Dictionary of Ichthyology

Brian W. Coad and Don E. McAllister^†

Revised: 04 May 2008

C

C = 1) abbreviation for caudal fin.

C = 2) abbreviation for caudal fin rays.

C = 3) Carboniferous, a period within the Paleozoic Era ca. 365-290 million years ago.

C = 4) the Roman numeral 100.

C = 5) degrees centigrade, a measure of temperature. Note that 12°C is a temperature while 12C° is a number of degrees or a range, e.g. 20-31°C inclusive.

c. = 1) abbreviation for cum, meaning with.

c. = 2) abbreviation for circa, meaning approximately, about.

c & s = cleared and stained (a specimen with some tissues rendered transparent by various chemical treatments while others are stained to enhance their visibility. In fish osteological studies, the flesh is cleared with enzymes or potassium hydroxide and the bones stained red with alizarin red S and the cartilage blue with alcian blue).

C1 = principal caudal fin ray.

C2 = procurrent caudal fin rays.

C/E = catch per unit effort.

ca. = abbreviation for circa, meaning approximately, about.

caal = a mill-dam or weir; the outlet of water from a dam (English dialect).

caapie = cappie.

caavie = kavi (a sinker on a fishing line (Scottish dialect). Also spelled kaavie).

cabbie = a small cod caught near the shore, not big enough for salting down and selling, but of a nice size for eating fresh (Scottish dialect). Also spelled kabbi or kabby.

cabe = to steal fish from the nets or the carts which carry them to the curing cellars (Cornish dialect).

cabelew = cod or pike hung and salted for a few days but not thoroughly dried (Scottish dialect). Also spelled cabylou, kabbilow and kabbelow.

cabesta = the space between the hook and lead in a fishing line (Cornish dialect).

cable = 1) a formerly used, horizontal, nautical measurement. Traditionally 120 fathoms, 720 feet, 219.4 m or 0.1185 nautical mile. The British Navy used the cable to equal exactly 0.1 nautical mile, 608 feet or 185.3 m.

cable = 2) to entangle or twist a net (Newfoundland).

caboolen stone = a stone suspended from a rope, and kept continually plunging, in order to scare pilchards when in the net, and prevent them from escaping (Cornish dialect).

cabylou = cabelow.

cachexia = weight loss, muscle wasting, loss of appetite, and general debility, usually due to a chronic disease, or malnutrition.

cade = an older name for a cask used to pack and measure fish. A cade of herring comprised 720 fish, a cade of sprats at Aldborough was a thousand.

cader = a small wooden frame on which a fisherman keeps his line (English dialect).

cadger = an itinerant dealer in fish (English dialect).

caducous = readily shed, deciduous, e.g. scales in Clupea which are easily detached.

caeca = plural of caecum.

caecum (plural caeca) = a blindly ending sac arising from the gut or other hollow organ, e.g. pyloric caeca, q.v.

caecum cloacae = a gland of unknown function communicating with the cloaca of Dipnoi.

caenogenetic = of recent origin.

caff = refuse or unsaleable fish (Cornish dialect).

caffler = to deal in caff or unsaleable fish (Cornish dialect).

cage = a box-shaped enclosure of wire or netting used for controlled aquaculture in open water.

cage culture = rearing of fish in cages, on the bottom or floating. Cages may be made of wire or netting.

cage reel = 1) a fishing reel that is light, made of wire and has donut-shaped spool.

cage-reel = 2) a fishing reel with spools (called skeleton spools) and side plates with pieces cut out to ventilate the line.

cage swimfeeder = in angling, an open-ended plastic or metal mesh container filled with bait. Its structure allows more rapid release of bait through the mesh and it offers less resistance to water currents so that less weights are needed to hold it on the bottom.

CAGEAN = catch-at-age-analysis; the estimated number of fish caught, tabulated by fish age and year of capture, and by other factors such as gear or nation. Catch-at-age may be estimated on the basis of catch-at-size, using age-length keys or cohort slicing.

cahill = coghel.

cain fish = cane fish.

Caisson's disease = gas bubble disease. Supersaturated gases (>125%) in water entering the the body fluids of fish causing bubbles, an embolism. Also called bends or decompression sickness.

cake = fish cake (1) fish flesh mixed with potatoes, seasoning and sometimes eggs, butter and onions and formed into cakes or patties and fried in fat).

cake = fish cake (2) fish before drying in the manufacturing process for fish meal).

calcareous spherule = otoconium (ear dust; a minute transparent calcite crystal with well developed faces secreted within the labyrinth and mixed with mineral particles or otarenae).

calcified cartilage = cartilage containing calcium salts and thus strengthened and hardened. Found in vertebrae and teeth.

calcitran = a substance produced by the ultimobranchial gland (q.v.) which helps regulate the calcium level.

calcium cyanamide = CaCN₃, used in aquaculture as a pond disinfectant, especially for Myxosoma cerebralis, the cause of whirling disease. Also called lime nitrogen.

calcium generator = a device maintaining the calcium level in an aquarium having corals. Carbon dioxide and a calcium-rich medium are injected into the aquarium, the carbon dioxide reducing the pH and dissolving the calcium medium for uptake by the corals. Calcium level is about 420 p.p.m.

calcium reactor = calcium generator.

calf = a large piece broken off an iceberg, glacier or floe. See calve.

caliculate = cup-shaped.

calculi = plural of calculus.

calculus = a solid concretion made up of minerals and salts; found in ducts, cysts, hollow organs, etc in fishes, notably urinary ducts.

Californian incubator = a horizontal tray for hatching eggs, especially salmonids.

Californian tray = Californian incubator.

calipers = an instrument used to measure thickness or length of an object, such as structures on a fish, comprising a sliding, graduated scale (vernier) and points or jaws. May record distance or width by means of a vernier, a dial or electronically.

call-back = the weir or dam put across a river or stream to turn water to the mill (English dialect).

call-head = the top of a weir or dam crossing a stream (English dialect).

callar = caller.

caller = fresh, in proper season, newly caught or gathered, not flabby or stale, said of fish and vegetables (English dialect). Also spelled callour, callar, calour, caloure, calloure, callowr, and callor.

callicarpone = a plant piscicide from leaves of Callicarpa candicans (Verbenaceae), used in the Caroline and Philippine islands. Other piscicidal plant chemicals include huratoxin, ichthyothereol, inophyllolide, juglone, justicidin, maingayic acid, rotenone, and vibsanine, all q.v.

callor = caller.

callour = caller.

calloure = caller.

callous pad = pharyngeal pad (the covering of the pharyngeal process against which the pharyngeal teeth grind food).

callowr = caller.

callus = any, hard thickened epidermal area, usually the result of irritation or friction.

calour = caller.

caloure = caller.

calve = to break off a portion or calf, as of an iceberg, glacier or floe.

calver salmon = a fish dressed as soon as it is caught (Lancashire dialect).

calvert salmon = a salmon recently caught and still warm (English dialect). Also spelled colvert salmon.

cambered otter board = an otter board, q.v., of trawl curved in fore and aft directions.

Cambrian = the earliest period of the Palaeozoic Era, ca. 570-504 million years ago. Abbreviated as Є.

camera = a chamber or cavity, e.g. those containing the otoliths in the ear.

camera aerea Weberiana = a cranial diverticulum of the gas ladder which separates from the main portion. It can disappear or remain small.

cammo lead = a camouflaged lead weight used by anglers and meant to disguise its presence from fish

camp = fish camp (a camp used as a base for angling by a group of people; may be very simple or have accommodation and other facilities).

camptotrich = camptotrichium.

camptotrichia = plural of camptotrichium.

camptotrichium (plural camptotrichia) = rays which support the fin membranes in Dipnoi and Crossopterygii. Actinotrichia are not found distal to the camptotrichia in the fin membrane. This suggests that they are homologous to the ceratotrichia of Elasmobranchii but for the fact that they are segmented, branched and more or less ossified like lepidotrichia. They are covered with scales. It is not clear whether they are segmented and branched actinotrichia or lepidotrichia which have lost their terminal actinotrichia.

canal = 1) an artificial watercourse, usually with clearly defined banks and depths, controlled water levels, and often locks to allow movement of vessels between different levels. Canals may allow movements of fishes between previously unconnected drainages.

canal = 2) in anatomy, an open or closed channel; a tube or tubule.

canal bone = one of series of bones of dermal origin that enclose the neuromasts and seismosensory canals. May be formed from one or more ossification centres. Also called sensory canal bone or sense organ bone.

canal catapult = in European angling, a small catapult used in restricted areas like canals to deliver ground bait to an area as an attractant to fish.

canal neuromast = sense organs found in lateral line canals in the dermis. See also superficial or free neuromasts, large pit organs and small pit organs.

canal stand = in European angling, a small metal platform for bait and gear that stands by itself on the hard canal banks.

canaliculi = plural of canaliculus.

canaliculus (plural canaliculi) = 1) a small branch of a canal or duct.

canaliculus (plural canaliculi) = 2) a small tubule interconnecting lacunae to neighbouring capillaries.

canalis hæmalis (plural canales hæmales) = haemal canal (the tube formed by all the haemal arches, through which run the caudal vein and dorsal aorta).

canales hæmales = plural of canalis hæmalis.

canalis neuralis (canales neurales) = neural canal (the spinal cord canal through the neural arches).

canales neurales = plural of canalis neuralis.

canalis Sclemmii = a circular vessel located in the angle between the annular ligament (which binds the iris and cornea) and the cornea.

canales semicirculares = plural of canalis semicircularis.

canalis semicircularis (plural canales semicirculares) = semicircular ear canal (fluid-filled canals embedded in the cranium and concerned with balance and hearing. Gnathostomata have 3 canals, lampreys have 2 (lacking a horizontal canal), and hagfishes have only one canal, perhaps appearing secondarily by the joining of two canals). Fossil Cyclostomata my have had 7 or more semicircular canals.

cancellous = having cavities, spongy, porous, or reticulate, usually of bone.

candidate species = a fish species being considered for protection, e.g. under the Endangered Species Act in the U.S.A.

candle = the rubbery sheath enclosing the fertilised eggs of Squalus acanthias. It dissolves after several months and the pups are free to develop in the uterus.

candling = placing fish or fish fillets on a transparent table illuminated from below so that parasites and defects can be detected by the light shining through the flesh.

candy bait = in angling, slang for squid used as bait.

cane fish = rent for fishing, paid in kind (Northumberland dialect). Also spelled cain, kain and kane fish.

cane pole = a long bamboo pole used in stillwater fishing, with the line attached to the tip but without a reel or line guides.

Canestrini's organ = a bony process or plate at the base of the first (unbranched) and second (first branched) ray of the pectoral fin of male Cobitis.

Canestrini's scale = Canestrini's organ.

canine = a large, pointed, conical or blade-like tooth. Usually distinctly larger than surrounding teeth and few in number. Some are hinged to permit entry but hinder escape of prey. Often found in carnivores, e.g. in some Blenniidae, Serranidae, Labridae.

caniniform = shaped like canine teeth. Caniniform teeth are used to grasp, pierce and restrain prey and may be hinged and depressible to allow prey to be swallowed, locked erect to capture prey.

canister filter = an efficient form of aquarium filter comprising a canister internal or external to the aquarium. A pump forces water through the canister with its contained biological (bio-substrate), chemical (carbon) and physical (floss) filters. Canisters need to be cleaned regularly. External canisters are not normally used for small aquaria.

canned fish = fish packed in metal containers with hermetic sealing and heating to destroy bacteria. Pickled fish with a pH below 4.5 require less heat than fish products with a higher pH. Some fish types do not can well, e.g. those with white flesh, as major changes in colour, texture and flavour occur in processing. Fatty fish species such as herring, mackerel, salmon and tuna make good canned products.

canned fish ball = haddock or a related type of fish flesh made into balls with potato-flour and cereals, and put in a fish bouillon. Often stored in a one-pound can where they may be heated before serving, or removed and fried or baked. Found in Scandinavia.

Cannery Row = where sardines were canned in Monterey, California and the title of a 1945 book by John Steinbeck.

cannibal viviparity = uterine cannibalism (the condition in some sharks where the embryos feed on eggs and smaller siblings inside the mother).

cannibalism = eating members of one's own species, common in fishes.

cannonball = a very heavy, round weight (up to 12 lbs or 5.5 kg) used in deepwater fishing with downriggers.

canoe = a light, long and narrow boat with pointed ends, curved sides and paddles for propulsion. Often light enough to be carried around obstructions by one person.

canopy = overhanging vegetation, branches and leaves, providing shade and cover for fishes. Crown cover is greater than 1 metre above the water surface while overhanging cover is less than this (or less than 0.3 m). The latter in particular provides protection for fish from insolation and aerial predators.

cantal = quintal (q.v.).

canthaxanthin = an orange-red carotenoid pigment found particularly in salmonid flesh derived from the diet and sometimes added to the diet of cultured fish. It is not a permitted food additive in some countries.

cantor = a small frame of wood on which a fisherman keeps his line (Cornish dialect).

canyon = 1) a deep gorge with steep sides and often a stream, characteristic of arid and semi-arid regions.

canyon = 2) a relatively narrow, deep depression with steep sides, the bottom of which generally has a continuous slope, developed characteristically on some continental slopes in the ocean.

cap = a cover over a container extending down on all sides, a jar lid. For liquid-preserved specimens like fish polypropylene caps are preferred as metal lids eventually rust and harder plastic lids crack.

cap liner = a flat disc fitting inside a cap ensuring a tighter seal. Cardboard liners usually shrink away from the lid when used with liquid-preserved specimens like fish and foam polyethylene liners are preferred.

cap net = any net used to retain or hold fish, even on a commercial scale (Newfoundland). See also keepnet net, kelp net or kipp net.

capacity = fishing capacity is the quantity of fish that can be taken over a period of time (year, season) by a fishing unit, e.g. an individual, community, vessel or fleet, assuming that there is no limitation on the yield from the stock usually expressed as gross tonnage, hold capacity, or horsepower. Reflects potential rather than nominal fishing effort. It may be the maximum amount of fish that can be produced by a fishing fleet if fully utilized, given the biomass and age structure of the fish stock and the present state of the technology.

cape = a prominent land mass jutting out into the sea.

cape boat = a large fishing boat, rigged fore and aft, used to fish the inshore banks of Newfoundland, particularly Cape St. Mary's grounds, on the south coast.

