Dictionary of Ichthyology

Brian W. Coad and Don E. McAllister^†

Revised: 21 April 2008

H

h = annual growth rate (the increase in weight of a fish over one year (final weight divided by initial weight)(Ricker, 1975)).

h = h.

h and g = abbreviation for headed and gutted. Factory ships often remove the head and guts of fish before freezing or landing them.

ha = hectare (107,640 ft², 10,000 m²).

ha'netsman = a fisherman who shares in a haaf net (Scottish dialect).

haf = haaf.

haaf = 1) the open sea or deep-sea fishing grounds (Scottish dialect).

haaf = 2) a haven, harbour or port.

haaf bawk = the pole attached to a haaf net whereby it is raised out of the water (Scottish dialect).

haaf boat = a boat suitable for deep-sea fishing; the old haaf boat was divided into six compartments, was 26 ft long, 6-7 ft in the beam, with a hold of 27 inches (Scottish dialect).

haaf fishing = deep-sea fishing (Scottish dialect).

haaf line = a fishing line used in deep-sea fishing (Scottish dialect).

haaf man = a fisherman in the deep-sea fishery (Scottish dialect).

haaf net = a Scottish salmon net in the form of a large bag on a frame (5 m by 1 m). It is held by hand in tidal areas until a salmon is felt entering and then lifted to catch the fish. Haaf is from the Norwegian for open sea.

haff seat = a deep-sea fishing ground (Scottish dialect).

haafing = 1) deep-sea fishing (Scottish dialect).

haafing = 2) a mode of fishing involving standing in a stream, either at the flowing or ebbing of the tide, with a pock net (q.v.) fixed to a frame, consisting of a beam, 12-14 feet long, having three small sticks or rungs fixed into it. Whenever a fish strikes against the net, the fishermen instantly haul up the mouth of the net above water by means of the middle rung. Also called hauling.

haafure = haaver.

haaver = a line used in deep-sea fishing, to which snoods, each terminating in a hook, are attached (English dialect).

haaving = haafing.

haavre = haaver.

haberdine = a large salted and dried cod.

haberdyn fish = haberdine.

habit = the form and appearance of an organism. Sometimes used in descriptions of species with its Latin version habitus.

habitat = the place a species lives, defined by necessary biological and physical parameters such as water quality, temperature, bottom type, vegetation, food supplies, etc., e.g. tidal pool, marsh, reef, continental shelf, river rapids.

habitat fragmentation = the breakup of a habitat into smaller parts, often without the complete needs for a species or community, usually under the influence of man.

habitat improvement = a process in fisheries management aimed at providing better conditions for fish species, especially those of sporting interest or that are threatened.

habitat suitability curve = a graph constructed from evaluating information on the effect of a habitat variable on the growth, survival or biomass of a fish species.

habituation = lack of response, although the capability exists, after repeated stimulation.

habitus = the form and appearance of an organism.

hack = 1) a wooden frame on which fish are hung to dry; often a triangle of wood with spikes to hand the fish from (Scottish dialect).

hack = 2) a wooden grating or fence set across a stream to catch fish or to obstruct their passage (Scottish dialect).

hackamuggie = the stomach of a fish stuffed with a hash of meat, swimbladders and liver (Shetlands and Orkneys dialect).

hackle = 1) feathers from the neck or back of a bird used in making artificial flies that imitate aquatic insects. Usually imitates the legs of an insect and helps the dry fly float.

hackle = 2) twisting hackles around the hook shank.

hackle gauge = a measuring device used to ensure the hackle length is the same as the hook gap on a classic dry fly.

hackle pliers = pliers used to hold feathers while they are being wound around a hook in fly tying. Usually spring-loaded and with rubber disks to facilitate holding the slippery feathers.

hadal = pertaining to waters below 6000 metres (or 7000 m, sources vary), in reference to its proximity to hell.

hadal pelagic = pertaining to those waters below 6000 metres and above the bottom.

hadal zone = the deepest bottom area, below 6000 or 7000 m (sources vary).

haddock = 1) Melanogrammus aeglefinus (Gadidae).

haddock = 2) slang for a purse (Britain).

haddock of beans = a purse of money.

hadobenthic = the ocean floor below 6000 metres.

hadopelagic = the water column below 6000 metres.

haem- = prefix relating to blood. Spelt hem- in American so all listings below may also occur in that fashion.

haemacanth = the haemal spine. Also spelled hemacanth.

haemal arch = the arch which encloses the caudal vein and dorsal aorta and is found on the ventral surface of the more posterior (caudal) vertebrae. In Acipenseridae it is continuous but interrupted in Actinopterygii.

haemal canal = the tube formed by all the haemal arches, through which run the caudal vein and dorsal aorta.

haemal funnel = the lengthening of the haemapophyses beyond the bridging of the haemal arch of the posterior abdominal vertebrae where they almost form a second arch but the haemapophyses never fuse, e.g. in Atherinops, Atherinopsis (Atherinidae).

haemal rib = a misnomer for a ventral rib (one of the ribs surrounding and protecting the viscera and articulating with the parapophyses of the vertebrae) based on the fallacy that it was homologous with a haemal arch bone. As some fish have ventral ribs on the caudal vertebrae with complete haemal arches, this theory cannot be accepted.

haemal spine = a spine extending downwards from the lower end of the haemal arch in posterior or caudal vertebrae. Also called haemacanth and haemapophysis.

haemal vertebra = a vertebra with a haemal spine, i.e. a caudal vertebra.

haematophagous = eating blood as in lampreys.

haemonephrapophysis = one of the parapophyses of the abdominal vertebrae which are fused at their distal ends. The closed arches formed by them completely enclose the dorsal aorta, the abdominal venous trunk, and the kidneys, e.g. in Pholiidae.

haemapophyses = plural of haemapophysis.

haemapophysis (plural haemapophyses) = the ventral projection of the vertebrae which may unite to form the haemal arch. In the caudal region of Palaeozoic Chondrichthyes they form part of the attachments for basals and radials of the ventral fin lobe.

haemostat = surgical pliers used to remove a hook from a fish.

haev = a small hand-basket used by fishermen to carry bait (Caithness dialect).

haff = a freshwater lagoon separated from the sea by a sandbar or spit (German, sometimes used in English to describe a form of coastline "haff and nehrung", where nehrung is the spit).

Hagerman redmouth disease = enteric redmouth disease (a systemic bacterial disease caused by Yersinia ruckeri found mostly in salmonids. Symptoms are severe congestion, septicaemia and haemorrhage in head tissues such as the palate and operculum with the lower jaw being eroded. Internal organs can also be infected. Abbreviated as ERM).

hail = a periodic radio report by the captain of a fishing vessel on his catch.

hair and lime = the remains of a saltfish dinner, with bones picked out, hashed with potatoes, salt and pepper and served for supper (Yorkshire dialect).

hair cell = a mechano-sensory cell having microvilli. Vibration or pressure deform the microvilli and send an electrical signal to the associated nerve cell. They are often highly directional - deformation in one direction cause rate of discharge to increase while in the other direction it decreases. Hair cells are found in the internal ear (acousto-vestibular) and the lateral line systems.

hair jig = an old-fashioned jig with a skirt made of hair and/or feathers.

hair rig = an extra piece of line with a small loop at the end, tied off of the shank or bend of a hook. Bait is placed on this hair by using a boilie needle, q.v., and held in place by a boilie stop or piece of grass that is placed through the small loop. The bait is pushed back against the stopper. This rig enables the bait to be moved around by the fish without resistance and when the fish sucks the bait up, the bait and hook enter the mouth. The hook's weight makes its barb point down, hooking the fish when it tries to swim away or hooking the lower lip when trying to spit the hook out.

hair stacker = a cylinder with one end blocked used to line up tips of animal hair in construction of artificial fly wings, tails, etc.

hairbug = a fly made for angling from the buoyant, hollow, winter-coat, slippery hair of deer, elk, antelope or caribou. This hair is made to flare and form a solid shape and trimmed to resemble frogs or mice. Used mostly for warmwater fish but also effective for trout.

hákarl = shark meat buried for 2-6 months and left to ferment. Eaten raw as a popular food in Iceland, for example. Said to have a cheesy taste by those who did not swallow it rapidly or follow it with a shot of the schnapps called brennivin or Black Death. The shark is often the Greenland shark, Somniosus microcephalus.

