Dictionary of Ichthyology
Brian W. Coad and Don E. McAllister†
J
J = Jurassic, a geological period of the Mesozoic Era ca. 210-140 million years ago.
J-curve = a J-shaped growth curve that depicts exponential growth.
j-cut = a cut made through a skinned fillet from the neck end of the fillet, dorsal to and along the line of the pin bones (q.v.) towards the last pin bone and then curving sharply down to the ventral edge of the belly flap (q.v.). The pieces cut out are called j-cuts or pin bone trimmings to leave a j-cut fillet. This is the most expensive type of fillet.
J-net = a coastal stake net for salmon used in Scotland and England with the trap set to one side of the outer end of a leader wall of netting and so forming a J shape.
jaabard = jabbart.
jaager = jagger.
jabart = jabbart.
jabb = a fishing net, consisting of three or four strong rods, from 8 to 10 feet long, laid across each other in the middle, and gently bent upwards, till they are fixed at the ends to a large hoop, from 4 to 6 feet in diameter, which forms its mouth. On the inside it is lined with a narrow mesh netting to retain the fish and let out water (Scottish dialect).
jabbart = 1) a lean fish, especially a large, lean cod (Scottish dialect).
jabbart = 2) a fFish out of season, such as a haddock in January (Scottish dialect).
jabber = the underjaw of a fish.
jack = 1) a male salmon (e.g. Oncorhynchus) that spawns after spending a year or two less in the sea than the majority of individuals of its species. It is smaller than the usual spawner.
jack = 2) a young member of the pike family (Esocidae).
jack = 3) a member of the family Carangidae, not specifically a young one. The family has about 140 species, primarily in marine waters.
jack = 4) to fish with a jacklight.
jack = 5) jack boat.
jack boat = a two-masted, decked vessel, schooner-rigged, 4.5-18.1 mt, used for various fisheries purposes.
jack fisherman = a man fishing with a seine in a jack boat (Newfoundland).
jacklight = a light, whether a simple burning brand or a high-powered lantern, used to attract fish to be netted or speared.
jacklighter = someone who uses a jacklight.
Jacobson downdrift = feeding slack into a fly line as the fly emerges downstream; imitates an emerging insect.
jadgear = a person who verifies that barrels of fish were of a standard size (Scottish dilaect).
jadger = jadgear.
jadgerie = jedgerie.
jag = yaag (2) to buy up fish on the quiet which the seller is contracted to deliver to someone else (Scottish dialect). Also spelled yagg).
jager = jagger.
jager steamer = a steamer for the transport of herrings.
jagger = a hawker of fish (archaic). See also jouster, jager, jaager, yaager and yagger.
jaguar shark = no such species. A mythical shark in the movie "The Life Aquatic" sought by Captain Steve Zissou, played by Bill Murray, after the shark eats his partner. The movie has a lot of oceanographic/scientific in-jokes, e.g. interns are treated as slaves.
Jamaican dogwood = Florida fish-poison tree (Piscidia piscipula (Fabacaea, pea family), also called fishfuddle tree. Not a member of the dogwood family. Seminoles in Florida used a powder made from its roots, bark, and leaves to stun fish. See also fish poison tree.
janglefish = to listen or search for music on the internet (slang).
janglefished = burnt out from listening to too much internet music (slang).
Jannson's Frestelse = Jansson's Temptation, a traditional Swedish Christmas meal, a casserole of potatoes, cream, onions and anchovy fillets in oil. The anchovies are cured in a slightly sweet brine and are less salty than other types.
Japanese canned fish pudding = ground fish flesh seasoned with salt, sugar and sweet rice liquor, then boiled or steamed.
Japanese cod trap = a modified type of box-shaped trap, knitted with artificial fibres (Newfoundland). It has a door which keeps the fish from swimming over the top of the walls and the entrance.
Japanese fish sauce = a sauce mad of small fermented fish, very strong and used as a flavouring and condiment.
Japanese fishing float = glass float (a hollow ball of glass once used by fishermen to support nets in various parts of the world, now replaced with modern materials such as aluminium and plastics such as styrofoam. Most numerous in the Pacific from Japanese fishing gear, still washing up on shore and now collectibles. The Japanese ones are mostly greenish from the long exposure of recycled sake bottles. Norwegian glass floats were egg-sized and used with hook and line. Also called glass fishing float).
Japanese style seining = tow dragging, a type of Danish seining.
Japanese trawl = a long winged trawl having detachable wooden or bamboo beams attached to the main bridle a short distance from the tips of the wings.