Cape Cod = a Massachusetts cape named in 1602 by Bartholomew Gosnold for the multitudes of fish which vexed his ship.

Cape Cod turkey = a salted cod in Massachusetts.

Cape Island vessel = a speedy fishing vessel, 32-45 feet long (and up to 57 feet), carrying a crew of two, of carvel construction with an inboard engine amidships and a shelter forward. Used for herring and groundfish gillnetting, inshore longlining, shallow water stern trawling, herring pumping and trolling. Also called snapper and Cape Islander.

Cape Islander = Cape Island vessel.

capelin = caplin.

capelin school = capelin scull.

capelin scull = the annual migration of Mallotus villosus to spawn on beaches in June and July. The commercially important offshore cod, Gadus morhua, followed the scull and indicated the start of the inshore fishery in eastern Canada.

capillary bed = the network of capillaries in a particular area or organ of the body.

capita = plural of caput.

capital stuffing = investment of more money by commercial fishermen in fishing capacity to offset regulations that make fishing effort less effective. Usually involves technical gear such as deck handling machinery, multiple echo-sounders, sonar, etc.

caplin = capelin, Mallotus villosus (Osmeridae) (Newfoundland). This fish appears on beaches to spawn in June and July, followed by the commercially important cod (Gadus morhua) which feeds on them. Capelin are netted for bait, for manuring fields, or dried, salted, smoked or frozen for eating.

caplin bait = capelin netted for use as bait, especially in trawl-fishing for cod in Newfoundland.

caplin baiting = 1) a quantity of capelin taken aboard a vessel in port at one time for use in in the Newfoundland Bank fishery for cod.

caplin baiting = 2) a fishing voyage to the Newfoundland Banks, the length being fixed by the supply of capelin bait aboard ship.

caplin bunting = a grade of net, with very fine mesh, for catching capelin (Newfoundland).

caplin cart = a two-wheeled, horse-drawn cart formerly used to carry capelin from the shore to the fields for fertiliser in Newfoundland.

caplin fishery = the organised fishery for this species on a large scale for processing (Newfoundland).

caplin glut = an abundance of capelin.

caplin mesh = the small mesh of cast-nets used to catch capelin (Newfoundland).

caplin pit = a hole in the ground into which capelin are thrown to be used as fertilizer (Newfoundland).

caplin run = capelin scull.

caplin schule = capelin scull.

caplin scull = capelin scull.

caplin scull fishery = the cod fishery during and after the spawning season of the capelin (Newfoundland).

caplin scull salmon = smaller salmon migrating to fresh water during June and July (Newfoundland).

caplin scull weather = wet, foggy weather which often coincides with the spawning season of capelin in June and July (Newfoundland).

caplin season = the months June and July, when capelin appear inshore in Newfoundland.

caplin seine = a seine with small meshes used to catch capelin (Newfoundland).

caplin sick = cod glutted with capelin.

caplin skiff = a large undecked boat employed to catch caplin (Newfoundland).

caplin spawn = the eggs of capelin on rocks or seaweed.

caplin time = caplin season.

caplin trap = type of fixed fishing-gear used in inshore waters to take capelin.

caplin trip = a voyage using capelin as bait in the Bank fishery of Newfoundland.

caplin voyage = the taking of cod in traps during the period June to July when the fish follow capelin inshore in Newfoundland.

caplin weather = foggy, wet, and sometimes cold weather which usually coincides with the appearance inshore of capelin to spawn in early summer in Newfoundland.

capline = caplin.

capling = caplin.

capon = 1) a castrated cock, fattened for the table.

capon = 2) a red herring or other kinds of fish (slang). See Crail's capon, Glasgow capon, Severn capon, and Yarmouth capon.

capon = 3) called "a fish out of the coop" by monks who wished to evade the Friday fast by eating chickens instead of fish.

cappie = a heavy stone used as a sinker to a fishing line (Shetland Isles dialect). See also caapie, cappie-stone and bolta stone.

cappie-stone = cappie.

capsula auditiva (plural capsulæ auditivæ) = auditory capsule (cartilaginous skeleton about the inner ear in Elasmobranchii, a chondral skeleton in bony fishes comprised of the prootic, opisthotic (or its replacement), intercalar, epiotic (or exoccipital), sphenotic, pterosphenoid and basipshenoid as walls and floor with the parietals and frontals as the roof).

capsulæ auditivæ = plural of capsula auditiva.

capsular ethmoid = a paired perichondral bone on the inner concave walls of the nasal capsule.

captive brood stock = fish raised and spawned in captivity.

captive broodstock program = collection of individuals (or gametes) from a natural population and the rearing of these individuals to maturity in captivity.

captive propagation = reproduction of fish in a laboratory or hatchery for commercial or conservation reasons.

capturability = the ease or difficulty of catching a given species or stock under defined conditions. Also called catchability.

capture = diversion of water flow in the upper reaches of a stream by the headward growth of another stream.

capture fishery = the sum or range of all activities to harvest a given fish resource. It may refer to the location, the fish species sought, the gear used, the social characteristics, e.g. artisanal, industrial, the purpose, e.g. commercial, subsistence, or recreational, as well as the season.

caput (plural capita) = head (everything on a fish anterior to the posterior border of the opercular bone and/or its membrane; behind this is the trunk as there is no neck in fish).

caput manubrii = head of the manubrium or cranially-directed arm of the incus, the third Weberian ossicle.

caquès = herring usually stacked in barrels with salt, after removal of viscera by means of a cut below the gills (France).

car = carr.

car pot = car trap.

car trap = a wooden box or other container to hold live fish (Newfoundland). See also live box.

carangiform = type of undulatory locomotion in which the body inscribes less than half a wavelength at any one time. See also anguilliform, labriform, ostraciform, thunniform.

carapace = a bony shield covering the back generally, but also used for the plates encasing the whole body in boxfishes (Ostraciidae).

carbon fibre = a strong and rigid fibre used in manufacturing fishing rods.

Carboniferous = a period within the Paleozoic Era ca. 365-290 million years ago. Abbreviated as C.

carcass = a fish dressed (prepared) as food.

carcass survey = a method used to estimate numbers of spawning salmon from the carcasses of recently-spawned fish. A representative number of carcasses are tagged, returned to the river, and the number of tagged and untagged carcasses observed during subsequent surveys.

card = a flat piece of wood, thin and oblong, about four or more inches long and of varying width, used as a guide to the size of mesh required when making a net (Newfoundland).

card shark = cardshark.

cardiac = referring to the heart. In the stomach, that portion or region next to the oesophagus (as opposed to the pyloric region). A better term would be corpus or body.

cardiform teeth = short, fine to coarse and numerous pointed teeth arranged in distinct rows, like the wire bristles on wool cards, e.g. in Ictaluridae, Percidae and Serranidae.

cardinal vein = a bilaterally paired longitudinal vein. The anterior cardinal vein returns blood from the head and the posterior cardinal vein from the trunk, joining together as the common cardinal vein (which is also called the duct of Cuvier or incorrectly the vitelline vein). The common cardinal vein leads across the yolk cell to the heart's sinus venosus.

cardioid = heart-shaped.

cardioid scale = a scale with a notch on the posterior edge, e.g. scales between the ventral fins of Esox.

cardshark = an expert card player, usually a professional gambler, and often used for a cheater. Based on the predatory reputation of the shark. Modified from cardsharp. See also loan shark and poolshark.

carina = keel.

carinate = with keel or ridge along the mid-line.

carlin book = karlen book (the book in which a fish catch was registered (Scottish dialect)).

Carlisle hook = a hook shape characterised by a long shank, a round bend and a straight, offset point.

carne carne = carne à carne, a preparation of salted anchovies from which the excess surface salt in the first preparation has been removed. The anchovies are laid out flat in regular layers, sprinkled with salt and then pressed (France).

carnivore = animal or flesh-eater.

carnivorous = animal or flesh eating; zoophagous.

carofur = nifurprazine (a chemical (1-(5-Nitro-2-Furyl)-2-(6-Amino-3-pyridazl) ethylene hydrochloride) used to combat bacterial infections in fishes, particularly with Aeromonas salmonicida).

Carolina rig = a deepwater, weed avoiding angling rig usually comprising an soft plastic worm or crayfish, an18-30 inch leader, a barrel swivel and a hook embedded in the bait. Usually fished just off the bottom.

carotenoid = a carbon compound found in the eggs, gonads, liver, flesh and chromatophores of fishes, to which it imparts yellow, orange and red colours. Taraxanthin, canthaxantin, lutein, zeaxanthin, astaxanthin and carotene carotenoids are found in fishes, although their origin is in the diet as the fish do not produce them.

carotid artery = an artery originating at the junction of the first two aortic arches and supplying the anterior brain.

carouselling = two fish circling one another rapidly, head to tail.

carp = 1) the Carp Family (Cyprinidae), the most speciose freshwater fish family with over 2420 species.

carp = 2) Cyprinus carpio, the common carp, widely used in aquaculture and the eponymous member of the Carp Family, Cyprinidae.

carp = 3) to find fault, complain unreasonably. See also carping.

carp = 4) the shape of the city of Tsuenchen-fu, China, built to resemble this fish when viewed from the air. Ancient Chinese cities were often built in this fashion, to resemble mythological creatures, animals and symbolic designs. See also fish net.

CARP = 5) acronym for Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel, Washington, D.C., which seems fairly self-explanatory and unfishy. Various other unfishy acronyms turn out as carp, have carp, the fish, as an icon or symbol, and are not listed here; includes computer programmes, medical associations, cardiac acronyms, phenomenonology, email service, travel agencies, etc.

carp = 6) term used for the anchovies found on pizzas. See also guppies.

Carp = 7) a town near Ottawa, Ontario where common carp are not native; probably based on members of the family Catostomidae, some of which were called "carpe" in French. Could be carpe à cochon, now meunier noir or white sucker, Catostomus commersonii.

carp = 8) talk, speak, prattle; not necessarily about fish.

carp = 9) a heraldic device, e.g. of Verzej, Slovenia.

CARP = 10) Canadian Association of Retired Persons.

carp mumblings = small depressions left by the feeding action of carp, about 0.5-0.7 cm across.

carp papillomatosis = carp pox.

carp pole = a long and strong fishing rod with put-in joints and elastics, q.v., used for carp (Cyprinus carpio) fishing in Europe.

carp pox = one of the oldest known fish diseases found in cultured carp, other cyprinids, pike-perch and aquarium fishes. It is caused by Herpesvirus cyprini. Also known as carp papillomatosis, epithelioma papulosum, fish pox, cyprinid herpesvirus I (CHV). Skin lesions appear as the water temperature drops in winter as small milky-white spots that merge and cover large skin areas.

carp rod = specialised rods used in fishing for Cyprinus carpio in Europe. Usually about 11-12 feet (3.4-3.7 m) long with test curves of 1.5-3.5 lb (0.68-1.59 kg) and stronger than most rods used in fresh waters in Europe (where most fish are smaller than carp).

carp sack = a specialised, dark, padded sack used under water for holding carp caught by angling. The sack covers the head and eyes and keeps the fish calm so it is not injured.

carp sling = a specialised sling used for weighing trophy carp and designed not to injure the fish or remove its protective mucus.

carp-like = having a body shape similar to that of the carp, Cyprinus carpio, i.e. deep-bodied and rounded.

carpaholic = an addict of carp (Cyprinus carpio) fishing.

carper = people ready to catch herrings that break from the net on its rawing on shore (Irish dialect).

carping = 1) nagging or complaining, petty or unjustified criticism, quibbling over insignificant details; nothing to do with carp (Cyprinus carpio).

carping = 2) adjective used by anglers in reference to anything to do with fishing for carp (Cyprinus carpio).

carps = plural of carp in its various meanings above.

carr = a pool, fen or bog. Also spelled car.

carrion = animals used by fish as food when dead and often partially decomposed.

carrying capacity = 1) the biomass of a population or the number and type of species that a given environment can sustain over the long term. May refer to level of use, at a given level of management, which a natural or man-made resource can sustain itself over long period of time.

carrying capacity = 2) the sustainable recreational use of a water body.

carrying capacity = 3) virgin biomass, q.v.

carrying capacity = 4) the holding capacity of a fishing vessel.

cartail bully = cartel bully.

carteel bully = cartel bully.

cartel bully = a large boat or barge used as an extra vessel in carrying fish (Newfoundland). Also spelled cartail and carteel bully.

cartesian well = artesian well (a deep-drilled well where the water is forced to the surface by hydrostatic pressure. Some fishes have been found in such wells).

cartilagines coracoideæ = plural of cartilago coracoidea.

cartilago coracoidea (plural cartilagines coracoideæ) = coracoid cartilage.

