, the

Epinephelus punctatus

of the southern coast, the rock eel, and the kelpfish of New Zealand.

A butterfish (Peprilus paru)

butterfish ‎(plural butterfish or butterfishes)

Any of various species of fish having a slippery mucous coating, especially
1. Perciform fish of the family Stromateidae, including the genera Pampus, Peprilus and Stromateus.
2. A rock gunnel, Pholis gunnellus, an eel-like fish found in the intertidal and subtidal zones of the North Atlantic.
3. The New Zealand fish Odax pullus, also known as greenbone.
4. (obsolete) The Murray perch, Oligorus mitchelli; an Australian perciform fish of Murray river, now known as trout cod, Maccullochella macquariensis , .

fish of the family Stromateidae

Pholis gunnellus

Odax pullus

Maccullochella macquariensis — see trout cod