hake = 1) a common name applied to various members of the family Merlucciidae or Gadidae. Most English words involving hake refer to Merluccius merluccius, the European hake, fished around the shores of Britain. The word hake is Middle English, possibly from the Old English "haca", meaning hook, itself from the shape of the lower jaw of the fish.

hake = 2) a hook of any kind (English dialect; and see above).

hake-shaped cloud = a cloud having the shape of a hake; if pointing east and west it indicates rain, if north and south more fine weather (Norfolk dialect).

haked = a large pike (English dialect, from the Old English for this fish).

hal- (prefix) = salt.

halal = permissible under Islamic law. Use in English is often more restricted and in reference to foods. Haram is forbidden. As regards fish, those with scales are haram, those without haram. The latter may include fish that have minute scales not readily visible to the naked eye such as skates and rays. Fish found dead in the water are haram. Interpretations may vary between Shi'a and Sunni muslims and over time, e.g. sturgeons were haram in Iran but this was reversed as ichthyologists determined these were fish with scales.

halcocline = a zone in which salinity changes rapidly.

hale = a haul of fish (English dialect).

half blood knot = a knot used by anglers to attach swivels, hooks and lures to the main line. Coils around the main line exert pressure on it when tension is applied to the hook. Various websites have animated steps showing how to tie this knot.

half deal man = a fisherman with a half share in the boat's catch. May provide his own nets but does not own the boat (Scottish dialect).

half drum = a cylindrical wooden container in which dried cod are packed for Brazil (Newfoundland).

half net = 1) halve net.

half net = 2) a half-share in the fish taken by one net in one of Aberdeen's fishings.

half nets man = a fisherman employed by the proprietor of a half-net's (2) fishing rights.

half one's hand = a half share of the catch of cod due to a crew member, the other half share going to the owner or skipper (Newfoundland).

half spent fish = partially spawned fish.

half stoned = a gene name for a zebrafish mutation affecting the ear (initially no otoliths or very tiny otoliths, sometimes one or two otoliths present later). See also einstein, what's up, rolling stones, van gogh, among many others.

half-butt = a half-sized barrel used for storing and transporting dried fish. In Lunenburg, Nova Scotia held 2 quintals (224 pounds).

half-fish = a salmon in its fifth year of growth.

half-grown = term loosely applied to young stages (since any precise distinction involves age determination).

half-grown shad = a dolt (American slang).

half-log = a log split in half with flat side placed down in a stream with a gap between it and the bottom as cover for fish.

half-salted fish = fish taken out of a brine solution before fully cured. Cured with 20-28 parts of salt to 100 parts fish by weight; the product contains 30-40% salt on a dry weight basis. Also called medium-salted fish.

half-saved = partially salted cod (Newfoundland).

half-tide level =a plane midway between mean high water and mean low water. Also called mean tide level.

halfbeak stage = a development stage in Belonidae having a greatly elongate lower jaw and a comparatively short upper jaw.

halfdealsman = a fisherman who shares in the profits (Fife dialect).

halibios = halobios.

halibut killer = a wooden cudgel used to stun and kill large halibut.

halic = pertaining to saline conditions.

halieuthic = halieutic.

halieutic = of or belonging to fishing.

halieutics = the art or practice of fishing; a treatise on fishing.

Halieutika = the first significant work on sea fishing, written by the Greek Oppian of Corycus between 177 and 180 A.D. It describes cast nets, scoop nets, traps and spears and their use.

haline = salty or regarding salt content where there is a dominance of ocean salt.

haling muff = a mitten used by fishermen to protect their hands when hauling fishing lines into their boat (English dialect).

halinous = containing or consisting of salt, saline.

haliplankton = saltwater plankton.

halioplankton = saltwater plankton.

hallex = alec (a thick sauce or pickle made from the remains of fish from which garum, q.v., has been drawn off. One kind was made from anchovies, another of small herrings. Also spelled allec and allex).

hallucinogenic catfish = an April Fool's joke in 2000 by the editor of Sport Fishing magazine in Florida that had some people licking catfish slime for the supposed high.

hallucinogenic fishes = those fishes causing hallucinogenic fish poisoning. Also called ichthyoallyeinotoxic fishes, e.g. certain surgeonfish, chub, mullet, damselfish, grouper, and goatfish. See ichthyoallyeinotoxism.

halo = a circle of colour around a spot of another colour.

halo- = salt.

halobenthos = the fauna and flora of the sea bed.

halobiont = an organism that lives in a saline habitat.

halobios = the total life of the sea,

halobiotic = pertaining to life in the sea. Adjective for halobios.

halocline = 1) the region of rapid change of salinity between two layers of different salinity. Analogous to the thermocline, q.v.

halocline = 2) a vertical gradient in the saltiness of the ocean.

halolimnetic = pertaining to salt lakes.

halolimnic = pertaining to marine organisms adapted to life in fresh water.

halophil = an organism thriving in or having an affinity for salt marshes or other salty habitats.

halophile = halophil.

halophilous = having an affinity for salt marshes or other salty habitats. Adjective for halophil.

halophobe = intolerant of salty habitats.

halosere = an ecological succession starting in a saline habitat.

halosphere = the marine environment.

halotolerant = tolerating, though not necessarily preferring, a saline habitat.

haltagongi = haltugonga.

halter = a hair noose for catching trout and eels (Devon dialect).

haltugonga = an expression meaning "stop running" used by fishermen to check the run of a halibut that has been hooked (Shetland Isles dialect).

halve = haaf.

halving becket = lifting strap (rope or wire encircling the cod end through loops or rings to close off the rear section and facilitate its loading aboard).

halve net = a bag-shaped net set or held to retain fish as the tide ebbs (Scottish dialect).

ham = fish ham (tuna or marlin flesh mixed with whale and pork in a sausage (Japan)).

hamayaki-dai = a small porgy, sometimes eviscerated, skewered with bamboo pins, then dried after being toasted on a fire (Japan). Also dried in heated, solid salt.

hamburger gill disease = proliferative gill disease (a disease of farmed freshwater fish, mostly in new ponds, caused by a myxosporidean parasite (Henneguya exilis, or possibly the myxozoan Sphaerospora ictaluri or Aurantiactinomyxo). Cysts develop on the gills causing respiratory distress as well as various internal organs).

hampen = a jelly product made by putting kneaded shark meat mixed with ground yams into boiling water (Japan). It has a sponge-like texture and floats when put into soup.

hamular = hook-shaped.

hamulus = a little hook.

hand bar = hand barrow.

hand barrow = a flat wooden barrow with handles for two people, used mainly for carrying dried fish in Newfoundland. Also called hand bar.

hand brailer = a bag-shaped dip-net used to empty the catch from a large net brought alongside a vessel.

hand feeding = a technique used in aquaculture to ensure that the correct amounts of feeds reach the fish; also used to visually assess fish health.

hand fishing = 1) hand picking or fishing by foot, q.v.

hand fishing = 2) noodling (capturing fish by hand, often in murky waters under logs and boulders or in mud holes; may be restricted to use of a hook or snare type device, with or without a short attached line, manipulated by hand when a person is in or under the water. See also grabbling and hogging).

hand flake = a flimsy platform about 4 feet off the ground used for spreading and drying cod in Newfoundland.

hand-gaff = an iron hook attached to a short pole or stick and used in fishing for various purposes.

hand gathering = hand picking.

hand lift-net = a small lift-net operated by hand, with no fixed installation. Also called portable lift-net.

hand picking = picking up fish from tidal pools or other restricted areas such as pot holes, isolated pools in the dry season and shallow spawning sites (when mating fish are distracted), and when fish are moving overland, e.g. eels, anabantids and channids, or on a spawning migration; perhaps the simplest form of fishing.

hand purse seine = a floating net used to surround fish, and then closed off at the bottom by drawing the lead line tight (pursing the seine). Hand purse seines may have restrictions on use such as hand-power use only and no use of a free-running line through rings to operate the purse.

hand stripping = removal of eggs and sperm by gentle pressure on the abdomen.

hand troll = lures or baited hooks trolled from a boat, set and retrieved by hand or by a hand-cranked device (no powered machinery).

hand tub = wooden hand-barrow with two handles between which a tub was fitted and carried by two people in Newfoundland. Used mainly for carrying round or green fish, and sometimes used for carrying fish manure to the gardens.