cartilage = the flexible, semi-rigid connective tissue consisting of rounded cells (chondrocytes) in a matrix with collagen fibres and low in calcium and phosphate salts. Serves to support the body. It is not as strong as bone but is lighter and more flexible. It is incompressible and returns to its original form. Cyclostomata and Chondrichthyes have an entirely cartilaginous skeleton while other fishes have both cartilaginous and bony elements in the skeleton. Forms include hyaline, elastic, fibrocartilage and calcified cartilage, all q.v., cited here in order from least to most dense. Also called gristle, especially when ingested by humans.

cartilage bone = bone formed by the ossification (osteogenesis) of a cartilaginous precursor. Cartilage bones can be classed as parachondral, epichondral or endochondral depending on whether ossification starts in connective tissue surrounding the cartilage, in the perichondrium or inside the cartilage respectively. Ossification may follow two of these paths but the end results cannot be distinguished whichever route(s) are used. Perichondral and parachondral cartilage bones go through two stages, metaplasia where connective tissue becomes cartilage and neoplasia where cartilage becomes bone. Chondrolysis or destruction of cartilage precedes neoplasia. Endochondral bones are formed by this process exclusively.

cartilagines hypobranchiales = plural of cartilago hypobranchialis.

cartilagines meckeli = plural of cartilago meckeli.

cartilagines pharyngobranchiales = plural of cartilago pharyngobranchialis.

cartilagines scapulares = plural of cartilago scapularis.

cartilago hypobranchialis (plural cartilagines hypobranchiales) = hypobranchial (one of a series of deep, paired ventral cartilages on the lower part of the gill arch. The os hypobranchiale in bony fishes, q.v.

cartilago meckeli (plural cartilagines meckeli) = Meckel's cartilage (the functional lower jaw of Elasmobranchii and Holocephali, the embryonic lower jaw of other gnathostomous vertebrates which ossifies at least in part as the mentomeckelian, mediomeckelian, coronomeckelian, articular and retroarticular. It remains in some adult fishes as a pointed rod embedded in the dentary and angular. Also called mandibular cartilage, ceratomandibular cartilage or primary mandible. See also Bridge's ossicles).

cartilago pharyngobranchialis (plural cartilagines pharyngobranchiales) = pharyngobranchial (the deep, endochondral bone at the top of the gill arch. May bear the upper pharyngeal and a dentigerous plate. May occur on arches 1, 2, 3, 4. Also called super-pharyngeals or superior pharyngeals. Suprapharyngobranchials are never associated with teeth while infrapharyngobranchials may be associated with dermal plates bearing teeth).

cartilago scapularis (plural cartilagines scapulares) = scapular cartilage (a rod-shaped cartilage forming the lateral part of the coracoscapular bar in Elasmobranchii, articulating ventrally with the coracoid cartilage and dorsally with the suprascapular. The pectoral fin attaches laterally to its glenoid cavity).

caruncle = a fleshy superficial outgrowth or knob. The modified dorsal fin rays in Ceratiidae are called caruncles.

carver = a person who slices open the belly of a cod before passing it to the splitter (q.v.) (Newfoundland).

cascade = 1) a short, steep drop in a stream bed often marked by boulders and white water; a small waterfall or one section of a broken waterfall. Usually less than a metre high.

cascade = 2) a tiered structure used in aerating and degassing water for aquaculture.

case = a problem in zoological nomenclature referred to the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature for a decision. The problem is published in the Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature as are comments by others, and is voted on by members of the Commission and their decision is published as an Opinion.

case fatality rate = the number of deaths from a disease in every hundred cases. See also mortality rate.

case hardening = leather-like hardening of fish skin when fish are dried too quickly, rendering the fish unsuitable for sale.

cashmarie = a person who sold fish, usually at inland markets.

cask = a wooden, cylindrical vessel used for shipping fish such as dried and salted cod from Newfoundland. Such a cask contained 4 cwt (hundredweight, 1 cwt being 50.802 kg (long), 45.359 kg (short)).

cask fish = the fish shipped in a cask, e.g. cod from Newfoundland.

casque-like = shaped like a helmet.

cassen = of meat or fish, spoilt or worthless.

cast = 1) the result of casting.

cast = 2) the terminal strand of a handline to which hooks are attached by short droppers.

cast = 3) a collective noun (a noun that denotes a collection of persons or things regarded as a unit) for fishes.

cast = 4) to throw a net, e.g. a castnet.

cast = 5) a handful of herrings, usually three fish, used in counting the catch.

cast = 6) of fish, to spawn.

cast-net = castnet.

caster = 1) the chrysalis or pupa form of the maggot used as bait in angling in Europe.

caster = 2) one who practices casting.

casting = 1) the act of delivering a lure or bait into the water using a fishing rod and line.

casting = 2) to throw a sounding lead or other object into the water.

casting arc = the path that a fly rod follows when in use; usually related to a clock face to indicate the position.

casting net = castnet.

casting sinker = bell sinker (a weight or sinker shaped like a bell).

casting weight = the optimum weight that a fishing rod casts, determined by trying various lead weights until the rod feels sluggish. Usually marked above the butt in ounces or grams.

castnet = a method of catching fish in shallow waters by throwing a circular net over them; the net opens in the air to a diameter of about 2 metres and sinks rapidly because of weights attached to its margin. The rim of the net has a draw rope that enables it to be closed. A Newfoundland fisherman could catch 100 lbs (45.5 kg) of capelin in one throw. Also called throw net or trow net.

castnet ball = a lead sinker around the margin of the net.

castnet mould = a hollow form in which lead balls are cast for use as weights in the net (Newfoundland).

cat's paw = a knot used in angling to attach a swivel. A loop is passed through the eye of the swivel and the swivel rotated vertically through the loop three times. Various websites have animated steps showing how to tie this knot.

catadromous = running down; those fishes which spend most of their lives in freshwater and which migrate to the sea to reproduce, e.g. Anguilla (Myers, 1949; McDowall, 1968).

catalog = see catalogue.

catalogue = 1) a list of materials in a collection in the form of a book or electronic, detailing fish species, collection locality, number of specimens, date of collection, identifier, etc.

catalogue = 2) the process of making a catalogue.

catalogue = 3) a compilation of taxonomic literature within a list of species.

catalogue number = usually all specimens caught at one place and one time are given the same catalogue number. Some museum catalogue numbers use the same number as the accession number. The numbers take various forms, e.g. a series of numbers or a year followed by a number, and each number is preceded by the acronym of the museum in systematic papers.

catapult = used by European anglers to project ground bait or loose feed into the water with accuracy in order to attract fish to an area where the baited hook is fished.

cataract = waterfall, a very steep fall in a watercourse.

catastrophic drift = the massive displacement of organism caused by flooding or pollution.

catazygalia = zygalia (four small cranial bones in Osteolepiformes, perhaps formed from elements of the second to the fourth vertebra, a segment of the primordial cranium. The anazygalia are located dorsal to the chorda dorsalis, the catazygalia ventral to the chorda dorsalis).

catch = 1) the act of landing a fish dead or alive or of bringing fish on board a vessel. Live catches may be released or retained.

catch = 2) the number or weight of fish caught by a fishery, by fishing gear or by angling. May be the total amount caught, only the amount landed, or not kept but released. Usually expressed in terms of wet weight.

catch = 3) a collective noun (a noun that denotes a collection of persons or things regarded as a unit) for fishes.

catch = 4) ketch (a boat used for fishing and coast work).

catch ceiling = a specific limit placed on the harvest of any given fish species or stock; a quota.

catch composition = the fish species, age, size, numbers, etc. in a catch.

catch control = a measures applied to catches used by managers to regulate fishing.

catch curve = plot of the natural logarithms of the number of fish in various age groups (Nt) against their corresponding age (t). Often used to estimate total mortality from the descending limb of the curve; shows the decrease in numbers of fish caught as the fish become older and less numerous or available.

catch limit = the number of fish allowed to be caught and kept in one day by an angler, cf. possession limit.

catch out = to deplete the stock of fish in a body of water or in a population. See also fish out.

catch per unit effort = an older term for the catch in numbers or weight taken for a given amount of fishing effort over time using specific gear, expressed as a ratio. Often considered an index of fish biomass or abundance - a decline in CPUE usually indicates a decline in the stock. May be used as a measure of economic efficiency of fishing. Also called fishing success, availability, catch per effort. Abbreviated as C/E, CPUE. The more recent form is catch/effort (C/f or Y/f) where C is catch in numbers, Y is catch in weight, taken by a defined unit of fishing effort, f.

catch, photograph, release = a management tool for preserving angling stocks. Abbreviated as CPR.

catch quota = the maximum catch permitted for a group of fishers, vessel, a fleet or a country from a stock. The quota is set to manage the fishery.

catch rate = the time spent to catch fish expressed as catch in numbers or kilogrammes per unit of effort. Also called harvest rate.

catch stream = the catch statistics for a kind or stock of fish over a period of time.

catch-all = anything which contains unmatched or unrelated items; used for a genus with species thought to be unrelated but whose relationships remain to be determined.

catch-and-release = angling where the fish are released to preserve stocks. Also called non-retention, closed to retention and daily limit zero.

catch-at-age = the estimated number of fish caught, tabulated by fish age and year of capture, and by other factors such as gear or nation. Catch-at-age may be estimated on the basis of catch-at-size, using age-length keys or cohort slicing.

catch-at-length = catch-at-size.

catch-at-size = the estimated number of fish caught, tabulated by size class and by other factors such as gear or nation. For any given species, catch-at-size should include all fish killed by the act of fishing, not just those fish that are landed.

catch-at-weight = the estimated weight of fish caught, tabulated by weight class and by other factors such as gear or nation. For any given species, catch-at-weight should include all fish killed by the act of fishing, not just those fish that are landed.

catch-up growth = a form of compensatory growth where underfed or malnourished fish are returned to adequate feeding conditions.

catchability = the extent to which a stock is susceptible to fishing, the part of a stock that is caught over a defined unit of time or fishing effort; quantitatively, the proportion of the stock removed by a defined unit of fishing effort. In pelagic fishes, an inverse function of stock biomass. When it is 0.01 or less it can be used as an instantaneous rate in measuring population change (Ricker, 1975). In fisheries models, the factor (q) relating abundance to stock size (x = q.N) and fishing mortality to fishing effort (F = qf.). Also called catchability coefficient, force of fishing mortality. Abbreviated as q or q.

catchability coefficient = force of fishing mortality (the extent to which a stock is susceptible to fishing; quantitatively, the proportion of the stock removed by a defined unit of fishing effort. In pelagic fishes, an inverse function of stock biomass. When it is 0.01 or less it can be used as an instantaneous rate in measuring population change. Also called catchability).

catchability-led stock collapse = the tendency for small schools of fish to aggregate into larger schools, resulting in a continued high fishing pressure although the total stock has declined. Also called hyperaggregation.

catcher vessel = a fishing vessel that delivers its catch to a mother ship, to shore plants or to catcher-processors.

catch-out pond = a pond stocked with fish for fee-paying anglers to catch.

catch-the-salmon = a game in which two boys take the ends of a piece of rope and chase a third boy until they wrap the rope around him, then pulling him to and fro (British dialect).

catcher-processor = a fishing vessel that both catches fish and processes them, enabling a higher grade of product to be produced at on shore facilities, e.g. a trawler, 100-375 feet long.

catching efficiency = a measure used to compare the catching ability of fishing gear.

catchment = 1) the collecting of water, especially rainfall.

catchment = 2) a reservoir or other basin for catching water.

catchment = 3) the water caught in a reservoir or basin.

catchment area = the area drained by a river or body of water or the area draining into a body of water.

catchment basin = the entire area from which drainage is received by a river or a lake; most generally used in reference to surface runoff.

category = a group or level within a hierarchical classification, e.g. family, species.

catfish = a member of the Order Siluriformes with over 2870 species worldwide in fresh waters with some families primarily marine. Named for their barbels or "whiskers" likened to those of cats.

catfish ball = a mass of juvenile catfish, such as Ameiurus nebulosus, that schools, presumably as protection from predators.

catfish death = suicide by drowning (slang).

catfish virus disease = channel catfish disease.

caudad = towards the tail, posteriorly.

caudal = 1) referring to or concerning the tail.

caudal = 2) towards the tail, although caudad is preferred.

caudal artery = the extension of the dorsal aorta in the tail.

caudal bony plate = any ossified plate helping to support the tail fin. A name given to the first larger pair of uroneurals, situated on the curve of the upturned posterior end of the vertebral column. Preferably called first uroneural.

caudal filament = a thin, flexible, filamentous extension of the caudal fin tip of Chimaeridae.

caudal fin = the tail fin, aiding movement. Also called the uropterygium. The fin at the posterior end of the vertebral column (but in Centriscidae the hind end of the body rotates so that the caudal fin is ventral, and in some Trachipteridae the upper lobe of the caudal may be dorsal (the separate lower lobe may disappear). In other families, such as the Zoarcidae and Anguillidae, dorsal, caudal and anal fins are united and are externally indistinguishable. Abbreviated as C.

caudal fin ray count = usually only the principal or main rays are counted, the tiny rudimentary, often procurrent rays are not included. In fishes with branched rays, the principal count is the number of branched rays plus two. These rays are usually markedly larger than the neighbouring ones and originate from the hypural plate. In some fishes there is a gradation in size and all rays are counted (e.g. in Ictaluridae). The count may be expressed in a formula such as iiiI7-8Iiii. The small Roman numerals here represent rudimentary rays, large Roman numerals the unbranched principal rays, and the Arabic numerals the branched principal rays.