Jaubert plenum = a natural method of filtration for a reef tank using a plastic grid (called an egg-crate) to suspend a thick (8-10cm) layer of coral or aragonite sand above a 2 cm water-filled void called the plenum. The system helps in lowering of nitrate through the presence of denitrifying bacteria deep within the bed.
jaw length = upper jaw length (the distance from the anterior tip of the upper jaw to the posterior tip of the upper jaw. Sometimes miscalled maxillary length when the premaxilla enters into the upper jaw), and lower jaw length (measured from the anterior tip of the lower jaw to the posterior angle).
jaw-locking = aggression between two fish, usually males, that grasp each other by the jaws as a trial of strength. Sometimes jaw dislocation results.
jawed = the vast majority of fishes have jaws, actually modified gill arches and are termed Gnathostomata which also includes the amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
jawless = fishes lacking jaws are vastly outnumbered by jawed fishes. The living Agnatha, hagfishes and lampreys, number about 108 species. This is a paraphyletic group and, as well as lacking jaws in contrast to the jawed fishes, also lacks pectoral and pelvic fins, has one or two semicircular canals, no scales, no bones, no vertebral centra but only a notochord, and pores rather than slits as gill openings.
Jaws = a movie directed by Steven Spielberg starring a mechanical great white shark named Bruce, purportedly after Steven Spielberg's lawyer, Bruce Ramer.
jedger = jadgear.
jedgerie = treatment leading to the shrinkage of fish, as when dried in the open air (Scottish dialect).
jedgry = jedgerie.
jellied = 1) said of watery non-firm flesh, e.g. in Anarhichas denticulatus, having a low protein content (less than 12%).
jellied = 2) a condition after spawning in some older fish, the flesh has too little protein and is watery rendering it unsuitable for sale.
jellied = 3) fish in jelly (fish cooked in acidified brine or vinegar, fried or smoked and then packed in gelatin, gelatin and pectin or aspic. Sometimes includes cucumbers, onions and spices).
jellied eels = pieces or steaks of eels cooked in brine or vinegar and salt with vegetables and seasonings and then packed in gelatin. See also coller an eel.
jelly = jellied (strictly jellied is the adjective).
jellyfish = not fish but invertebrates (coelenterates of the Class Scyphozoa) with a saucer-shaped, translucent body.
jennie = 1) a young female salmon that matures precociously (earlier than other fish in its age-class).
jennie = 2) a casting line with two or three hooks tied together back to back used in poaching.
jenny = jennie.
Jenny Haniver = a figure formed from dried fishes, particularly skates, rays and mantas, by seamen and passed off as mermaids and dragons to the gullible. Dating back to at least the thirteenth century, some are still extant 600 years after they were fashioned. The name origin is unknown; haniver being perhaps a corruption of Antwerp, an ancient seaport.
jerk bait = a lure in angling worked by jerking or twitching the rod tip as the lure does not have much action on its own.
Jersey fish = cod caught and processed in Newfoundland by fishermen from the Channel Islands in Europe.
jersey fish = >cod caught and cured in Newfoundland and Labrador by entrepreneurs from the Channel Islands (U.K.).
Jesus fish = the stylised symbol of a fish showing membership in the Christian religion. Often seen on the back of cars. May have a cross for the eye or the word Jesus occupying the central body of the symbol. See also vesica piscis (2).
jetsam = matter washed up on shore.
jetty = a structure protecting a harbour or a bay from wave action or to direct and confine the stream or tidal flow to a selected channel. May provide a habitat for fish species. Also called breakwater or mole.
jewellery = various parts of fish, usually bony, have been made into jewellery, e.g. otoliths as earrings.
Jewish housewife's disease = diphyllobothriasis (a parasitic, intestinal disease of humans caused by eating raw of lightly processed fish. The parasite is a tapeworm (Diphyllobothrium) and man is the definitive host, fish the intermediate host. Also called Scandinavian housewife's disease). The name arises from the tendency of preparers of gefilte fish to taste this dish before is was fully cooked.
jewfish = common name for Epinephelus itajara (Lichtenstein, 1822), changed to goliath grouper so as not to violate the tenets of good taste. See also squawfish.
jib = triangular pieces of netting attached to both sides of the upper and lower edges of the mouth of a trawl.
jiffy = a trade name and slang for a powered auger, a device used to drill holes in ice for ice fishing with nets or hook and line.
jig = 1) one to several bare hooks attached to a weighted line. The hook(s) may have a lead head (lead molded around the hook) and be dressed with, or have a skirt of, rubber, hair, silicone or plastic. Also called bucktail.
jig = 2) jig fishing.
jig = 3) a portable balance used to weigh dried cod or the platform on which cod are placed to be weighed (Newfoundland).
jig = 4) lured and hooked by a jig.
jig fishing = using a jig.
jig hook = a hook embedded in a lead weight (as a sinker) used without bait to catch fish by jigging.