hand-flake = a flimsy platform about 4 feet off the ground used for spreading and drying cod in Newfoundland.

handbook = a field guide or identification key without taxonomic conclusions or nomenclatural data.

handgear = handlines used with or without a rod. In deeper waters a hand or mechanical reel may be used.

handi = a wide-mouthed tin or mud vessel used to transport fish eggs (India).

handicap principle = the evolution of a handicap in male Cichlidae which indicates to a female that he can out-compete other males (despite the handicap).

handle-bar tub = hand tub.

handlin = fishing tackle or gear.

handline = a line with baited hooks on short side lines usually laid on the bottom and set and hauled by hand.

handliner = a fishing vessel employing handlines. Boats, canoes and other small vessels may be used for handlining, and no special features are required for working the gear.

handling = operations such as growing, harvesting, processing, packing, storing, transporting, distributing, marketing and selling of fish.

hang net = a net with large meshes set vertically on stakes.

hanging = how netting is mounted according to a specific relationship between the length of that part or the final rope or frame on which the netting is mounted and the length of the netting.

hanging coefficient = the ratio of the horizontal distance occupied by meshes equal in number to the depth of the net in meshes, to the actual depth of the net before hanging.

hankle = 1) to wind up a fishing line.

hankle = 2) said of fishing nets twisted together. Also spelled ankled.

hapa = a small net enclosure in shallow ponds used for deposition of eggs or to raise larval and juvenile fish before release into the general pond environment, e.g. for Indian carps.

haplo- (prefix) = single.

haplotype = 1) a single species contained in a genus.

haplotype = 2) the set of alleles closely linked on one chromosome and inherited as a unit, providing a distinctive genetic pattern.

haptobenthos = organisms adnate to solid bottom surfaces.

haram = not permissible under Islamic law. Use in English is often more restricted and in reference to foods. Halal (q.v.) is forbidden.

harbour rule = a local custom for selecting fishing areas each season (Newfoundland).

hard bait = a general term for any lure or plug made from plastic or wood.

hard bottom = river of lake bottoms composed of rock, sand, gravel or clay.

hard cure = 1) lean fish such as cod that are dry-salted and dried to 40% moisture or less.

hard cure = 2) heavily salted fish.

hard cure = 3) hard smoked fish.

hard dried fish = hard cure.

hard fish = dried or salted fish.

hard release = transporting fish for stocking or introduction in large containers and dumping them directly into a water body without acclimation, cf. soft release.

hard roe = eggs of fish, cf. soft roe.

hard salted = whole gibbed or gutted herring, salmon or split salmon salted in barrels, vats or watertight basins with 25-33% of its weight of salt.

hard smoked = prolonged cold smoking until the fish is hard as a result of drying. Usually occupies several weeks.

hard smoked herring = red herring (a strongly salted and cold smoked unsplit whole herring. Smoking lasts 2-3 weeks until the fish is hard).

hard stone = otolith (a free calcium carbonate body in the inner ear used for perception of acceleration including gravity. The lapillus lies in the utricle, the sagitta in the saccule, and the asteriscus in the lagena. Also called statoliths or ear stones. See also otoconium and marginaria).

hard water = water with high concentrations of dissolved calcium and magnesium salts, usually found in limestone areas.

hard water fishing = ice fishing (fishing through holes cut in the ice of lakes or rivers, using specially designed gear and often with a shack positioned over the hole to mitigate the weather conditions).

hard-bellied herring = a female herring.

hardening = the swelling of fish eggs with water once laid, the process taking about 1-2 hours.

hardness = water with a high mineral content, the name deriving from the fact that it is hard to develop a lather for cleaning. The concentration of calcium and magnesium ions in water is expressed as p.p.m. or mg/l of calcium carbonate equivalents. Soft water is 0-17, slightly hard 18-60, moderately hard 61-120, hard 121-180 and very hard 181+ p.p.m. or mg/l (and other sources give soft as 0-20, moderately soft as 20-40, slightly hard as 40-60, moderately hard as 60-80, hard as 80-120 and very hard as >120). Sometimes grains per gallon are used where 1 gpg equals 17.12 mg calcium carbonate/l. Note that different countries use or used different measures: 1 English (Clark) degree or ºE is 14.28 p.p.m. calcium carbonate, 1 American degree is 17.1 p.p.m. calcium carbonate (elsewhere as 1 p.p.m.) and 1 French degree (fh) is 10.0 p.p.m. calcium carbonate. However 1 German degree (dh or dH) is 17.9 p.p.m. calcium oxide (and elsewhere as 1 p.p.t.). Confusingly the German dh is used generally for degrees of hardness.

hardwood = wood from deciduous trees such as oak, mahogany, hickory, cherry, apple and beech used to give flavour when burned in smoking fish.

hardy = refers to fish that survive varied environmental conditions; often used in the aquarium trade.

Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium = a state in which no evolution occurs; the frequencies of alleles in the gene pool will remain constant unless acted upon by other agents. The existence of the equilibrium relies on several conditions: population size must be very large, the population must be isolated from other populations, individuals and DNA in the population must mate randomly, and the population cannot be subject to natural selection. It provides a baseline for a non-evolving population, any deviance from this equilibrium indicates an evolving population.

harem = a dominant male fish with a number of subordinate females.

haremic = adjective for harem.

hareng saur = salted herring, partially desalted and cold smoked, whole ungutted or gibbed, also heads and gut removed. The curing time with salt is 2-3 weeks (France). It is called demi-sel when subject to prolonged desalting for more than 46 hours and lightly cold-smoked. Also called gendarme and, in Germany: Lachshering (whole) or Lachbückling (headed).

harling = fishing by means of fly fishing gear or a lure used with a boat allowed to drop down with the current.

harpoon = a pointed dart with barbs attached to the end of a line several hundred metres in length, the other end of which is attached to a flotation device or shaft. Harpoons are thrown by hand or by a gun mechanism into a fish like swordfish, bluefin tuna. The fish must be seen before being harpooned so can be selected for size and maturity. See also tuna sticker and spear gun.

harrow = fish rake (a set of hooks attached to a structure such as an iron bar up to 8 metres wide towed behind a boat and impaling any fish encountered).

harry net = a net used to catch or retain fish of a small size.

Hartweg’s Rule = if you do everything right all the time no-one will ever notice, but if you do something stupid, it will immediately be brought to your attention.

Harvard law of animal behavior = when stimulations are repeatedly applied under precisely controlled conditions the animal reacts as it damn well pleases.

harvest = 1) total number or weight of fish that are caught and retained in a fishery over a time period (consumptive harvest). Differs from landings and catch.

harvest = 2) capture and slaughter of fish. When used in aquaculture, the fish are then a food product and subject to different regulations than the previous status as a livestock.

harvest control law = control rule (a protocol for specifying harvest rates in relation to stock status and limit and target reference points. A harvest strategy expected to result in a long-term average catch approximating the maximum sustainable yield. Also called decision rules).

harvest control rule = a variable over which management has some direct control as a function of some indicator of stock status. Constant catch and constant fishing mortality are two types of simple harvest control rules. See also control rule and decision rule.

harvest controls = regulations established for commercial and sport fisheries to ensure that the correct proportion of the different stocks escape to spawn.

harvest guideline = the amount of catch allowed. Differs from a quota in that the fishery is not automatically closed when the guideline is reached.

harvest management = setting regulations for the commercial, recreational and tribal fish harvest to achieve a specified goal within the fishery.

harvest rate = the proportion of a returning run or total population of fish that is taken by fisheries, usually expressed as a catch to escapement ratio.

harvest specifications = the detailed regulations that make up management measures, e.g. net mesh size.

harvester = someone who catches or cultures fish for a living.

harvesting capacity = the capacity of the fishing fleet to harvest fish, usually expressed in terms of vessel size, tonnage, hold capacity or horsepower.

harvesting machine = a mechanism used to extract fish from the water by direct pumping or forced sifting. Relatively few species are caught this way.

hastate = spear-shaped.