caudal flexure = the fold formed at the end of the caudal peduncle when the caudal fin is flexed to determine the position of the posterior edge of the hypural plates. This posterior edge is often difficult to determine as a point for measurement for standard length in fleshy or large fishes; some dissection may be required.

caudal gland = the glandular masses on the caudal peduncle and fin of mature males in the characoid subfamily Glandulocaudinae. The multicellular gland is associated with an enlarged modified scale which overlies the gland on each side. The gland may produce a chemical to attract females.

caudal neurosecretory gland = an area of the spinal cord dorsal to the most posterior vertebrae, e.g. in Ictalurus punctatus. This concentration of neurosecretory or Dahlgren cells is of unknown function but is probably involved in osmoregulation or ion balance and possibly in reproduction.

caudal pad = a tongue-shaped posteriorly-directed appendage behind the seminal receptacle in female Holocephali.

caudal peduncle = the wrist-like portion of the posterior part of the body between the end of the anal fin and the base of the caudal fin. Its length is measured between the insertion of the anal fin and the caudal flexure (the fold shown by the hind edge of the hypural plates when the caudal fin is flexed). Depth is measured vertically at the narrowest point. Called tail wrist in angling.

caudal peduncle scale count = includes all the longitudinal scale rows around the circumference of the peduncle at its narrowest point.

caudal photophore = old name for the Prc photophores.

caudal pit = the notch in the dorsal or ventral profile of the caudal peduncle just before the caudal fin in certain sharks.

caudal scale = a modified terminal scale of the pored lateral line series found towards the medial base of the caudal fin in some Characidae, e.g. Landonia latidens). In some species it supports the caudal pouch.

caudal skeleton = the urophore, formed from various bones of cartilaginous or dermal origins.

caudal vein = a vein in the tail that returns blood from the trunk and tail to the heart. It leads directly into the axial vein in the posterior trunk.

caudal vertebra = one of the posterior vertebrae lacking ribs, found behind the abdominal vertebrae and extending to the tail, each with a ventral haemal arch, canal and spine. The first caudal vertebrae is near the internal, dorsal tip of the first anal proximal pterygiophore. Note that there are some transitional vertebrae with a rib or reduced remnant of a rib and a haemal arch or an incomplete haemal arch.

cauler = caller.

cauliflower disease = a mildly-infectious viral disease (Lymphocystis) of eels and higher aquarium fishes (not cyprinids and catfishes) causing enlarged cells forming lesions on the jaws, and also on fins and skin. The papillomatous lesions can coalesce to form a cauliflower shape. May be pinkish or red when having a vascular supply or grey-brown to black when melanocytes are present. There is no known treatment and the lesions eventually disappear. Also called lymphocystis disease.

causeway = a raised road over wet ground or shallow water.

cave fish = fishes living in subterranean waters including artesian wells. Not necessarily a true cave.

caveached fish = fish cut into pieces, fried in oil, laid in a large earthenware container and pickled in vinegar, salt, spices, onions, etc. (West Indies).

cavernicole = living in caves.

cavernicolous = living in caves.

cavernous = containing cavities, e.g. the superrficial bones of the head in some species of Sciaenidae. The cavities may be empty or filled with mucus.

cavernous tissue = spongy white tissue embedded in the skin near the anus in most, and near the anal fin in some, Cetomimidae.

caviar = 1) the prepared and salted roe of sturgeons (Acipenser, Huso), or broadly construed, the similarly treated roe of other fishes such as Salmonidae and Cyclopteridae. Only salted sturgeon eggs can be labeled caviar in the U.S.A. The eggs are separated from surrounding tissues, sometimes washed in white wine or vinegar, and pickled with salt or borax, or packed fresh or unsalted and highly perishable. خاگ‌آور or khāgāvar is Farsi (Persian) for roe-generator.

Caviar = 2) a small nineteenth century city in New Jersey on Delaware Bay, processing sturgeon and caviar for New York. See also Ikranoye.

caviar substitute = fish roe prepared like true caviar from lumpsuckers (Cyvlopteridae), cods, carps, mullets, capelin, salmonids; sometimes dyed and usually with a salt content over 6%.

caviare = caviar.

cavil = to extract a hook from a fish mouth by means of a notched stick (Scottish dialect). Also spelled kavle and kavvle.

cavity brooder = a fish that lays its eggs in a cavity, cave or other concealment; the eggs are aggressively guarded by the parents, e.g. in the Cichlidae Apistogramma, Julidochromis, Neolamprologus, and Pelvicachromis.

cawl = caal.

cawler = caller.

cay = key (a small, low island near the mainland composed mostly of sand and/or coral. Also spelled kay).

Ce = photophore at the upper end of the gill cover where it meets the lateral line in Myctophidae.

CE = common era, a non-religious way of expressing years in the calendar based on the years of the Christian era. Note there is no year 0 so the year before 1 CE (or 1 A.D.) is 1BCE (or 1 B.C.).

CE = equilibrium catch ( the catch (in numbers) taken from a fish stock when it is in equilibrium with fishing of a given intensity, and (apart from the effects of environmental variation) its abundance does not change from one year to the next (Ricker, 1975). Also called sustainable yield, equilibrium yield).

C_E = CE.

cebiche = ceviche.

Cecil's fast = William Cecil passed legislation in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I requiring fish, not meat, to be eaten on certain days of the week; hence fish dinners are called this.

cecum = a pocket or blind pouch; caecum.

cedar water = blackwater in the eastern U.S.A. in the Pine Barrens and nearby eastern coastal plain (very soft water, rich in humic acids and poor in nutrients with minimal transparency. pH is around 3.5-4.8 and colour is stained by tannins). Also found in tropical areas where it supports a distinct fish fauna.

cedis incertae = incertae cedis (of uncertain seat, meaning of uncertain taxonomic position or affinities).

Celsius = a measure of temperature on a metric scale used world-wide and by scientists. Abbreviated as C. In North America and in older literature Fahrenheit is used. The conversion is ºF = (ºC x 9/5) + 32 and ºC = (ºF - 32) x 5/9. Usually presented as ºC or ºF but strictly 3ºC is an actual temperature while 3Cº is a range of three degrees.

cement gland or organ = adhesive organ (transient larval organs near the mouth used to attach the larvae to the substrate, e.g.in Protopterus, Lepidosiren, Acipenser, Esox, Macropodus).

cenote = a flooded depression caused by a collapse in a limestone area (Yucatán, Mexico).

Cenozoic = a geological era, the age of mammals, ca. 65-0 million years ago, comprising the Quaternary and Tertiary.

census = an inventory; in fisheries assessment surveys, a census is used to provide the comprehensive basis for analysis and classification of the fisheries systems and, consequently, the basis for statistically representative sampling programmes.

centauri knot = a knot used by anglers to attach hooks through the eye to the line. It is made with a minimum of friction and so does not distort the line, being useful then across a wide range of line diameters. Various websites have animated steps showing how to tie this knot.

Centigrade = see Celsius.

centner = 1) 50 kg in the English version of the German zentner.

centner = 2) 100 kg in Russia.

centra = plural of centrum.

central canal = the fluid-filled narrow cavity in the spinal chord.

central nervous system = the brain and spinal chord. Abbreviated as CNS.

centre-console boat = a fishing boat with the control station at the boat's centre allowing all the deck around the edge of the boat to be used for fishing.

centrepin reel = an angling reel with the line wound directly on to a revolving drum. casting distance is limited but this is offset by good tackle control when trotting or fighting fish.

centrum (plural centra) = the central body of each vertebra.

centrum tendineum = the large aponeurosis (flattened tendon) at the bend of the bilocular muscular stomach, e.g. in Mormyridae.

cephalic = pertaining to the head.

cephalic clasper = a mace-like spiny-headed rod found on the mid-dorsal surface of heads of male Holocephali. Thought to aid in holding the female during copulation.

cephalic fin = the thick flap-like fleshy appendage projecting from the pectoral fins lateral to the mouth of Mobulidae.

cephalic flipper = the thick flap-like fleshy appendage projecting from the pectoral fins lateral to the mouth of Mobulidae.

cephalic index = the length of the head as a ratio of total or standard length.

cephalic lateral line (or cephalic sensory canals) = the head canals opening to the surface in pores and containing neuromasts (sometimes the canals are lost and the neuromasts are exposed). Similar to the trunk lateral line in structure and function but having different innervation. The following canals may be present: supratemporal (abbreviated ST) running across the top of the head connecting the lateral branch of each side; the opercular (OP), an isolated canal on the anterior operculum; supraorbital (SO) above the eye and extending anteriorly to the nostrils; infraorbital (IO) below the eye and above the upper lip; preoperculo-mandibular (PM) along the preopercle and lower jaw. The pores on the lower jaw are sometimes referred to separately as mandibular pores. Individual pores are sometimes referred to separately by the name of the structure to which they are adjacent:- nasal, postmaxillary, interorbital, etc. The coronal pore is the median dorsal pore (COR) between the eyes formed by junction of branches from each supraorbital canal.

cephalic pit = pore-like structures on the gill covers of snakeheads (Channidae).

cephalic ray = one of the dorsal fin rays on the head behind the illicium.

cephalic spine = on of the spines, probably denticle derivatives, occurring singly or in pairs just behind the orbit on the cheek area in some fossil sharks. May have occurred only in males and may have served to hold the female during copulation, e.g. in the Jurassic genera Hybodus, Asteracanthus and Acrodus.

cephalic spongy sensory area = the area above and behind the eye penetrated by numerous branches and pores of the cephalic lateral line system. Known in Brevoortia (Clupeidae).

cephalic tenaculum = cephalic clasper (a supplemental clasper in Holocephali, on the forehead).

cephalic vesicle = the blister-like inflation over the head of larvae of some species of Gadidae.

cephalofoil = the lateral extensions of the head in hammerhead sharks.

ceramic fish = swanky, in reference to a gift or some new purchase (slang). Derived from the TV show Wheel of Fortune where, in the earlier transmissions, contestants had to purchase prizes from their winnings and left over amounts, after more valuable items were bought, purchased ceramic fish and similar cheap items.

ceratal = referring to the ventralmost elements of the gill arch, i.e. ceratbranchials, ceratohyal and Meckel's cartilage. Compare epal.

ceratobranchial = a long, deep, endochondral bone in the middle portion of the gill arches between the epibranchials and the hypobranchials. There are usually 5 pairs of ceratobranchials, absent in some Anguillidae, Polypterus and Calamoichthys. The fifth pair of ceratobranchialas are modified in Cypriniformes and Siluriformes into a strong, tooth-bearing bone called the inferior pharyngobranchial bone.

ceratohyal = the endochondral bone articulating dorsally with the interhyal, anteriorly supporting some branchiostegal rays and ventrally joining one or two hypohyals. The ceratohyal and the epihyal are two ossification centres of the same bone and should therefore be named ventral ceratohyal and dorsal ceratohyal respectively. Since the ventral ceratohyal is probably homologous with a hypobranchial, the correct names should be anterohyal and posterohyal, while the two hypohyals should be called dorsohyal and ventrohyal. In cartilaginous fishes it is a paired element on the ventral part of the hyoid arch.

ceratomandibular cartilage = Meckel's cartilage (the functional lower jaw of Elasmobranchii and Holocephali, the embryonic lower jaw of other gnathostomous vertebrates which ossifies at least in part as the mentomeckelian, mediomeckelian, coronomeckelian, articular and retroarticular. It remains in some adult fishes as a pointed rod embedded in the dentary and angular. Also called mandibular cartilage or primary mandible. See also Bridge's ossicles).

ceratotrich = ceratotrichium.

ceratotrichia = plural of ceratotrichium.

ceratotrichium (plural ceratotrichia) = a long, horny or keratinous, non-cellular, cylindrical, flexible and non-segmented ray which supports the fins of Elasmobranchii and arthrodires. They may replace fin radials or be a third element in fin support in a series basals, radials, ceratotrichia. Used to make shark fin soup. Bony, unsegmented, unbranched rays superficially resembling ceratotrichia of Elasmobranchii are found in the fin membranes of Acanthodii.

cerebellum = a thick-walled dorsal swelling of the dorsal metencephalon (anterior hindbrain and perhaps including the posterior midbrain) concerned with locomotory activity. This unpaired structure is found just posterior to the optic lobes, has rounded lateral enlargements which project partially into the fourth ventricle and its posterior end projects dorsally above the fourth ventricle.

ceremonial harvest = a harvest of fish by natives for ceremonies and to support traditional lifestyles. Also called subsistence harvest.

ceroid = yellow-brown pigments of fish, found particularly in the liver and spleen, as end products of peroxidation of unsaturated fatty acids.

cervical = extrascapula (a small bone bordering the posterior margin of the skull roof in primitive Teleostomi. It apparently originates from enlarged scales. One of a series of from 2-8 bones known variously as nuchals, postparietals, scale bones, supratemporals or tabulars).

cervical notch = a depression where the head and body meet.

cervical photophore = a light organ in Myctophidae located at the upper corner of the gill cover where it meets the lateral line. Abbreviated Ce.

cervical sinus = cervical notch.

cervical vertebra = one of the anterior vertebrae in sharks.

ceviche = raw white fish marinated in lemon or lime juice and served with sweet limes, avocados, onion rings, garlic, cilantro, chilies, boiled corn and tomatoes. Originally from Peru, variously modified. Also called fish cocktail.

cf. = confer, meaning compare (with). Used with scientific names to indicate a similarity to the named species without certain identification; a provisional identification due to a damaged specimen or other problems.

cfr. = confer.

cfs-day = the volume of water represented by a flow of 1 cubic foot per second for 24 hours (equals 86,400 cubic feet, 1.983471 acre-feet or 646,317 gallons).