jog mold = a hollow form of varied composition used to form a jig.
jig 'n pig = a leadhead jig with a pork rind trailer. Also called fly'n rind.
jig-mold = jig mold.
jigarnaree = a y-shaped wooden structure with an iron bar across the top against which a hooked fish is jerked in order to unhook it quickly (Newfoundland).
jigger = 1) a jig for fishing; jigs are hooks or lures of various kinds which are jerked up and down in the water to attract and catch fish. May be carried out by hand or by mechanical devices. Also called gigger.
jigger = 2) an apparatus for setting gill nets under ice which bounces the end of the net from an entry hole to another hole a net's distance away.
jigger = 3) meshed walls at the entrance to salmon traps to turn back fish trying to escape.
jigger = 4) the outer, heart-shaped container of a fish trap.
jigger fish = cod caught with an unbaited hook, usually under 18 inches long (Newfoundland).
jigging = imparting the up and down or side to side movement of a jig.
jigging ground = a shoal area in the coastal fishery of Newfoundland with abundant bait fish.
jigging machine = an electronically operated device to catch cod on lines baited with artificial lures.
jigging rod = a very heavy spin casting rod used to fish heavy metal jigs near the sea floor against strong currents.
jighook = jig hook.
jill = a female salmon that returns from the ocean to spawn one or more years before full-sized adults return.
jilson = gilson (wire tackle for emptying the cod end of a trawl).
jinglefish = janglefish.
jink = a failure to catch fish (Newfoundland).
jinker-fish = a cod left in a boat overnight (Newfoundland).
jinket = junket.
jitterbug = an old type of topwater lure with a large metal lip, making a gurgling sound on retrieval.
job = to fish for eels with worms strung on worsted (English dialect).
jobstick = a spreader at the end of a fishing line for carrying the thinner lines to which the hooks are attached (Scottish dialect). Originally made of whalebone.
joey = a small mackerel (Scomber scombrus).
Jonah and the fish = Jonah is the character in the Hebrew and Christian bibles who was swallowed by a fish (later changed to a whale). Jonah is on a ship heading to Tarshish, fleeing a mission to proclaim judgment on Nineveh at God's order, when God summons a great storm, and the ship's crew throw Jonah overboard in an attempt at appeasement. A great fish, sent by God, swallows Jonah and he remains in its belly for three days and three nights. He repents for his disobedience and calls upon God for mercy, whereupon God speaks to the fish, which vomits out Jonah safely on dry land.
John Dory = Zeus faber, a fish having an oval spot on each side, reputedly the fingermarks of St. Peter left when he picked up the fish to take the coin from its mouth. Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) also have these spots and are also said to be the fish St. Peter picked up. Since neither species is a freshwater one, this is ichthyogeographically untenable.
johnboat = a squarish, flat-bottomed wooden rowboat with a square bow and stern and low and straight sides. Now made in aluminium and fibreglass. Used by 2-3 anglers at a time, being up to 24 feet long.
joint enterprise = bilateral fishing agreements similar to joint ventures.
joint venture = 1) collaborative fishing operation usually involving two companies from different countries.
joint venture = 2) a partnership between foreign and local fishers.
joint venture = 3) strictly, a joint-stock company formed by combining capital from one or more firms. This provides opportunities for trade in fishery products and services.
jointing point = cross-over point (junction of two threads in knotless netting).
jolly boat = a small boat hoisted at a ship's stern and use as a workboat in harbours. From the Dutch jolle, meaning a small yawl.
jolting = an alarm movement of parental Cichlidae that attracts fry to the parent. The head snaps to one side and pelvic fins flick downwards.
Jordan's Rule (or Law) = 1) fish develop more vertebrae in cold environments than in warm ones.
Jordan's Rule (or Law) = 2) the closest relative of a species are found immediately adjacent to it but isolated by a geographical barrier.
jouder = over-boiled fish or meat (Cornish dialect).
jouster = 1) a female hawker of fish, usually on foot. See also jagger.
jouster = 2) jowter.
jowder = jouder.
jowding = jowsting.
jowl = the fleshy part of a cod's head (Newfoundland).
jowl-man = a man engaged in processing cod in a fishing stage, cutting the sides of the head (Newfoundland).
jowler-killer = an energetic, skilled and successful fisherman, particularly successful master of a fishing boat.
jowling = jowsting.
jowster= jouster (1).
jowsting = selling or hawking fish.
jowter = a mounted seller of fish (archaic). Also called jouster.
jubilee = a sporadic mass shoreward movement of marine fishes and other animals. May result in some cases from a shoreward movement of oxygen poor water which forces the fish into shallower water.