Hat-Mehit = a goddess from Mendes in Lower Egypt in charge of the the rare fish cult, depicted as human with a fish over her head or as a fish}.

hatch = 1) the process of an embryo leaving the egg envelopes; strictly speaking an egg cannot hatch, it is the embryo that hatches.

hatch = 2) the brood hatched at one time.

hatch = 3) transformation of an insect from a swimming to a flying stage at the water surface; a term used by anglers. Hatches attract fish.

hatch boat = a small clinker-built boat, often fitted with a well, in which live cod were conveyed from Gravesend to Billingsgate Fish Market in London.

hatch box = a device used to incubate relatively small numbers of fish eggs. The hatch box is usually located adjacent to a stream, which supplies the box with water.

hatch date = the date a fish hatched.

hatch mark = a circulus formed on otoliths when a fry emerges from an egg.

hatcher = incubator (any apparatus for hatching fish eggs).

hatchery = a place or establishment for spawning, incubating and hatching fish eggs and for the rearing of young for release into the wild.

hatchery rack = a weir or trap where returning adult fish are intercepted for hatchery or other use.

hatchery return = a measure comparing the number of naturally- and hatchery-produced adult fish that return to a hatchery. This estimates the run for a particular watershed.

hatchery stock = a stock that depends upon spawning, incubation, hatching, or rearing in a hatchery or other artificial production facility.

hatchery surplus = returning hatchery fish in excess in broodstock that may be given to tribal groups as part of their treaty rights, transported elsewhere for anglers to catch, donated to food programmes, sold to support hatchery programmes or, if in poor condition, converted to fish meal for hatchery feed, placed in streams for nutrient enrichment, given to wildlife rehabilitation centres or discarded. Such hatchery fish, not caught by anglers, are used as outlined above so that they do not compete with native fish for spawning sites, food or shelter nor do they breed with native fish and produce less fit populations.

hatchery tray = a shallow rectangular tray use din artificial hatching of fish eggs.

hatching = the production of young fish from eggs, either naturally or artificially.

hatching apparatus = incubator (any apparatus for hatching fish eggs).

hatching gland = a transversely oriented set of cells located deep to the enveloping layer on the pericardial membrane, especially during the pharyngula period because of the brightly refractile cytoplasmic granules containing hatching enzymes in the cells.

hatching jar = a bottle used to incubate fish eggs, usually set up so that a current of water passes through to remove waste and ensure adequate oxygen levels.

hatching pond = any pond used for the hatching of fish eggs.

hatching trough = a container use to hatch fish eggs, e.g. an elongated tray is used for salmonids, catfish troughs have paddle wheels to move water over the egg masses and keep them oxygenated.

hatchling = fish larva just out of the egg.

haul = 1) pulling in a net or line to recover a catch.

haul = 2) a measure of effort.

haul = 3) the fish caught in a net.

haul = 4) a pull on a fly line with the non-casting hand to increase line speed and achieve a longer cast.

haul = 5) a single fishing operation.

haul = 6) a collective noun (a noun that denotes a collection of persons or things regarded as a unit) for fishes.

haul home = to close the opening of a net (Newfoundland).

haul net = a net operated from a small boat in shallow water (less than 5 m). The ropes are short and the net is hand-hauled while the vessel is stationary.

haul seine = beach seine (a net used to encircle fish in shallow water; usually operated by two people wading out from shore, the net has lead weights to keep the bottom on the sea floor and floats to keep the top of the net at or near the surface; there may be a bag extending back from the centre of the nets length to increase capture efficiency. The seine may be set from a boat but hauled in from the land. Also called shore seine, drag seine, draw net, haul seine, yard seine and sweep net).

haul the cod off = to deceive, fool or trick (Newfoundland).

haul-up line = a line or rope used to raise a cod trap to the surface (Newfoundland).

haul-up rope = a line or rope used to raise a cod trap to the surface (Newfoundland).

hauling = haafing.

hauling in = the process of pulling in nets or lines to land or to a vessel.

hauling leg = a wire rope extension of the halving becket joined to the lazy deckie (both q.v.). Also called bag becket leg, codend gag, gagline and lazy deckie leg.

haurient = a fish shown vertically in heraldry.

hauve = haaf.

hawg = American angling slang for a large fish.

hawk = the v-shaped part of a salmon net, leading the fish into a trap (Newfoundland).

hawk end = hawk.

hawk setting = hawk.

hawseman = a senior crew member of a herring drift fishing boat (Norfolk dialect).

hawser = 1) a strong rope or cable.

hawser = 2) a line attached to the tucking line and horn of a capelin net to keep the horn in place (Newfoundland).

hay net = a fish net adapted for use in gathering hay in fields (Newfoundland).

haywire twist = a knot used in angling to fasten wire to a hook or lure with various twists. Various websites have animated steps showing how to tie this knot.

head = 1) the source or beginning of a stream.

head = 2) the beginning of a pool just below rapids.

head = 3) a body of water kept at a height to supply a mill or other water-powered facility.

head = 4) 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.

head = 5) any round process on a bone.

head = 6) the difference in water level at either end of a strait, channel, inlet, etc.

head = 7) behead, as in preparation of fish for consumption.

head = 8) the seaward end of a wharf or fishing stage.

head = 9) the top part of a fish net.

head = 10) marine or shipboard version of a toilet.

head = 11) the innermost part of a water body (inlet, cove, etc.) or harbour.

head a barrel = 1) to put a lid on a barrel of fish.

head a barrel = 2) to fill the top of a barrel with fish after shrinkage following the initial filling.

head and lateral line erosion = a nutritional deficiency seen in aquarium fish, usually of vitamin C, aggravated by stress and poor water quality. Holes develop in the head and and sometimes along the lateral line. Death may result. Also called hole-in-head disease and lateral line disease.

head back = the rope which runs along the side of a herring net, to which the cork buoys are attached.

head boat = a boat that carries recreational fishers out for an individual fee, rather than renting the whole boat as in a charter.

head canals = the extension of the lateral line system on the head, although differently innervated. The canals open to the surface through pores and contain neuromasts. The canals may be lost and the neuromasts are exposed.

head clasper = a spiny, knob-like structure in male members of the Chimaeriformes used to grasp females during copulation.

head crest = a raised ridge on the head, e.g. in Stichaeidae.

head cut = a cut or preparation of fish that includes the head.

head depth = greatest vertical distance through the head. Vertical distance from the occiput to the ventral surface.

head gear = the heart-shaped part of a trap net.

head herring = herring used in the packing of Scotch cure herring to fill space at the sides of a barrel so as to give smooth tiers.

head iron = trawl head (a strong, heart-shaped iron frame fitted at each end of a trawl beam to raise it about one metre off the sea bed. The after side is straight and slopes upward of each head to stake the ropes or wires by which the trawl is towed. The sides of the net are seized or lashed at a point close to the ground. Also called head iron and sledge).

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

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

head kidney = the mesonephros expanded anteriorly and made up mainly of blood sinuses.

head length = the distance between the most anterior point on the head to the posterior bony or fleshy edge of the opercle (in Teleostomes), to the first gill opening (in Cyclostomata and Elasmobranchii). It may also be taken from the anterior tip of the upper jaw, although the lower jaw projects further. The precise limits anteriorly and posteriorly should be defined in any study.

head of tide = the point in a river where the tidal signal has been damped so that it is insignificant (where the mean range becomes less than 0.2 foot).

head pore = an external opening of the cephalic sensory system.

head race = the channel by which water is led to a water-wheel.

head rope = 1) the rope along the upper margin of a net.

head rope = 2) the length of rope or wire in a trawl to which the top wings and cover netting are attached

head spines = spines 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.

head width = the greatest distance between the sides of the head when the opercles are in a normal position.

headed = fish with the head cut or broken off for sale or further processing.

headed and gutted = removal of head and guts of fish by hand or machine for further processing such as freezing.

header = a crew member who removed the heads and guts of cod (Canada). Also saved the liver for oil.

heading = the process of removing the head of fish. May be done by hand or by machine.

heading hole = a hole and chute beneath a table used in cleaning fish so that heads and guts can be quickly cleared by kicking them away.

heading knife = a sharp knife used in heading.

heading palm = a fingerless glove worn on one hand for protection when heading.

headless = without a head, a description of a marketable fish.

headline = the upper rope of a net to which the net is attached and to which floats are generally attached in such nets as seines and trawls.

headwater = the upper reach of a tributary in a drainage basin.

heaf = the gaff hook used by fishermen at Folkestone (Kentish dialect).