cfsm (cubic feet per second per square mile) = the average number of cubic feet of water per second flowing from each square mile of area drained by a stream, assuming that the runoff is distributed uniformly in time and area.

chafer = chafing gear.

chafing gear = any materials attached to wear points on nets. See also top-side chafer.

chain bracket = a chain used on an otter board in pace of a bracket. Also called angle iron chain, back board chain, board chain, chain triangle, towing chain.

chain mat = a device used in front of a trawl to disturb fish and cause them to be caught by the following trawl net. An interlinked network of lateral and longitudinal tickler chains, q.v. Also called a chain matrix.

chain matrix = chain mat.

chain off = moving the warps (q.v.) from their normal position above the stern down into the stern ramp of a trawler for shooting away and then back up again as the net is hauled back. Used on boats without hydraulic ice davits.

chain triangle = chain bracket.

chain-of-lakes = a series of lakes connected by streams.

chalky fish = an abnormal chalky-white appearance and a watery texture associated with a rapid drop in pH after capture, e.g. in halibut.

change, mandatory = a change in spelling of a name required by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature.

change of rank = when a name is moved from one level of a classification system to another, e.g. from subspecies to species.

channel = 1) an area that contains continuously or periodically flowing water that is confined by banks and a stream bed. May be natural or artificial.

channel = 2) a narrow stretch of water between adjacent land masses.

channel = 3) a large strait, e.g. English Channel.

channel = 4) a lead in ice.

channel catfish disease = a disease of fry and fingerlings of channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) and other Ictaluridae caused by a herpesvirus affecting internal organs. Occurs when water temperatures rise to 25-30ºC. Mortality is very high and survivors are carriers for life. Lowering water temperatures below 19ºC reduces mortality. Fish show loss of equilibrium, spiral swimming and tend to hang vertically in the water. Haemorrhages of the skin and gills occur along with abdominal swelling.

channel dam = lowhead dam (a dam extending across a river of low height, usually 15 feet (about 5 metres) or less. It impounds the water behind it, has minimal effects on the downstream regime and allows water to fall over its whole width. Quite dangerous as boaters and swimmers may not see it until too late and can be caught in the backwash beneath the dam. Also called run-of-the-river dam).

channel plate = a u-shaped, steel bracing bar on the back of an otter board, q.v. Also called back bar and back channel.

channelisation = the process of changing, deepening and straightening the natural path of a waterway.

char = members of the genus Salvelinus of the family Salmonidae with about 20 northern hemisphere species. Important food and game fishes of marine and fresh waters. The name is from the Gaelic ceara meaning red or blood-coloured or possibly from the Old English for turner, a fish that swims to and fro. See also charr and charrr. The variant number of "r"'s on the end of the name is attributed to a rivalry between the late nineteenth century scientists Albert Günther, who used charr, and Francis Day, who used char.

char dish = a Delftware pottery made to hold char (Salvelinus alpinus) preserved in spices. The char came from Lake Windermere in northwest England and the pots were made in Liverpool during the eighteenth century. They measured 2.5-4.0 cm deep by 15-25 cm wide and were often decorated with painted fish.

character = a variable structure or feature of a species or taxon that enables it to be distinguished from another species or taxon. Used in description and identification of species.

character displacement = forced evolution of dissimilar characters in related species where their ranges overlap. Species differ more where they occur together than when their distribution does not overlap. Usually this is detected as morphological features related to resource exploitation.

character polarity = the inferred direction of change of a characters state in a phylogenetic tree. The direction is determined by reference to the character state in an outgroup.

character release = two closely related species become more alike in regions where their ranges do not overlap than in regions where they do. Opposite of character displacement.

character state = the condition of character, e.g. scales present or scales absent, where scales is the character and present and absent are states.

characteristic = often used as synonym of character, strictly it is the distinctive state or expression of that character.

characteristic species = indicator species ((1) a fish species whose status provides information on the overall condition of the ecosystem and of other species in that ecosystem; fish that are sensitive to environmental conditions and which can therefore be used to assess environmental quality).

chardonnay = a mutated strain of zebrafish involving white blood cells, named for the wine. Other mutants are shiarz and chardonnay. These zebrafish (Danio rerio) are used in studies of haemoglobin formation as their inner body parts are easily seen in these small and transparent fishes and their genome has been sequenced.

Chargoggagoggmanchauggagoggchaubunagungamaugg = the Algonqin name of a lake in Webster, Massachusetts, incorrectly said to mean "you fish your side of the water, I fish my side of the water, nobody fishes the middle". Really means "Englishmen at Manchaug at the Fishing Place at the Boundary". Longest place name in the United States.

charismatic megafauna = a large charismatic species, e.g. presumably a great white shark in fishes.

charismatic species = any species that has popular appeal and is used to focus attention on conservation campaigns.

Charlie the Tuna = a cartoon tuna, used as the mascot for the product StarKist tuna from the early 1960s. Charlie had a beret and glasses, believed he had good taste and so was just right for the StarKist company. He was always rejected because the company was looking for tuna that tastes good. The rejection came in the form of a note attached to a hook saying "Sorry, Charlie", which became an American catchphrase (pun unintentional).

charr = char.

charrr = alleged Scottish pronunciation of char.

chart datum = a referenced surface from which soundings or tide heights are calculated, e.g. a tidal datum is the lowest a tide will ever reach (very rarely lower tides are found).

charter boat = a boat available for hire by anglers over a short time period. Usually crewed and with gear and bait supplied.

chase spawner = fish in which the male chases the female during spawning, e.g. Carassius auratus.

chaud = a dish in which a cod's liver is an ingredient (Shetland Isles dialect).

chauter = chowter.

cheapskate = a miser, a stingy person, unwilling to spend money (nothing to do with skates (Rajiidae); of uncertain origin).

cheater = said of small fish that steal bait meant for larger fish.

cheater hook = an extra hook added to a single-hook lure. Also called trailing hook.

cheater line = an extra length of line attached to the main line in angling for carrying another lure or hook.

chebacco boat = a fishing vessel employed in the Newfoundland fisheries. The word may be a corruption of Chedabucto, a bay in Nova Scotia, from which vessels are fitted out for fishing or the same as the chebec. Also called pinksterns.

chebec = xebec (a small, three-masted vessel used by Mediterranean pirates and still used in commerce to a limited extent. From the Arabic shabbak. Also spelled zebec).

check = a mark or discontinuity on a scale or other hard structure used for aging, caused by cessation of growth and absorption of deposited material due to spawning (hence a spawning check), injury, disease, parasites, or unseasonal lack of food. Also called split.

check dam = a small dam constructed in a small water course to decrease the streamflow velocity, minimize channel erosion, promote deposition of sediment and to divert water from a channel.

checklist = a list of species arranged in simple format for convenience of use, sometimes annotated with life history notes or other information.

cheek = the area between the eye and the preopercle.

cheek height = the least distance from the orbit to the lower edge of the horizontal arm of the preopercle.

cheek scale count = the number of scales crossing a straight line from the eye to the corner of the preopercle.

cheeks = muscles from the cheek area of a fish sold as a delicacy, e.g. cod cheeks, pickerel (Sander vitreus) cheeks.

cheese = a wooden disk placed on a pile of stiff and dry salt cod in a barrel before the fish-screw, q.v., was applied to pack it tightly. Named for its resemblance to a cheese wheel.

cheironym = an unpublished scientific name; manuscript name.

cheirotype = a type specimen of a species designated by a manuscript name.

chelation = a method of binding or locking up metal ions, used in water treatment in aquaria.

chemical etching = use of acids, bases of other chemicals in making fishing hooks that gives a very sharp point.

chemical filtration = a cleaning process for aquarium water where filters use chemical processes, e.g. protein skimmers and any filter containing chemical media such as activated carbon, molecular adsorption pads, zeolite, peat or resins.

chemocline = a sharp gradient in chemical concentration, e.g. the transition zone between layers in a meromictic lake, q.v.

chemoreception = the ability to sense chemicals in the environment, e.g. sharks and blood.

chemoreceptor = the receptors for chemoreception, e.g. taste buds on barbels, skin and in the mouth.

chemosensory = relating to taste and small operating on chemicals, dissolved in water in the case of fish.

chemotropic = turning towards a chemical stimulus.

chemotype = chemically characterised portions of of morphologically indistinguishable populations.

cherry bomb = a form of small explosive formerly used by purse seiners in California to frighten and concentrate a fish school.

chest = 1) the anterior ventral surface of a fish, just behind the head; may including the lower jaws and the chin.

chest = 2) a wicker box trap used to catch salmon (Scottish dialect).

chest waders = waterproof boots extending to the chest used by anglers and scientists when fishing. Made of latex, neoprene, Gortex, etc.

chevron = 1) a V-shaped scale found along the edge of the abdomen of clupeids, often providing the belly with a sharp, serrated edge.

chevron = 2) the earliest developmental form of myomeres in larvae where the angle is formed by the epaxial and hypaxial muscle masses.

chhandi jal = a drift gill net used for catching Hilsa ilisha (Clupeidae) in India.

chianti = a mutated strain of zebrafish lacking haemoglobin, named for the wine. Other mutants are shiraz and chardonnay. These zebrafish (Danio rerio) are used in studies of haemoglobin formation as their inner body parts are easily seen in these small and transparent fishes and their genome has been sequenced.

chiasma = the crossing of the fibres of the optic nerve.

chicken haddie = a commercial term for canned haddock, cod, cusk or hake or any combination thereof, that has not been ground. No chickens involved.

chicken of the sea = 1) originally albacore, yellowfin tuna and skipjack tuna canned in oil.

chicken of the sea = 2) a commercial brand name for fish and other marine products and used as a term for any marine food that is light and tasty.

chicken of the sea = 3) angler slang for a seagull.

chiddles = chitlings.

chidlins = chitlings.

chikuwa = a variety of Japanese fish paste cake; kneaded flesh wrapped around a stick and then baked.

chilile = inshore lake bottom.

chill storage = storage of fish at or just above 0°C as a means of preventing spoilage.

chilled fish = fish stored near freezing but not frozen.

chilled water stowage = storing commercial fish in chilled fresh or salt water using ice or mechanical refrigeration. Limited to about 3-4 days as some fish take up water and salt, their eyes become cloudy and gills are bleached as blood is lost.

chiller = 1) a device for cooling water in aquaria.

chiller = 2) choller.

chimaera = 1) an organism having tissues of two or more genetic types. Results from mutation or abnormal chromosome segregation.

chimaera = 2) members of the Order Chimaeriformes which has about 33 species in marine waters world-wide. Anatomical characters are a mix of those found in bony fishes and cartilaginous fishes, leading to the name (the mythical Greek monster had a lion's head, a goat's body and a serpent's tail).

chimaera poisoning = poisoning resulting from eating the flesh or viscera of ratfishes. The oviducts of Hydrolagus are toxic to mice. The flesh of chimaeras is reputed to have a stupefying effect.

chimneyfish = someone who smokes and drinks a lot, often simultaneously (slang).

chin = the tip of the lower jaw or the area between the rami of the lower jaw.

chin appendix = Schnauzenorgan (a German word for the chin protuberance of elephant nose fishes (Mormyridae), where there is the highest density of electrical receptors).

chin crest = an outgrowth of the dentary bone of the lower jaw. The crests from each side of the lower jaws converge anteriorly. Also called mental or submental crests.

chine = 1) backbone.

chine = 2) cut through the backbone.

chine = 3) a cut of fish (and meat) including at least part of the backbone.

chined = a fifteenth century word for dressing salmon (preparing this fish for consumption), no longer in use.

Chinese fishing net = a shore-operated lift net, 20 metres or more across and 10 metres or more tall, found in Cochin (Kochi), south India. The net is a cantilever with the net suspended over the sea and large stones suspended from ropes as counterweights at the other end. Requires up to six fishermen to operate. Named for their supposed Chinese origin.

Chinese herbology = use of herbs in traditional Chinese medicine. Seahorses, for example, are ground up with various herbs and used to treat impotence. Import and export of seahorses has been controlled under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species since 15 May 2004.