juicing = painted fish (aquarium fishes that have been artificially coloured by injection with a dye, dipping in dye or by feeding with dyed food. This marketing ploy fades after several months. Fatality levels are high and campaigns to ban this process have been mounted. See also GloFish).
jug fishing = an angling system where 10 or fewer floats are used, each marked with the angler's name and license number, and each with a single line attached and not more than one common hook.
jugal = a dermal bone below the eye, the second in the circumorbital series, to which the adductor maxillaris muscle attaches its mesial surface. Also used by some authors for the supramaxilla, q.v. and the first suborbital bone or lachrymal, q.v.
jugal pitline = a character of Actinopterygii where the jugal (or second suborbital bone) sensory canal is absent and represented by pitlines only.
juglone = a piscicide (5-hydroxynaphthoquinone) used in Japan and made from the roots and fruits of Juglans mandshurica (Juglancaceae). Other piscicidal plant chemicals include callicarpone, huratoxin, ichthyothereol, inophyllolide, justicidin, maingayic acid, rotenone, and vibsanine, all q.v.
jugostegalia = the name given to the numerous rib-like osseus supports in the outer ventral walls behind the branchiostegals of the branchial chamber of the eel, Myrophis. Not regarded as homologous with branchiostegals and considered as structural supports of the prolonged branchial cavity. Other authors regarded them as homologous, defining them as those secondary, multiplied, overlapping and free (from the hyoid arch) branchiostegals found in certain anguilliforms. The term accessory branchiostegal rays is preferred by some authors to jugostegalia, although uncertain as to their homology. Characteristic of the anguilliform familes Echelidae, Ophichthidae and Neenchelyidae. Also called jugostegal rays.
jugostegal rays = jugostegalia.
jugular = relating to the "throat" the ventral surface ahead of the pectoral insertion. Said of pelvic fins lie in front of the (insertion of the) pectoral fins.
jugular vein = a small vein from the lower jaw emptying into the common cardinal vein, q.v.
Julian calendar = the day following 4 October 1582 of the Julian calendar was designated 15 October 1582 of the Gregorian calendar; the 10 days being dropped in order that the vernal equinox would fall on March 21. The Gregorian calendar was not adopted by England until 1752, but is now in general use throughout the world. However it was adopted only in the twentieth century in Russia and so collection dates on museum samples can appear under a different date when subsequently revised.
jumbo = term applied to large specimens of commercial species.
jump bait = jump lure.
jump in = to put in place the head of barrel of salt herring.
jump lure = a weighted lure whose action is caused by movement of the rod or reel in the form of a jerk or jump.
jump the shark = the moment when a TV show begins to decline, is desperate for ratings or goes over the top; and, by extension, anything else such as relationships. Based on an episode of Happy Days when a character (Fonzie) literally tried to jump a shark on water skis.
jump-fishing = fishing for schooling fish that are feeding on the surface.
jumper = 1) fish feeding at, and breaking, the surface.
jumper = 2) tuna, so-named in Newfoundland along with pilot whales and porpoises for leaping out of the water.
jumper net = a small trap net staked close inshore, supported by three stakes and secured at the land and sea ends, and free to rise and collapse with the tide. Fished singly on beaches with steeper gradients than where fly nets, q.v., are used.
junior homonym = see homonyms (a junior homonym is the later published of two homonyms, i.e. the later published of two or more identical but independently proposed names for the same or different taxa (a preoccupied name)).
junior synonym = see synonym, junior (the junior synonym is that with the later publication date of two or more different names applied to one and the same taxon).
junk = a Chinese sailing vessel, also used in fishing.
junket = a long wicker basket for catching fish (English and Scottish dialect).
Jurassic = a geological period of the Mesozoic Era ca. 210-140 million years ago. Abbreviated as J.
justicidin = justicidin A and B is a plant piscicide of Taiwan made from whole Justicia hayatai var. decumbens (Acanthaceae). Other piscicidal plant chemicals include callicarpone, huratoxin, ichthyothereol, inophyllolide, juglone, maingayic acid, rotenone, and vibsanine, all q.v.
justified emendation = the correction of an incorrect original spelling.
justifiable emendation = justified emendation.
juvenile = a young fish essentially similar to the adult but not sexually mature (Hubbs, 1943). In some cases refers to a stage unlike the adult in appearance.
juvenile period = this period begins when fins are differentiated and the temporary organs of the larval period, q.v., are replaced by definitive organs. This transition from larva to juvenile may involve extensive changes in anatomy. Some larval organs persist while some organs only fully develop later in the juvenile period, e.g. scales, intromittent organs. Juveniles have a characteristic and distinct pigmentation and show rapid growth. The juvenile period ends when gametes mature.
juvenile transportation = collecting migrating juvenile fish and transporting them around dams using barges or trucks.
© Brian W. Coad (www.briancoad.com)