heak = flew (a type of fishing net set on poles (Yorkshire dialect)).

health inspection = a survey of parasites and diseases in a fish or fish population.

healthy as trout = in complete health, perfectly healthy (English dialect).

healthy stock = a fish stock with production levels appropriate to its habitat and lying within the variation in survival for the stock.

heart = 1) the organ which pumps blood and which in fishes consists of (in order of blood flow) the following chambers: the sinus venosus, the atrium, the ventricle, and the bulbus arteriosus (teleosts) or conus arteriosus (elasmobranchs). Valves occur at the sino-auricular (presumably sino-atrial), auriculo-ventricular (presumably atrio-ventricular) and ventriculo-bulbar junctions; elasmobranchs also have semi-lunar valves in the conus arteriosus. The sinus venosus receives blood from the right and left cardinal veins. The atrium is a single large chamber and blood flows into the ventricle from the atrium when the ventricle relaxes. The ventricle is a thick and muscular chamber with a small opening into the bulbus arteriosus. The bulbus arteriosus is the enlarged base of the ventral aorta and is incapable of muscular pulsation (unlike the conus arteriosus).

heart = 2) the heart-shaped part of a trap with two wings deflecting the fish into a chamber.

heart net = a modified fyke net with a heart and a leader.

heart-shaped = a grade of isinglass (the glutinous or gelatin-like fluid prepared from the collagen of the outer layer of gas bladders of sturgeons or other fishes. Used in clarifying wines and beers, for jams and jellies, in printing inks and as an adhesive cement).

heat exchanger = counter-current heat exchanger (exchange of heat between blood vessels going to surface structures with vessels going deeper into the body. This exchange preserves core body temperatures and reduces surface heat loss so that the fish can function more effectively in cool waters or penetrate cooler waters not otherwise favourable).

heat burn = in commercial preparations, a sticky or tacky condition of the back of a fish as a result of overheating. Ranges from slight (not more than 10% of the back including the fold sticky or tacky, through moderate, to high (more than 50%).

heater = a device to warm the water in aquaria. Thermostats maintain the temperature at the desired level. Heaters are available as submersible heaters, over-the-side heaters, and under-tank coils.

heautotype = a specimen figured by an author as an illustration of a species or subspecies which has previously been descried as new by him/her, cf. plesiotype.

heaving stick = a stick used to pay out a longline from a dory (Canada).

heavy cure = the process or product of heavy smoking.

heavy damp = cod left a for a long period between salt layers so that much of the body moisture was leached out. This product that was worth much less on the market than was the hard dried variety.

heavy fertilisation = intensive fertilisation of eggs in aquaculture.

heavy salted fish = fish cured with large amounts of salt so that it contains 40-50% salt on a dry weight basis. Moisture content for heavy salted cod is for extra hard dried not over 35%, hard dried not over 40%, dry 40-42%, semi-dry 42-44%, ordinary cure 44-50%, and soft dried over 50% but not exceeding 54%.

heavy salted soft cure = heavily salted fish but without hard drying so that salt content is about 17% by weight and moisture is about 47%.

heavy smoking = prolonged exposure to smoke which preserves and dries the fish.

hectare = 107,640 ft², 10,000 m², 2.471 acres. Abbreviated as ha.

hedge = a wall of bamboo or wattle screens leading fish into a trap.

height = 1) fishing height is the vertical opening of a trawl net.

height = 2) in measurement of fish structures this is the vertical distance.

Heincke's law = the size and age of the plaice in a definite part of the North Sea are inversely proportional to the density of their occurrence, but directly proportional to the distance of the locality from the coast and to its depth (biggest fish found in deepest water).

helical = spiral shaped.

helicoprion = a coiled, spiraled or whorled structure of ca. 180 teeth about 26 cm across, the only known remains of certain mid-Permian fossil sharks (also the genus of these sharks).

helicopter rig = an angling rig where the weight is attached at the end of the main line and the hooklength revolves around this a short distance above the weight.

heliotropic = turning towards the sun; many fish are negatively heliotropic.

helminthic glaucoma = an opalescent and opaque eye lens in fishes caused by heightened pressure in the eye through infection by worm parasites.

helophilous = having an affinity for marshes.

hemacanth = haemal spine.

hemal arch = haemal arch.

hemal canal = haemal canal.

hemal funnel = haemal funnel.

hemal rib = haemal rib.

hemal spine = haemal spine.

hemal vertebra = haemal vertebra.

hemapophysis = haemapophysis (haemal spine).

hematophagous = haematophagous.

hemonephrapophysis = haemonephrapophysis.

hemostat = haemostat.

hemi- (prefix) = half.

hemi-vertebra = a half vertebra attached to the endocranium with which the vertebral column articulates.

hemiaulacorhizid = vascularisation of a tooth root through a median groove and 1or 2 lateral foramina on the inner face, e.g. in Squatinidae and Orectolobidae (Herman et al., 1994).

hemibranch = 1) one of the two vertical rows of gill filaments composing a whole gill or holobranch.

hemibranch = 2) the half gill on the hyoid arch under the gill cover, also called the pseudobranch.

hemicercal = abbreviate heterocercal (type of caudal fin in which the vertebral column extends only a short way into the upper lobe of the fin (which is longer than the lower lobe).

hemiclonal = inheritance where one genome is passed on unchanged but the other is replaced in each generation, e.g. in the Poeciliidae Poeciliopsis monacha and P. lucida produce an all-female hybrid called P. monacha-lucida. The hybrid produces haploid eggs containing only the monacha genome, the lucida genome being discarded. The unisexual fish mate with male lucida, the lucida sperm is incorporated into the egg which then contains a clonally-inherited monacha genome and a new lucida genome (Dawley, 1989).

hemiplankton = organisms that spend only part of their life cycle in the plankton.

hemitrich = hemitrichium.

hemitrichia = plural of hemitrichium.

hemitrichium (plural hemitrichia) = one of the pair of slender rod-like structures that compose a lepidotrich or soft fin ray. The hemitrichia are segmented and often branched. The segments are movably held together by flexible collagenous fibres and joined at their distal tips by fused actinotrichia. Proximally the hemitrichia are expanded to provide for the attachment of muscles (erectors, depressors, and inclinators) and for articulation with the fin ray supports.

hemp seed = a small, black seed boiled until it splits open, used as a bait in England; it is particularly effective for such cyprinid species as Rutilus rutilus (from personal experience). May also be used in groundbait as an additive or loose feed.

hen = a female fish. Cock is used for some male fish.

hepat- (prefix) = pertaining to the liver.

hepatic artery = a branch of the posterior end of the coeliac artery that serves the liver.

hepatic caecum = a ventral evagination extending anteriorly in the mid-portion of the intestine in Amphioxi probably homologous with the liver of other chordates.

hepatic float = shark livers, oil-rich and thus contributing to buoyancy.

hepatic portal system = receives blood from the spleen and adjacent parts of the stomach (splenic vein), other parts of the stomach (gastric vein), the pancreas, pyloric caecae and adjacent duodenum (pancreaticoduodenal vein), the posterior intestine (intestinal vein), the capillaries of the gall bladder and the adjacent duodenum (several cystic and duodenal veins), and the dorsal surfaces of the ovaries or testes (gonadal veins).

hepatic portal vein = the main vein of the hepatic portal system, delivering blood from the abdominal organs to the liver.

hepatic sinus = a sinus receiving blood from the liver and opening directly into the sinus venosus, q.v.

hepato- (prefix) = pertaining to the liver.

hepatoma = a liver tumour or a tumour whose cells resemble liver cells. In cultured fish, associated with mold toxins in artificial foods, e.g. aflatoxin B from Aspergillus flavus.

hepatopancreas = areas of exocrine pancreas found in the area around the small veins off the hepatic portal vein.

hepatosomatic index = liver weight as a percentage of the whole body weight. Abbreviated as HSI (Htun-Han, 1978).

hepper = a young salmon.

herbivore = feeder on plant material.

herbivorous = plant eating, phytophagous.

herd = a collective noun (a noun that denotes a collection of persons or things regarded as a unit) for seahorses.