Chinese major carps = commercially important fishes of the family Cyprinidae, used in aquaculture, namely Ctenopharyngodon idella, Cyprinus carpio, Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, and Mylopharyngodon piceus. See also Indian major carps and Indian minor carps; there does not appear to be any Chinese minor carps.

chinook salmon disease = infectious haematopoietic necrosis (an acute Rhabdovirus-group viral disease of salmonids transmitted from fish to fish and by eggs in western North America, e.g. in chinook and sockeye salmon and rainbow trout. The disease destroys the haemotopoietic tissues in the kidney and spleen. Fish become lethargic or hyperactive, dark in colour, develop popeyes, anaemia (pale gills) and a swollen belly, and produce faecal casts. Haemorrhages on the skin, viscera and fins occur. Particularly affects fish less than 5 cm long in water below 10°C with high mortality. Potentially dangerous to humans. Abbreviated as IHN).

chip = 1) fish chip (a delicatessen, potato chip-like product made of equal parts of fish and potato).

chip = 2) potato chip fired in fat or oil and often served with fried fish (fish and chips).

chip = 3) said of salmon, to cut the surface of the water without leaping (Northumberland dialect).

chipper = chippy.

chippie = chippy.

chippy = 1) a fish and chip shop in Britain. Also spelled chippie.

chippy = 2) a carpenter.

chirashi-zushi = "scattered sushi", a bowl or box of sushi rice with a variety of sashimi (usually nine, a Japanese lucky number).

chironym = cheironym.

chirotype = cheirotype.

chirping = gulping of air which is then emitted through the gills in fine bubbles causing a chirping sound, e.g. in Glandulocauda inequalis (Characidae).

chistlings - chitlings.

chitlings = small parts of cod intestines cooked as a delicacy (Newfoundland). Also spelled chiddles, chidlins and chistlings.

chloramine = an ammonia-chlorine chemical sometimes used as a bactericide in municipal water supplies. It it poisonous to fish, but can be removed with special compounds available in aquarium stores, e.g. a double dose of sodium thiosulphate. Unlike chlorine, it will not evaporate from water by itself. Fish with chloramine poisoning dart around rapidly and may leap out of the water, show pigment changes and exhibit hypoxia, and may die.

chloride secreting cell = a cell in the gills, especially along the bases of the secondary gill lamellae and the pseudobranchs when present, or in the opercular epithelium, which excrete chloride, potassium and sodium ions in marine fishes. These cells maintain the osmotic balance from the loss of water via the gills and the necessity of drinking sea water. Also called ionocyte.

chlorine poisoning = similar to effects of chloramine and like it may be chronic with no specific signs or acute as detailed above. The fish should be removed from the contaminated aquarium.

chlorinity = the total amount in grams of chlorine, bromine, and iodine contained in one kilogramme of seawater, assuming the bromine and iodine to be replaced by chlorine. Salinity in parts per thousand (‰) = 1.80655 x Cl (‰). Abbreviated as Cl.

choana (plural choanae) = an internal canal connecting the nasal and the buccal cavities; internal nares, e.g. in derived Sarcopterygii. The analogous structures in Dipnoi are not true choanae.

choanae = plural of choana.

chocolate fish = a chocolate-covered marshmallow fish, often given as a treat or offered as a reward (New Zealand slang).

choice = 1) the designation of a high quality cure or cull of salted cod-fish.

choice = 2) prolific in fish, in reference to a fishing ground.

choke = 1) a triangular piece at the wing end of a purse seine, used to get the float and load lines while heaving the net by a power block.

choke = 2) a method of baiting herring for slow trolling.

choke = 3) killing fish in a gill net, the squeaking noise made when a herring is removed from a gill net, the act of killing them by removing them from the water, or a combination of the above. See herring choker.

choline = hydroxyethyl trimethyl ammonium hydroxide, a structural component in adipose and nerve tissue which may cause poor growth in fish when deficient.

choller = the gills of a fish (British dialect).

cholly = choller.

chondral = of cartilage.

chondroblast = a precursor cell of a chondrocyte; these cells migrate to centres of cartilage formation during development.

chondrocranium (chondrocrania) = the cartilaginous skeleton enclosing the brain, olfactory region, eye and inner ear. Part of skull first formed in the embryo. Forms the whole skull in Cyclostomata, Elasmobranchii and Holocephali. Covered by dermal bones in Teleostomi and replaced by the osteocranium with only remnants between bones allowing for growth. Sometimes called the neurocranium or endocranium.

chondrocyte = a cell that makes the supporting matrix (collagen) of cartilage; usually found in lacunae embedded in the supportive matrix. Derived from chondroblasts.

chondroneurocranium = the cartilaginous braincase of Chondrichthyes.

chop = slapping the surface of the water with the tail when swimming in schools or enclosed in a net. said of cod in Newfoundland.

chop-stick = a cross-stick of iron wire, whalebone, or other materials attached to a sea-fishing line to keep the snood and hook clear of the sinker (British dialect).

chopped herring = pickled herrings finely chopped with apples, bread, onions and eggs, and vinegar, oil and sugar (Ashkenazi cuisine).

choppy sea = short and rough waves falling with a short and quick motion, easily breaking at the crest.

choran = a lake formed near river channels (India).

chorda dorsalis (chordæ dorsales) = notochord (the skeletal rod consisting of a sheath firmly packed with cells which lie above the gut and below the nerve cord. The notochord is persistent when it remains as a continuous skeletal support (e.g. Amphioxi, Holocephali, Acipenseridae, Petromyzontiformes, etc.) and is constricted when displaced by vertebral centra, occupying anterior and posterior cavities).

chorda mesoderm = the notochord rudiment.

chordacentrum = the vertebral centrum formed by the conversion of the chordal sheath into a series of ring-like cartilaginous segments around the notochord and subsequently biconcave discs. The bases of the neural and haemal arches abut the chordacentrum. Found only in Elasmobranchii.

chordal = referring to the notochord.

chorion = an embryonic membrane, elaborated by the follicle cells, which encloses the egg. The eggs of truly viviparous fishes are non-chorionated. Usually hardens on contact with the water; after fertilization the egg secretes fluid and shrinks inward leaving a perivitelline space. May lie external to the zona radiata. Called egg shell in fish.

chorionic thread = one a series of threads on the chorion of some eggs, the number and length varying with the species.

choroid = a black pigmented vascular layer of the eye between the retina and the sclera, preventing reflection of light in the eye.

choroid fissure = an indentation at the ventral margin of the eye marking the invaginated borders of the optic cup in larval fish. Usually associated with narrow eyes and often pigmented.

choroid gland = a gland on the dorsal half of the fish eyeball.

choroid tissue = a primordial vascular tissue mass lying below the eye, often unpigmented. In studies of larval fishes its length is measured along its longitudinal axis from the interface with the pigmented portion of the eye to the tip of the choroid mass.

choroidal guanine tapetum = the tapetum lucidum, q.v., in Elasmobranchii.

chorology = study of the processes governing natural geographical distribution.

chorusing = sound production in fishes associated with reproduction. Various websites have recordings of the sounds made.

chott = a depression surrounding a salt marsh or lake, or the bed of a dried salt marsh (in North Africa). Also spelled shott.

chouder = an older spelling of chowder.

chowder = 1) fish chowder (a thick soup mix of cooked fish and/or shellfish and potatoes in a broth made from pork, flour, seasonings and fish stock).

chowder = 2) a fish monger (archaic).

chowter = a female fish-monger (English dialect).

Christmas fish = dried and salted cod eaten on St. Stephen's Day, 26 December in Newfoundland.

Christmas tree = a purse seine with fishes stuck in the mesh.

chrom- (prefix) = colour.

chromaffin tissue = an endocrine tissue located in or near the kidneys which secretes adrenaline and which controls the blood pressure and regulates the chromatophores.

chromatophore = a dermal pigment cell; sometimes seen in the epidermis. Aggregation or dispersion of the pigment by expansion or contraction of a circular muscle surrounding an individual chromatophore effects color changes. Chromatophores are of two types, biochromes and schematochromes, q.v. See also melanophore, erythrophore, xanthophore and iridocytes.

chromer = angling term for a bright fresh fish (in British Columbia).

chryopsin = a golden colored retinal pigment found in deepsea teleosts. Its absorption curve is similar to the spectral emission curve of bioluminescence, indicating that eyes containing it are probably used for observing photophores, e.g. in Myctophum punctatum.

chub = 1) a name applied to various unrelated fishes which have short, thick and rounded bodies and large heads.

chub = 2) a foolish fellow, easily imposed on, from the fish easily caught (obsolete slang).

chubber = a hollow, plastic float fished with large bulk shot.

chubby = round and plump; overweight. Supposedly derived from the thick-bodied and round-cheeked cyprinid fish Leuciscus cephalus, the chub of Europe.

chugger = a top-water plug having a cup-shaped mouth, splashing or chugging when retrieved. Smaller than a popper, q.v.

chum = cut up fish or meat mixed with blood and garbage and used to attract fishes, such as sharks, to a fishing area. In a sense the British ground bait, q.v., is a form of chum used to attract non-predatory coarse fishes.

chum bag = a mesh bag filled with chum and hung overboard from a boat or, as a small bag, trolled deep.

chumline = throwing live bait in ones and twos behind a boat to attract fish.

chumming = the act of spreading chum in the water.

chumslick = cut up fish pieces in a bag kept in the water alongside a boat to form a slick attractive to fish, particularly sharks, or the narrow band of water extending behind a boat from chumming.

chundery headed = having a large head, e.g. a lean cod (Orkney dialect).

chunk = 1) a commercial definition of a mixture of pieces of fish flesh which mostly has dimensions of not less than 1.2 cm in each direction and in which the original muscle structure is retained.

chunk = 2) a cross-section of a large dressed fish containing the backbone. Ready for cooking.

chute = rapidly flowing water over steep, narrowly enclosed bedrock. The surface water is smooth and without the turbulence occasioned by rocks and boulders.

chutoro = medium fatty tuna, from the upper belly, as served in a sushi restaurant.

ciénaga = a marshland (Spanish).

cigar fish = faeces in a swimming pool or the ocean.

cigar minnow = a scad family member sold as frozen bait in Florida, firm textured. Used for catching offshore fish.

ciguatera poisoning = a poisoning resulting from eating ciguatoxic fishes (or sometimes algae or invertebrates), with tens of thousands of cases each year. Symptoms 3-5 hours after ingestion usually include abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, watery diarrhoea, and numbness and tingling in the mouth region which spreads to the extremities. Acute symptoms disappear in 8-10 hours, most in 24 hours in moderate cases. In severe cases weakness, visual disturbances, skin disorders, temperature perception reversals, coma and even death (up to 20% mortality) may occur. Death appears to result from asphyxia. The toxin appears to be an "irreversible" anticholinesterase. An attack does not impart immunity. Diagnosis should be confirmed by history of ingestion and by the observation of the effect of atropine (will cause marked atropinization unless anticholinesterase intoxication is present) and by the estimation of acetylcholinesterase level in red blood cells. Treatment consists of artificial respiration with oxygen added as needed, atropinization (after recovery from cyanosis), dosing with protopam chloride and indicated symptomatic measures. The stomach should be emptied by gastric lavage, emetics or saline purges as soon as possible.

ciguateratoxin = ciguatoxin.

ciguatoxic fishes = those fishes causing ciguatera poisoning. These are usually insular marine fishes in the tropics, subtropics or warm temperature zones, best known in the tropical Pacific and Indian Oceans and West Indies. But geographical occurrence is spotty, and fish may be poisonous in only part of an island. Numerous species have been found to be ciguatoxic but in other places or in other years they are safe. Ciguatoxic fishes are usually bottom dwellers or feed on bottom dwelling fishes. Toxicity may be due to consumption of an algae (benthic dinoflagellate) by the fish or by one of its prey. The principal dinoflagellate is Gambierdiscus toxicus. Examples of ciguatoxic fishes include Muraenidae, Holocentridae, Acanthuridae, Lutjanidae, Scaridae, Serranidae, Sphyraenidae.

ciguatoxication = poisoning from ciguatoxic fishes.

ciguatoxin = the poison causing ciguatera poisoning. Exact chemical and pharmacological properties are unknown. May be a complex biotoxin with several fractions or several chemically unrelated compounds. May be a phospholipid. The formula C28 H52 NO5 C1 has been proposed.

cilia = plural of cilium.

ciliate = ciliated.

ciliate scale = a scale having comb-like, smooth teeth along its free edge, e.g. in characoids.

ciliated = fringed with projections.

ciliated scale = a ctenoid scale having very elongate, soft, flexible ctenii (spines) on its posterior margin, e.g. Capros aper.

ciliiform = hair-like.

cilium (plural cilia) = a fin thread of cytoplasm projecting from the surface of a cell. Moves fluid surrounding it by beating or is sensory as in the lateral line system, q.v.

cinch knot = clinch knot.

cingulum pectorale (plural cingula pectoralia) = pectoral girdle (the bony support of the pectoral fin behind the gills and usually attached to the posterior part of the skull; the "shoulder" girdle. Composed of the following basic elements (some of which may be lost): coracoid, scapula, pterygials, postcleithrum, cleithrum (main bone), supracleithrum and posttemporal. The "primary" pectoral girdle includes actinosts, scapula, coracoid, and sometimes mesocoracoid cartilage or endochondral bones and supports the fins directly. The "secondary" (and more primitive) pectoral girdle encloses the dermal post-temporal, supracleithrum, cleithrum, and two postcleithra, which are membrane bones and is only indirectly related to the fins. Also called scapular girdle).

cingula pectoralia = plural of cingulum pectorale.

circa = about. Abbreviated ca.

circadian = pertaining to a daily and rhythmic biological cycle.

circalittoral = the lower sublittoral zone in the sea dominated by photophilic algae; the depth zone between 100 and 200 metres.

circannual = approximately one year.

circle gill net = a gill net in shallow water drawn around a school of fish so that the fish may be scared into gilling themselves

circle hook = a wide circular hook with the point curved in such a way that most fish are hooked in the mouth. Useful for catching and releasing fish as it is seldom swallowed. Compared to j-shaped hooks, this hook holds bait better, has greater holding power, and more hookups. The harder the fish pulls the more strongly the hook is embedded.

circular pond = a circular, concrete raceway with a central drain, water being introduced in such a way as to ensure an even circular current. Common in aquaculture.

circular tank = a round tank with an outflow in the centre; common in aquaculture.

circuli = plural of circulus.

circulus (plural circuli) = the concentric ring or polygon found on scales; also called ridge.

circum- (prefix) = around, about, surrounding.

circumaustral = around the southern hemisphere in the higher latitudes.

circumboreal = around the northern hemisphere in the higher latitudes.

circumference scale count = count of all the longitudinal scale rows around the body starting with the scale immediately in front of the dorsal fin.

circumglobal = around the world, as in distribution of certain fishes.

circumnarial fold = a skin fold around the nostrils in Chondrichthyes. Also called perinasal groove or cirumnarial groove.

circumnarial groove = circumnarial fold.

circumneutral = said of water with a pH of 5.5 to 7.4.

circumoral teeth = the innermost row of teeth lateral to the mouth of lampreys (Petromyzontiformes).

circumorbital = one of a series of superficial dermal bones encircling the eye including the suborbitals and supraorbitals. A complete circuit of bones is found only in such primitive fishes such as Lepisosteus and some Osteoglossidae.

circumorbital sulcus = the groove in the epidermis surrounding the orbit that facilitates rotation of the eye in its socket. Present in many fishes but absent in Lepidogalaxias salamandroides (Lepidogalaxidae) which has an immobile eye.

circumpeduncular scale count = number of scales around the narrowest portion of the caudal peduncle.

circumpolar = having a more or less continuous distribution around either pole.

circumtropical = organisms which occur around the tropics of the world (in sea or on land).

cirrhi = plural of cirrhus.

cirrhus (plural cirrhi) = cirrus.

cirri = plural of cirrus.

cirrose = with cirri.

cirrus (plural cirri) = fringe-like fleshy appendages, usually slender and elongate.

cit. = abbreviation for citatus, meaning to cite, cited.

citatus = to cite, cited.

CITES = the Convention on International Trade in Endangered and Threatened Species. Regulates trade in live and dead animals and plants in an effort to conserve those species in danger of extinction.

clacker = a metal device added to buzzbaits, q.v., to make additional noise.

clade = a group defined by at least one shared derived character or synapomorphy inherited from a common ancestor; all descendants of any given species; a monophyletic higher taxon, a branch on a cladogram.

cladism = cladistics.

cladistics = a method used by systematists to determine evolutionary relationships. The distribution of shared derived characters (synapomorphies) is used to test relationships and taxa can thus only be defined by genealogy or descent. Relationships of taxa are presented as cladograms, q.v. The number of characters used is important as the best cladogram will be one supported by the most characters. Characters should be independent of one another so that they are not redundant (expressing the same character state in a different fashion, e.g. large eye and small snout may not be independent as a large eye in a head of uniform size may be larger at the expense of snout length). Each cladogram is a hypothesis subject to testing and rejection. Also called cladism or phylogenetic systematics.

cladodont = a form of early shark tooth, characteristically with a large central cusp, a broad base and smaller lateral cusps, found in sharks such as Cladodus from the Upper Devonian. See also diplodont, hybodont and symmorid.

cladogenesis = the development of a new clade; the splitting of a single lineage into two distinct lineages; speciation.

cladogram = a dendrogram or tree-like diagram expressing the evolutionary relationships among a group of organisms in terms of recency of common ancestry or descent. All taxa are terminal in position, the identity of nodes (ancestors) are not specified and connecting lines represent shared derived characters (synapomorphies). Any two branch tips sharing the same immediate node are most closely related. A cladogram only specifies the relative degrees of phylogenetic relationship (sistergroup relationships) of the analysed taxa, as well as their monophyly.

clamp = a type of fish spear with several prongs that hold a fish without excessive injury. The prongs may be pointed and barbed too but the purpose of the clamp is to secure the fish with little damage.

clamped fins = a posture adopted by a fish where it holds its fins tightly against its body. Usually a sign of distress or sickness.

Clarenville boat = a small wooden motor-boat built at Clarenville, Newfoundland by the government during World War II and later converted to refrigerator ships.

clarity = the degree of visibility in a body of water. Determined by water colour and turbidity.

Clark = a measure of hardness. English degrees of hardness are rarely used in the UK. One degree Clark is equal to 14.3 mg/l CaCO₃.

Clarissa = an individual Cyprinus carpio weighing about 44 lbs caught in Redmire Pool, Herefordshire, England by Richard Walker in September, 1952. This was a record for the species in Britain, a country not noted for large freshwater fishes. Clarissa became legendary among anglers and lived out the rest of her life at the London Zoo.

clasper = the rod-like extension of the medial portion of the pelvic fin in male Elasmobranchii and Holocephali. Claspers are used as intromittent organs (not in clasping), the grooves on their facing surfaces together forming a tube for the transmission of sperm when the claspers are held together. The anterior proximal opening is called the apopyle, the posterior distal opening the rhipidion. Claspers are also known as myxopterygia. A unilateral pectoral clasper is known in certain poeciliids. See also cephalic clasper.

clasper gaff = the hook-like structure on the inside of the clasper. Derived from denticles, e.g. in Squalus.

clasper hook = the reversed denticle on claspers which point toward the base. Found in certain Scyliorhinidae.

clasper spine = one or more needle-like spines which project from the distal end of claspers and are proportionally much larger than clasper hooks. Derived from denticles, e.g. in Squalus and the Jurassic Paleospinax.

clasper spur = the conical or claw-like structure formed by fusion of tesserae on the claspers of certain sharks, e.g. Heterodontus, Ginglymostoma, Alopias, Cetorhinus.

clasping = a common reproductive act in fishes where the males uses his fins to clasp or wrap around the female. The action stimulates egg deposition, brings genital openings close together or facilitates intromission.

clasping organ = clasper.

class = the taxonomic group above order and below phylum. The class-group includes subclass, class and superclass and is not covered by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, e.g. Class Actinopterygii.

class frequency = 1) number of individuals occurring in a given class, possessing common attributes.

class frequency = 2) frequency of occurrence of a given class, e.g. age group.

classical = pertaining to a name that is derived from Latin or ancient Greek.

classification = like organisms grouped within a hierarchical system, the process of arranging these organisms.

clat = a bunch of worms, having worsted drawn through them (English dialect).

clathrate = resembling an open latticework.

clatter = a fisher for eels.

clathrate = having a lattice-like structure or appearance.

clatting = fishing for eels with a cluster of worms, each of which has had a strong worsted drawn through the length of its body (English dialect). See also quod.

claustrum = the first of the four Weberian ossicles, q.v. It receives vibrations from the scaphium and transmits them to the perilymph of the sinus impar.

clavate = club-shaped.

clavicle = paired dermal bone ventral to the cleithrum in Acipenseridae and Amiidae. Lost or fused with the cleithrum in Teleostei. Clavicle was sometimes misapplied for cleithrum.

clavicula (plural claviculæ) = clavicle.

claviculæ = plural of clavicula.

clavicular spine = a spine in the shoulder region.

claviform = club shaped.

clavus = the rudder-like lobe at the hind end of the body in Molidae.

clay = a sedimentary material with grains smaller than 0.2 mm (or 0.004, sources vary) in diameter.

cleach-net = a hand-net or dip-net used in shallow, muddy waters to catch small fish (English dialect).

cleacher = a fisherman using a cleach-net (English dialect).

cleaching-net = a large bag net drawn across rivers in time of flood (English dialect).

cleaching-water = shallow or rain swollen and murky water in which a cleach-net or cleaching-net may be used (English dialect).

clean = water with abundant plankton for the fish but lacking the organisms which cause slub (q.v.) to clog nets (Newfoundland). A good area for fishing even though they water is murky. See also dirty.

clean fish = mended fish (post-spawning fish that have or are recovering).

clean the fish = to skin or lead on a victim as in a carnival game. See also feed the fish.

cleaner = a fish which picks dead tissue and parasites off other fishes. Cleaner fish may establish a cleaning station and have a particular behaviour (dance, invitation posture) and colouration which clues other fishes into their function and prevents them from being eaten.

cleaning = the act of cleaning a fish for food. See fish cleaning in Symbols.

cleaning station = a site visited by fishes, often on a reef where cleaning shrimp or fish remove parasites from their bodies.

cleanplate herring = herring filleted by a machine which removes fins, bones and part of the belly wall.

clear fish soup = fish broth, bouillon.

clear water method = raising larval fish where food is cultured separately and added to the larval tank at intervals.

cleared and stained = a specimen with some tissues rendered transparent by various chemical treatments while others are stained to enhance their visibility. In fish osteological studies, the flesh is cleared with enzymes or potassium hydroxide and the bones stained red with alizarin red S and the cartilage blue with alcian blue. Abbreviated as c & s on labels and in museum catalogues.

clearwater = water with low suspended solids and a high transparency, cf. blackwater.

cleat hitch = a knot for tying up a boat to a wedge-shaped cleat made by passing a line around the arms of the cleat in a figure 8, then partially forming another turn, closing it to make a loop and pulling it taut. Various websites have animated steps showing how to tie this knot.

cleavage stages = initial stages in embryonic development where divisions of blastomeres are clearly marked. Usually the first through sixth cleavages (2-64 cells).

cleek = 1) a barbed hook used to land salmon; a salmon gaff (Ayrshire dialect). Also spelled click, cleik, kleek, kliek and cleeque.

cleek = 2) to hook, catch up or fasten on a hook or to fish out with a hook. Also spelled click, cleik, kleek, kliek and cleeque.

cleek = 3) a salmon net set in a river in a curve form (Scottish dialect).

cleeque = cleek.

cleft = a slit-like opening, e.g. the interruption in the thickened lower lip in Catostomidae.

cleidoic = said of an ovum containing enough nutritive material for the production of a complete embryo.

cleik = cleek.

cleithra = plural of cleithrum.

cleithral = adjective from cleithrum.

cleithral head spine = a spine on the head of Scorpaenidae members. They are, from anterior to posterior over the top of the head on each side, the nasal, preocular, supraocular, postocular, tympanic, coronal (medial to the tympanic and postocular spines), parietal, and nuchal. Opercular spines are at the postero-dorsal corner of the operculum, preopercular spines line the posterior margin of the preoperculum, and the cleithral and postcleithral spines are just above the opercular spines on the side of the head.

cleithral stripe = a stripe, usually dark and evident, running from the upper gill opening down to the pectoral fin base.

cleithral symphysis = the junction of the ventral and anterior ends of the cleithra, often visible as a cartilaginous ridge in larvae.

cleithrum (plural cleithra) = the principal bow-shaped bone of the pectoral girdle, dermal in origin, forming the rear margin of the gill cavity. It articulates dorsally with the supracleithrum and ventrally with the scapula and coracoid, and meets its opposite pair medially under the heart. Used in age estimation, where it is more reliable than scales in some species, e.g. Esox masquinongy.

clems = fish and potatoes fried together (Cornish dialect). Also called pick-up.

clevis = a swivel attached to a spinner blade which allows it to rotate on retrieval.

clew = corner of a fish net.

click = 1) a cork shaped like a fish used to catch seagulls. It was covered with mackerel skin, baited with meat, and armed with two hooks.

click = 2) cleek.

click drag = a drag or resistance on a reel which makes a clicking sound. It slows and tires a hooked fish.

click hook = a large barbed hook for catching salmon, comprised of hooks bound together shaft to shaft, used in poaching. Poachers throw them beneath the fish, and with a sharp click strike them into the belly.

click net = a net used for holding over the water to catch salmon as they jump.

clicker cork = a styrofoam cork, thin and about 3 inches long, mounted on an 8 inch wire. A yanking retrieval produces a clicking sound similar to the one that shrimp make an this attracts fish to bite. Used on shrimptail jigs above a grass bottom.

clidost = urohyal (a flat, median, deep, endochondral bone below the ceratohyal; a tendon bone arising in the septum between the longitudinal muscles of the isthmus. Absent in such primitive fishes as Lepisosteus. Also called clidost, episternal, interclavicle and parahyoid).

clinch knot = half blood knot (a knot used by anglers to attach swivels, hooks and lures to the main line. Various websites have animated steps showing how to tie this knot).

clinched half blood knot = a knot used by anglers to attach swivels, hooks and lures to the fishing line; seemingly a tautology. Various websites have animated steps showing how to tie this knot.

clinching net = a bag net used for fishing. The net is attached to a semicircular hoop, having a transverse piece, to the centre of which a pole is fixed. The net is put gently into the stream, and drawn towards the bank when the river is in flood, and the fish drawn to the sides (English dialect).

cline = a geographical gradient in a character, e.g. increase northwards in number of vertebrae in fish.

clinker = a form of seaworthy boat construction built with planks overlapping the one below. Also called lapstrake.

clinolimnion = that part of the hypolimnion of a lake where the rate of heating falls exponentially with depth.

clip = 1) clamp.

clip = 2) a gaff or strong iron hook with a wooden handle, used for landing fish (British dialect).

clipe = clip.

clip-on weight = a flattened lead weight with prongs and of various sizes which can be clipped on to swimfeeders (q.v.) for added weight.

clipfish = salted whole dried fish, often cod (Gadus morhua). Famous in Norway where it is dried in the sun (from the Norwegian klippfisk, klepp being a rock by the water and fisk being fish).

clipped herring = brined herring with the heads and most of guts removed. Also called cut herring.

clipped roe fish = alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) with the heads and guts removed but with the roe left inside.

clipper = high-quality swordfish or dolphin (fish) caught and frozen at sea.

clippet = a large hook fastened to the end of a stick, used in landing fish in sea fishing (English dialect).

cloaca = the vestibule into which empty the urogenital and digestive canals and which opens ventrally to the exterior, usually just in front of the anal fin, e.g. in Elasmobranchii, Acipenseridae.

cloacal appendage = tissue next to the cloaca, enlarge and often pointed.

cloacal aperture = the opening of the cloaca.

clone = a group of descendants of the same genetic constitution from a single parent; see gynogenesis.

cloop = a distinctive sucking sound made by fish such as carp (Cyprinus carpio) at the surface when feeding.

close = gutted but not fully split open fish.

close fish = a whole smoked haddock with its backbone retained, usually gutted and headed (Scotland). Initially cold smoked for several hours, then hot smoked. Also known as Arbroath smokie, Auchmithie cure, pinwiddie.