Heringsstip = pieces of marinated herring fillets, or salt herring with sliced or diced onions, cucumbers, and also with celery, spices and mayonnaise. May have herring milt sauce added (Germany). The minimum herring content is 50%.

hermaphrodism = the condition where both ovarine and testicular tissue are present in one individual, though both gametes are not necessarily produced at the same time. Functional hermaphrodism in fishes is known in some Cyprinodontidae, Sparidae and Serranidae. Hermaphrodism may be synchronous (both tissues present at the same time), protogynrous (only one tissue, ovarine, initially, then only testicular), or protandrous (only one tissue, testicular, initially, then only ovarine). Rivulus marmoratus (Cyprinodontidae) is unusual in that it produces an egg and then fertilises it, a self-fertilising hermaphrodite. See also primary male and secondary male.

hermaphroditic = with male and female reproductive organs in the same individual, as opposed to gonochoristic.

hermaphroditism = the variant of hermaphrodism.

herpesvirus disease = a disease of salmonids such as fry of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) caused by Herpesvirus salmonis. Causes lethargy, gill pallor, popeyes, eye and fin base haemorrhages, necrosis of the myocardium, liver, kidney and posterior intestine, and affects the blood (low haemotocrit and immature erythrocytes). Mucoid faecal casts trail from the vent because of the necrosis of the posterior intestine.

herpobenthos = organisms growing or moving through mud.

herring = Atlantic and Pacific herring, Clupea harengus and C. pallasii (Clupeidae), the former in particular figuring prominently in fisheries in North America and Europe and having various terms peculiar to its fishery. Many of these terms are in dialects of English or are archaic. Herring is derived from an Old English word.

herring bait = herring used as bait.

herring baiting = the quantity of herring taken aboard a vessel for use as bait in trawl fishing for cod on the Grand Banks, Newfoundland.

herring barrel = 1) a barrel containing at least 1000 herring as early as 1357 in England; later, in 1713, the barrel contained 1440 herring.

herring barrel = 2) in 20th century Germany, 100 kg of herring.

herring bodies = neurosecretory material accumulated in large masses in the neurohypophysis.

herring bone = 1) a large wooden tray with handles, legs and cross pieces used to suspend and carry strung herring to a smokehouse.

herring bone = 2) a pattern consisting of rows of short, slanted parallel lines or pieces of material, alternating in direction of the slant row by row. Used in parquetry, marquetry, embroidery and weaving. Also spelled herringbone.

herring bone = 3) method of climbing a ski slope with the tips of the skis pointed outward. Also spelled herringbone.

herring bone = 4) to sail through an ice-field in a zig-zag pattern to locate seals (Newfoundland).

herring caller = a man stationed on a cliff, watching for gulls flying low as an indicator of herring schools. See also huer, balker, conder.

herring carrier = a vessel about 52-65 feet long with a crew of two and often with partitioned central fish holds. Used to carry herring.

herring choker = 1) a person living in an area where herring are caught and pressed for oil. Choking derives from killing herring in a gill net, the squeaking noise made when a herring is removed from a gill net, from the act of killing them by removing them from the water, or a combination of the above. See also choke.

herring choker = 2) an inhabitant of New Brunswick, Canada based on the assumption maritimers eat mostly fish, such as herrings.

herring choker = 3) a Scandinavian or someone of Scandinavian descent, even landlocked communities such as those in Minnesota.

herring dodger = a large and shiny piece of metal placed between a sinker and the bait. It causes side-to-side gyrations which are transmitted to the bait.

herring drewe = a drove of herrings.

herring dub = the sea.

herring fare = the season for catching herrings, beginning before the end of harvest.

herring gib(b) = gills and guts of herring.

herring gibber = a man who guts herring.

herring gutted = thin, bony or wiry, said of people and animals.

herring gyte = herring spawn found adhering to herring nets during fishing operations.

herring hang = a place where herrings are dried, the fish being hung on sticks (Sussex dialect). Also called dee or deese.

herring horse = a frame, usually on four legs, used for supporting or holding a load of herring.

herring in sour cream sauce = salted herring fillets, partly desalted and marinated with vinegar, or marinated herring fillets prepared with different supplements such as wine, spices, sour cream, sweet cream, sieved herring milt, onions, cucumbers, etc.

herring in wine sauce = vinegar-cured herring fillets packed in a sauce made from white wine, vinegar, onions, sugar and spices. Also canned precooked herring fillets, packed in liquid wine sauce or with binding material, thickened sauces, with wine as flavouring. May be named according to the kind of wine, e.g. in Malaga wine sauce.

herring man = a herring fisherman.

herring meal = fish meal prepared from herring and herring waste.

herring milt sauce = herring milt mixed with vinegar sauce and strained through a sieve to remove membranes. Used for packing vinegar cured herring products.

herring net = 1) a seine used to enclose schooling herring.

herring net = 2) a type of stationary net in which herring enmesh themselves.

herring oil = fish body oil extracted from herring usually by cooking and processing.

herring pasty = the charter of the Corporation of Yarmouth in England required that town to send one hundred herrings baked in four-and-twenty pasties to the king annually.

herring piece = herring spear.

herring pond = the sea (slang).

herring pool = the English channel.

herring pound = an enclosure, usually for herring, maintaining fish alive over long periods.

herring pumper = a medium to large Cape Island vessel (q.v.) having an 8-10 inch herring pump and a scaling and dewatering box to collect fish scales during pumping.

herring purse seiner = a vessel 52-65 feet in length with a crew of five or six and the wheelhouse and accommodations located forward. Used for catching herring only.

herring rake = a wooden pole with a flattened head having a comb-like structure used with a downward stroke to catch herring by impaling them.

herring ribs = a lanky, bony person.

herring roe on kelp = a fishery where the eggs of herring are gathered from seaweed fronds in the Pacific northwest.

herring salad = vinegar cured, mostly diced, herring fillets or salt herring, mixed with diced cucumbers, onions, vegetables, spices and mayonnaise. This product may be packed unprocessed in containers which are not air-tight, or in glass jars or cans. Recipes vary from country to country, e.g. red herring salad has added pickled red beetroot.

herring savoury = an attempt to make the herring more marketable in Britain in the 1950's. Most herring were pickled and exported to Europe. The savoury was a fish stick (q.v.). Ironically, it was tested against a bland version using cod called fish fingers (q.v.) but the public much preferred the latter.

herring scale = Canadian 5-cent coin last minted in 1921, so-named because they were small and thin.

herring school = herring scull.

herring scull = the appearance in inshore waters of schools of herring (Newfoundland).

herring signs = swarms of minute fish which come as forerunners of the herring shoals.

herring siles = herring signs.

herring snapper = slang for a Scandinavian. See also herring choker.

herring soam = herring fat.

herring spear = the rushing noise of the flight and the cries of redwings, whose migration takes place about the herring fishing time. Considered a good omen for fishing (Kentish dialect).

herring station = a harbour where herring are processed for export and from which the herring boats set to sea.

herring tack = a shoal of herrings.

herring tidbit = gaffel bitar (semi-preserved fat herring, gilled or headless, with 10-12% salt and sometimes benzoic acid added. The product is ripened in barrels at moderate temperature, then filleted, skinned and cut into 'tidbit' pieces, packed with spiced brine, and also with vinegar or with sauces in cans or glass jars. Also called tidbits or fork tidbits).

herring trip = a voyage to the fishing banks to catch cod using herring as bait in trawl fishing (Newfoundland).

herring tub = an 18-gallon (68.1 l) wooden container (Newfoundland).

herring warp = bush rope (the main rope to which the row of herring drifting gill nets are attached).

herring weir = a weir built to catch herring (Clupea harengus).

herring weir seine boat = an open boat about 28 feet long with an inboard motor. Has three man crew and is used to tend herring seines, traps and weirs.

herring-gutted = lanky, thin (slang).

herringbone = adjective for herring bone, alternative spelling of herring bone.

heteracanth = having fin spines asymmetrical and more or less skewed alternatively left and right.

hetero- (prefix) = different, other, dissimilarity, other than usual.

heterocercal = the type of tail fin in which the vertebral column turns upwards into the upper lobe which is longer than the lower. Asymmetrical externally as well as internally, e.g. Elasmobranchii, Acipenseridae, Polyodontidae and in many larval Teleostomi. May also be used for an asymmetrical caudal fin but with epicercal defining upper lobe longer and hypocercal the lower lobe longer.

heterodont = more than one type of teeth within the same fish, e.g. Anarhichadidae, Heterodontus. Dignathic heterodonty has teeth differing in the upper and lower jaws, monognathic heterodonty within one jaw.

heterodonty = the condition of heterodont teeth.

heterolecithal = eggs with an uneven distribution of yolk.

heterosis = hybrid vigour.

heterospecific = belonging to different species.

heterothermic = cold-blooded.

heterotype = a type which has been derived by combining the characters of two or more different species, e.g. fossils.

heterotypic = differing from the type or from normal, abnormal.

heterotypic school = a well-defined group of many kinds of fishes, cf. homotypic school.

heterotypic synonyms = synonyms based on different nomenclatural types.

heterozygous = having two different alleles of the same gene.

hettle = a rocky bottom lying between the roadstead and the shore on the Firth of Forth (Scottish dialect). See out of the hettle into the kettle.

heva = a cry to warn fishermen of the approach of pilchards (Cornish dialect). See also hubba.

hevah = heva.