closed area = an area closed to fishing by season or temporarily to protect spawning fish or juveniles.

closed basin = a basin without visible surface outflow.

closed containment system = an aquaculture facility on land or in the sea in which water is re-used, has a processing system for wastes, and escapes of farmed fish are impossible.

closed mating system = a breeding programme in which no outside fish are allowed. This ensures the progeny are from a known parental combination.

closed sea = 1) a part of the ocean hemmed in by narrow straits or headlands.

closed sea = 2) a part of the ocean within the territorial jurisdiction of a state. Opposite of open sea.

closed season = a fishing ban by season but also by time, area, or species, usually to protect spawners or young, cf. open season.

closed system = closed containment system.

closed to retention = for conservation purposes, fish caught by anglers must be returned alive to the water. Also called catch and release, non-retention and daily limit 0.

closed waters = waters where it is illegal to fish.

closed-cycle system = an aquaculture unit where the water is treated and re-used rather than being replaced with fresh water.

closed-face reel = an angling reel with a fixed spool enclosed by a housing and the bail arm replaced by a small pick-up pin. The line emerges from a central hole. Used in spinning and light float fishing.

closure = 1) the banning of fishing during a particular time (temporal closure) or place (spatial closure) or both.

closure = 2) completion and start-up of a dam.

cloudbait = a fine groundbait which forms a cloud in the water to attract fish to the hook and its bait. Necessarily used in still or slow moving waters.

clough = a steep-sided valley or tributary to another valley (Lancashire).

clouser minnow = a streamer (q.v.) pattern that imitates baitfish, named for the designer Bob Clouser.

clout = a measure of nets, about 4 yards long (British and Scottish dialect).

clove hitch = a knot used to attach a boat, for example, to a post quickly. It is made by dropping two half-hitches (see double half-hitch) over and around the post. Various websites have animated steps showing how to tie this knot.

clown = a colour used in hard jerk baits comprising a chrome body with a chartreuse back and red head or face.

club = 1) a device used to stun or kill a fish when captured on hook and line or in a trap. Can be a simple piece of wood or intricately shaped and carved as with the Haida fish clubs of western Canada.

club = 2) an association of individuals devoted to angling. See also anglers association.

club = 3) an association of individuals devoted to keeping fish in aquaria.

club cell = a specialised, club-shaped cell in the epidermis which produces, e.g., pheromones in members of the Cypriniformes.

clubbing = swelling of the tips of the gill filaments.

clubcell = club cell.

clupeoid fish poisoning = clupeotoxism.

clupeotoxic fishes = those fishes causing clupeoid fish poisoning; certain clupeiform members of the families Clupeidae, Engraulidae and Elopidae in the tropical Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea and tropical Pacific Ocean. Tropical clupeiform fishes according to some reports are most likely to be toxic during the warm summer months. Toxicity may be due to the fishes consumption of a dinoflagellate.

clupeotoxin = the poison in clupeotoxic fishes. It is a neurotoxin, palytoxin, found in marine algae and presumably ingested by the fish.

clupeotoxism = a form of fish poisoning caused by eating clupeotoxic fishes. A sharp metallic taste on ingestion may be followed by nausea, dryness of the mouth, vomiting, malaise, abdominal pain and diarrhoea, nervous disturbance such as dilated pupils, muscular convulsions, coma and death. Symptoms ensue very rapidly - death may occur in less than 15 minutes and the fatality rate is high (about 45%). Treatment is symptomatic.

cluster = 1) a temporary grouping of a few schools or elementary population of fishes.

cluster = 2) a collective noun (a noun that denotes a collection of persons or things regarded as a unit) for porcupinefish.

cluster analysis = a method of grouping taxa on the basis of similarity or distance.

cluster eggs = portions of roe with membranes and eggs adhering.

clustering = milling about exhibited by territorial fishes. May include displays and chases.

clutch = the number of eggs laid at any one time. May refer to groups of eggs laid in a nest.

clutch overlap = superfetation (the simultaneous development of several broods within the ovary where they are nourished; enabled by the entrance and storage of sperm in the ovary, e.g. in Poeciliidae. Also spelled superfoetation).

clutch tender = an ecological group of reproductive guilds (q.v.) where the fish look after the eggs once laid.

clysotremic = pertaining to tide pools.

C-mormyromast = electroreceptor (an organ which detects the presence of an electric current).

cm³ = cubic centimetre (0.0338 fl oz, 0.00211 pt, 1.0 mL).

CNS = central nervous system.

co- (prefix) = together, sharing, with, jointly.

co-adventurer = a member of a fishing crew whose pay depends on the value of the catch rather than on a fixed wage (Newfoundland).

co-management = the sharing of authority, responsibility, and benefits between government and local communities, non-governmental organisations, research institutions, etc. in the management of fish stocks.

co-range line = a line linking all points on a map having the same tidal range.

co-tidal line = a line linking all points on a map having the same tidal stage or phase.

coachman = a fly-fisher's rod, in allusion to whipping the stream (slang).

coagulant = a chemical compound used in water clarifiers in aquaria. It causes fine particles to stick together such that they are more easily removed by the filter.

coalesced = fused, e.g. teeth of Scaridae are coalesced in varying degrees to form a "plate".

coarse fish = those kinds of fish not sought after by sports fishermen, or regarded as of lesser importance, perhaps caught for sport but not food. In Britain sport fish are basically Atlantic salmon and brown trout, all other fish being considered coarse fish including northern pike and perch considered as sport fish in North America. Coarse fish are often various members of the carp family (Cyprinidae) in Britain. Catch and release is the norm and keeping coarse fish is against the rules on many waters. Some fish, particularly carp, have been caught many times and are very suspicious of baits and much sought after. Most coarse fishing is static with a bait remaining for long periods in one place (except in rivers), boats are seldom used, groundbait or chum is used to attract fish to a swim or fishing spot, casts can be over a hundred yards away from the angler, rods are very long and rigs are highly specialised and refined. Lures are not in common use in Britain because most coarse fish are not predators and do not chase them. See also match fishing and pole for further details on British methods of fishing.

coarse sediment = sediment with a particle size greater than 2.0 mm. Includes gravel, cobbles and boulders.

coarse vegetation = a loosely used term for emergent plants, especially coarser ones such as reeds.

coast = the contact between the terrestrial and aquatic environment. Variously defined as equivalent to the shore or much wider than the shore. Extends inland to the first major change in terrestrial features.

coast fishery = 1) an inshore fishery.

coast fishery = 2) specifically, the inshore cod fishery of Newfoundland.

coast ice = sea-ice which forms and remains fast along the coast, attached to the shore or to grounded icebergs. Also called fastice.

coastal aquaculture = fish farming in sheltered bays in coastal areas or on low-lying land on the coastal plain.

coastal pelagic = an offshore fish that migrates along the coast but is not a true open ocean fish.

coastal zone = extends from the continental shelf break or 200 nautical miles offshore (the seaward extent of the exclusive economic zone) to the shoreline and up coastal rivers to the head of tidal influence.

coaster = a brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) that spends part of its life at sea or in the Great Lakes.

coastline = seaward margin of the land, which is usually equivalent to the high tide shoreline.

coating = fish products may be marketed with a coating, e.g. of batter and breadcrumbs.

coaxer = decoy (an imitation of a fish used to attract fish close enough to be speared. Used in ice fishing in North America).

cob = a heap of salt herrings (English dialect).

cobb = cob.

coble = a flat-bottomed, single-masted North Sea fishing boat. See also plosher (1).

cobble = 1) substrate particles that are smaller than boulders and larger than pebbles, and are generally 64-256 mm in diameter (other sources have 64-128 mm). Can be further classified as small and large cobble. Commonly used by salmonids in the construction of a redd, q.v.

cobble = 2) coble (2).

cobble = 3) to throw stones into a hole in the river bed in order to drive fish into shallower water (Cumberland dialect).

cobblestone = cobble.

cobesta = cabesta.

coble = 1) an open or deckless fishing-boat used principally on the north-east coast of England, with sharp bows, flat, sloping stern, and without a keel.

coble = 2) a short, flat-bottomed rowing-boat, used in salmon fishing (English dialect). See also net and coble.

coble-gate = the right of salmon-fishing with a coble; as much as can be fished by one coble (Northumberland dialect).

cobleman = a person who used a flat-bottomed boat for fishing.

coccidiosis = a disease caused by various species of the protozoan Eimeria, affecting skin, the intestine, liver and testes, causing nodules, ulcers and granulomas. Important in carp culture.

cochleariform = ear-shaped.

cock = 1) a male salmonid; also used for some other fish species. Hen is the female fish.

cock = 2) cock-boat.

cock-anterbury seed = a fish-poaching drug, Anamirta cocculus, the seeds of this plant being made into a paste which fish swallow and float to the surface intoxicated where they are easily scooped up. Does not work in running water (Somerset dialect). See also fish berry.

cock-boat = a small rowing boat (English dialect).

cock-fare = a period of fishing for herring using the cock-boat (Sussex dialect).

cock-heaks = the fishing nets of a cock (2).

cock-tail = a small row-boat carried by the larger luggers, with which they communicate with other vessels (Kentish dialect).

cocktail = 1) use of two types of bait on the same hook, e.g. corn and worm, caster and worm.

cocktail = 2) cock-tail.

cocoon = the hard covering of dried mucus formed by Dipneusti inside a burrow formed of dried mud. The cocoon extends into the mouth cavity where it connects the pharynx and lungs with an opening to the burrow so the fish can breathe.

cod = 1) Atlantic cod, Gadus morhua (Gadidae), a former mainstay of the fisheries and cultural life eastern Canada and in Europe with many terms associated with its fishery. Many of these terms are in dialects of English or are archaic.

cod = 2) a member of the cod family Gadidae, or related members of the Order Gadiformes (which has over 555 species world-wide), mostly in marine waters. Several species are of major economic importance.

cod = 3) to horse around (British slang).

cod = 4) to fool someone (British slang); i.e. to rise to a bait like a cod fish.

cod = 5) to harass someone by continual criticism or carping.

cod = 6) cash on delivery.

cod = 7) collect on delivery.

cod = 8) a husk, pod, bag or scrotum from the Old English codd.

cod = 9) false or imitative, e.g. cod-Italian cafe, an imitation Italian cafe (British slang).

cod = 10) computing on demand (pay per usage).

cod block = fresh filleted cod, packaged frozen.

cod blubber = cod livers rendered for their oil (Newfoundland).

cod box = an area of the North sea or Irish sea where cod fishing is not allowed during the spawning season.

cod brick = compressed pieces of salted, dried cod.

cod cheek = a delicacy, the muscles between the eye and the preopercle.

cod equivalent tonnage = a conversion factor applied to any species subject to TAC (q.v.) management and national quotas, equating each species’ market value to that of cod (= 1.0). Used as the basis upon which nations exchange quota in different species.

cod farmer = an aquaculturist raising cod to sellable size.

cod fish = to catch cod (Gadus morhua). See also cod fish.

cod fishery = the main commercial fishery for cod, Gadus morhua, particularly that of Newfoundland.

cod flake = a platform built on poles and spread with boughs for drying split and salted cod (Newfoundland).

cod glut = catch of cod in excess of the capacity to handle or process.

cod hauler = a fisherman engaged in the Newfoundland cod fishery.

cod jigger = an unbaited hook set in lead sinker, jerked up and down sharply to take cod.

cod-jigging = the process of fishing for cod with a cod jigger.

cod head = the head of a cod, used as fertilizer; the fleshy parts being a delicacy in Newfoundland. See also cod's head.

cod line = an eighteen-thread line used for catching cod.

cod liver meal = residues of cod livers after the oil is extracted used in animal feeds.

cod liver oil = 1) oil extracted by boiling the livers. May be made from other gadoids such as haddock. Once used as a basis for paints, to tan leather, and as a dietary and medicinal supplement as it contained vitamins A and D (tastes awful from long personal experience (BWC) in the 1940s and 1950s when taken in liquid form, only marginally better when encapsulated).

Cod Liver oil = 2) a Newfoundland song based on the product above, which in that country was sun-cured and sold raw in bottles.

cod liver paste = a paste made from cod livers with spices and other flavourings.

cod net = twine net placed vertically in the water to enmesh cod by the head and gills; gill-net.

cod nobbin = a fleshy piece cut from the neck of the fish when the head is removed while preparing the body for salting.

cod oil = an inferior cod liver oil used in leather manufacturing.

cod preserves = the island of Newfoundland (slang).

cod run = movement of cod to inshore waters in Newfoundland.

cod seine = a large seine net, up to 600 feet (182.8 m) in length, used to capture cod (Gadus morhua).

cod seine boat = a large, undecked fishing boat used to set and haul a cod-seine in the coastal fishery of Newfoundland.

cod seine crew = six or more men engaged to fish with a cod-seine under the direction of a seine master (Newfoundland).

cod seine fishery = the pursuit of cod with seines.

cod seine skiff = cod-seine boat.

cod sound = swimbladder of Gadus morhua.

cod stage an elevated platform on shore on which cod are landed and processed before drying.

cod tongue = the tongue and hyoid apparatus of Gadus morhua. It has a glutinous, jelly-like consistency and delicate flavour when lightly fried, and may be salted.

cod trap = a pound net designed to capture cod. Consists of a net floor and walls in a box-like shape with a small opening on one wall called the doors. Leader nets running from the shore or a shoal directed the fish into the net.

cod trap berth = a place on the fishing ground where a cod trap is placed, the position assigned by lot.

cod trap crew = a group of 3-6 men working under