Hewett ramp = a fish shelter comprising a log across a stream with a submerged platform extending horizontally and downstream from it.

hexamitiasis = a chronic internal parasitic infestation of cichlids and salmonids characterised by increased mortality, dark colouration and reduced appetite. White stringy faeces are seen. Caused by a flagellate protozoan, Hexamita (or Octomitus, Spironucleus), with additional bacterial infections. Also called hole-in-head disease as ulcerations of the head and lateral line may develop but not necessarily the same as the nutritional deficiency under this name.

hiatus = a gap, e.g. unoccupied space between the distributions of two species.

hibernaculum = the place where an organism overwinters.

hibernation = overwintering in a torpid state. Also called winter sleep.

hibernium = an area or group of fishes for overwintering.

hicker = a tangle in a line or net (Newfoundland).

hide = cowhide attached under the cod end of trawl to protect it from abrasion.

hiemal = pertaining to winter.

high dory = the dory crew with the largest catch of cod (Newfoundland).

high grading = the discarding of a portion of a vessel's legal catch that could have been sold to have a higher or larger grade of fish that bring higher prices. It may occur in quota and non-quota fisheries. Generally illegal as fish resources are wasted. Also, since these illegal discards are not recorded, stock assessments can be unreliable and fishery management is difficult.

high male = a male fish with highly developed secondary sexual characteristics (colour, tubercles, fin enlargement, etc) and highly developed testicular tissue.

high nutritional value = a term used to describe baits in angling, especially boilies, q.v. Abbreviated as HNV.

high seas = the open part of a sea or ocean, usually outside territorial waters; high meaning chief or principal.

high seas resource = resources distributed exclusively on the high seas, excluding species on the continental shelf which remain under the sovereign rights of the coastal states.

high spy = a salmon fisher posted to keep watch on the movements of fish in a river (Scottish dialect). Also called spiesman.

high sticking = holding a fishing rod high to keep the line taut when drifting a nymph.

high tide = the tide at its fullest and highest extent and also the time at which this occurs in a 12-hour cycle at a particular point.

high water = 1) high tide, non-technically.

high water = 2) maximum flood stage of a stream or lake.

high water line = the intersection of mean high water with the shore.

high water mark = a reference mark on a structure indicating the maximum stage of a flood or tide.

high water neaps = neap high water (the average height of the high waters of the neap tide).

high yellow = an aquarium hobbyist term for hyperxanthic.

high-backed = a fish shape characterised by a high ratio between height and length of the body.

high-opening trawl = a bottom trawl designed to catch semi-demersal or pelagic species.

higher high water = the higher of two high waters occurring during a tidal day where the tide exhibits mixed characteristics.

higher low water = the higher of two low waters of any tidal day.

highgrading = high grading.

highly migratory species/stocks = marine species whose life cycle includes lengthy migrations, usually through the exclusive economic zone of two or more countries as well as into international waters. Tunas, marlins and swordfishes are the species usually considered under this heading.

himp = the small bit of a hair-line or gut which attaches each hook to the principal line of a fly (Shetland and Orkney dialect).

hindbrain = posterior region of the larval brain that includes the medulla, forming the rhombencephalon and all or most of the metencephalon.

hinder fin = pelvic fin (the paired fin which is located posterior, ventral or anterior to the pectoral fins (abdominal, thoracic or jugular in position). Also called ischiopterygium. It functions to steer, brake and propel the fish and acts as a keel. In the pelvic fin ray count usually all the rays are counted except a small ray preceding the first ray and usually bound so closely to it so as to require dissection to be seen. In some fishes with reduced pelvics, the spine and the first ray may be bound together by a membrane and appear as one; both are counted, e.g. in Cottidae. Abbreviated as P2 or V).

hindgut = posterior part of the gut that includes the intestine and rectal area.

hing = male salmon (Salmo salar) or trout (Salmo trutta) (English dialect).

hinge rig = a rig having built in flexible properties, usually formed by attaching traces by small rings or loops of line.

hip girdle = the skeletal support for the pelvic fins; not a favoured term in fishes.

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

histamine = a biogenic amine which can develop in the flesh, particularly of Scombridae and Clupeidae, when these are left too long in the sun. It imparts a peppery taste and serves to warn of inedibility. Histidine in fish muscle is decarboxylated by bacteria and the resulting histamine is associated with scombrotoxin poisoning. The amount of histamine in fish flesh is often regulated by law.

histo- = tissue.

histology = the study of tissues.

histophagous = feeding on animal tissues.

histotrophe = ovarian or uterine milk, a secretion produced by teleost livebearers for absorptive feeding using special structures (e.g. trophotaenia) during fish ontogeny. There is a small to moderate weight gain during embryonic development, e.g. Ameca splendens.

histotrophic live bearer = a reproductive guild (q.v.) where eggs develop into embryos and young whose partial or entire nutrition and gas exchange is supplied by the parent via histrotrophes.

histotype = a type of internal tooth vascularisation (Herman et al., 1994).

hit = taking of bait by a fish. Also called bite, bump and strike.

hitch = a general name for a series of knots used in angling and for tying up boats. See cleat hitch, clove hitch, double half-hitch and rolling hitch.

hitchhiker = said of a fish that seizes hold of a hooked fish as it is it being reeled in.

Hitra disease = a disease of farmed Atlantic salmon among others caused by certain Vibrio species active at temperatures below 10°C and producing muscular and myocardial degeneration. Red or bloody streaks appear on the body and fins and can lead to fin and tail rot with, in severe cases the tail and/or fins falling off. Also called coldwater Vibrio and red pest.

HNV = high nutritional value.

hoa = a channel or pass connecting an atoll lagoon with the open ocean.

hoam = the dried grease of cod (Angus dialect).

hoax = some fish species are based on hoaxes, e.g. drawings of fish invented by Audubon and sent to Rafinesque. The scientific names are rejected according to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature on the basis that they are not known to occur in nature. See also fabrication.

hockle = a kink in a line.

hocklin = gutting fish (Shetland and Orkney dialect).

hoddy = the uppermost breadth of a herring net (Norfolk dialect). Herring nets were usually made in four parts or widths, one width when they were in actual use being fastened above the other. The uppermost of them, connected by short ropes with a row of corks, being the hoddy.

hoder = a pole with a hook used in striking into fish (Shetland Isles dialect).

hofer pond = a breeding pond in Europe used in carp culture. Varies in depth from 30 to 80 cm and has bundles of brushwood for egg deposition. Parents are removed after spawning. Fry are netted or captured as the pond is drained. Lacks an outer trench as in the Dubisch pond.

hoffle = a stake on which salmon nets are dried (Northumberland dialect).

hog = hawg.

hog boat = a small fishing boat formerly in use at Brighton.

hog line = boats stretched across a river in a line.

hogging = capturing fish by hand, often in murky waters under logs and boulders or in mud holes. See also grabbling and noodling.

hogshead = a large cask containing 1240 pounds, 238.5 litres, 17.5 bushels, 52.5-63 wine gallons, 48-54 beer or ale gallons, about 50 Imperial gallons, etc. for other commodities (varies with locality). In the U.S.A. equals 63 gallons. Also used for storing fish and salt (204 kg) for preserving fish.

Hokkaido inu = the Ainu of northern Japan taught their dogs to catch migrating salmon. Also called Ainu dogs.

holarctic = 1) the entire arctic region in oceanography.

holarctic = 2) a biogeographic region, the Holarctic, including the arctic and north temperate zones of Eurasia (the Palaearctic) and North America (the Nearctic).

holaulacorhizid = vascularisation of a tooth root through many small foramina concentrated in a median groove running from the outer to the inner face, e.g. in Rajidae (Herman et al., 1994).

hold = 1) an enclosed space on a vessel for storing fish; may be insulated and/or refrigerated.

hold = 2) fish remaining in one place, usually in a current.

hold = 3) a place fish hide, as a lurking place in a stream under rocks.

holdall = an elongate bag designed to hold fishing rods, banksticks, etc.

holdfast = 1) small hooks on the anal fin of male tetras (Hyphessobrycon, Characidae) thought to be used during mating to help grasp the female.

holdfast = 2) structures, e.g. tendrils, on the egg cases of Chondrichthyes that anchor them to the sea bed.

holding area = a specific part of a water body to which fish are attracted because of the food available or the cover.

holding back = in angling, trotting a float at a slower speed than the surface current so that the bait travels at the same or a slower speed than the current at the bottom.

holding pen = a large plastic tank used for fish grown in aquaculture.

holding pond = a pond where brood fish are kept, usually less than 0.5 ha.

holding station = a lake area where inactive fish spend most of their time.

hole = 1) a deep place in a body of water, often a refuge for fish.

hole = 2) a favoured spot on a lake or in a river for fishing.

hole = 3) a hole cut through the ice of a river or lake for fishing.

hole-in-head disease = 1) head and lateral line erosion (a nutritional deficiency seen in aquarium fish, usually of vitamin C, aggravated by stress and poor water quality. Holes develop in the head and and sometimes along the lateral line. Death may result. Also called lateral line disease).

hole-in-head disease = 2) enteric septicaemia (a disease caused by the bacterium Ewardsiella ictaluri affecting fingerling and yearling catfish. Characterised by a raised or open ulcer on the frontal bone, hence the alternate name of hole-in-head disease).

hole-in-the-head disease = hole-in-head disease.

holeuryhaline = pertaining to organisms inhabiting fresh, brackish or marine waters.

hollow kenching = improper kenching (q.v.) when hollows are left from which pickle (q.v.) will not properly drain, resulting in sour fish.

holo- (prefix) = complete, whole, entire, total.

holo-eurytropical = occurring in tropical and subtropical waters.

holoblastic = an egg, the whole of which undergoes cleavage, usually those with little yolk, e.g. Amphioxi, Petromyzontiformes, Acipenseridae, Amiidae, Lepisosteidae.

holobranch = the two vertical rows of gill filaments that comprise a whole gill; the two hemibranchs of a gill.

Holocene = a geological epoch within the Quaternary Period ca. 10,000 years BP to the present day. Also called Recent.

holoepipelagic = permanently inhabiting the epipelagic zone.

holoeuryhaline = organisms that inhabit fresh, brackish and salt waters.

holohomoiotype = homoeotype.

hololectotype = lectotype (one of several syntypes (q.v.) designated after the publication of a species-group name, as the type-specimen of the taxon bearing that name. Designated only where there was no original holotype).

holomictic = said of a lake having complete circulation at the time of winter cooling.

holoneotype = neotype (a single specimen designated as the type-specimen of a nominal species-group taxon of which the holotype (or lectotype), and all the paratypes, or all syntypes are lost or destroyed or suppressed by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature).

holoparalectotype = a paralectotype (any one of the original syntypes remaining after the selection of a lectotype), belonging to the same sex as the lectotype.

holoparatype = a paratype of the same sex as the holotype. Paratype is the preferred usage.

holopelagic = organisms that remain pelagic throughout life or live in surface layers over both neritic and oceanic waters indifferently.

holoplesiotype = a plesiotype, q.v., of the same sex as the holotype. Plesiotype is the preferred usage.

holospondylous = said of a vertebra with a single-disk centrum, formed of a single bone with all elements (arches, spines) fused, e.g. Dipterus, Scaumenacia (Dipnoi), Teleostei.

holospondyly = the condition of holospondylous vertebrae.

holostyly = the type of jaw suspension where the upper jaw is fused with the cranium, e.g. Holocephali, Dipneusti.

holosubantarctic = species living between the subtropical convergence and the Antarctic convergence.

holotype = the single specimen designated or indicated as “the type-specimen" of a nominal species-group taxon (species or subspecies) by the author at the time of the original publication (or the single specimen when no type was specified but only one specimen was present for the description). If there are no other types (paratypes) then the holotype is termed "unique". If the holotype is lost or destroyed, a single specimen chosen ideally from the paratypes, is designated as the neotype (replacement holotype). If a species is split into two or more species, the name is retained by the species represented by the holotype, and a new holotype will have to be designated for each new species.

holt = hover (2).

holy butt = the origin of halibut, butt being an old word for any flattened fish. Holy butt were eaten on church holy days.

holy mackerel = an expression of surprise. Perhaps a euphemism for holy Michael or holy Mary. May be derived from mackerel snappers, derisory to Catholics who ate fish on Fridays.

home = the place selected for the production and rearing of the young, the nursery of the species, and/or for resting.

home range = the area over which an animal normally travels in its day to day activities.

homeo- (prefix) = alike.

homeosmotic = organisms which maintain body fluids at a rather constant osmotic pressure despite changes in their environment, the condition in most fishes. Opposite of poikilosmotic.

homeostasis = the ability of organisms to maintain body fluids at a rather constant osmotic pressure despite changes in their environment, the condition in most fishes. Opposite of poikilosmosis.

homeostatic = adjective for homeostasis.

homeotherm = homoiotherm.

homeotype = homoeotype.

homing = the return to a place formerly occupied instead of to other equally probable places, e.g. a return to spawning grounds.

homing rate = the proportion of successfully returned spawners that return to spawn in the same population in which their parents spawned.

homo- (prefix) = similar, the same, common, alike.

homocercal = type of tail fin in which the vertebrae generally turn upward at the hind end of the column, but which is externally symmetrical. The fin rays of the caudal are supported by hypaxial elements. Found in most Teleostei.

homodont = type of dentition where the teeth are all similar, indicative of a uniform diet.

homodonty = the condition of having homodont teeth.

homoeotherm = homoiotherm.

homoeotype = a specimen compared with the type by an author other than the author of the species and determined as conspecific.

homogenised condensed fish = liquid from whole fish or offal with about 50% moisture prepared as an alternative to fish meal.

homogenous = uniform; used to describe egg yolk in larval fishes as opposed to segmented.

homoiotherm = organisms maintaining a constant internal temperature, usually above that of their environment. Some oceanic fishes attain temperatures above their surroundings due to muscular activity, control of a surficial vascular network and a small ratio of surface to volume, e.g. Thunnus. Also spelled homeotherm.

homolecithal = eggs with a small quantity of yolk which is evenly distributed. Also called isolecithal.

homology = similarity of characters due to close ancestry, a common evolutionary origin, e.g. pectoral fins are homologous with human arms but pelvic fins are not homologous with legs (and so are perhaps better termed ventral fins). In contrast to homoplasy and equivalent to synapomorphy since derived from the same ancestral character.

homonym = one of two or more identical names denoting different species-group taxa (species or subspecies) within the same nominal genus, or different taxa within the genus-group (genus or subgenus), or family-group (superfamily, family or subfamily). Senior homonyms and junior homonyms are, respectively, the earlier and later published of two homonyms. Primary homonyms are the two or more identical species-group names applied to different taxa in the same nominal genus when first published. If identical species names are erected in identically named but taxonomically distinct genera, the species-group names are not homonyms because the genera are different although homonymous. Secondary homonyms are the two or more species-group names applied to different taxa of the group and included in the same nominal genus as the result of the transfer of one or more of the species-group taxa from another genus.

homonym citation = authorship for two or more homonyms may be cited using 'non' and/or 'nec' as follows:- A.... Smith 1947 non Jones 1958 nec Brown 1960.

Homonymy, Law of (Principle of) = any name that is a junior homonym of an available name must be rejected and replaced. The principle that the name of each taxon must be unique.

homoplasy = similarity due to convergent, parallel or reversed (i.e. loss) evolution, i.e. independent evolutionary change, not common ancestry. Convergent features are derived from distantly related ancestors, i.e. independent evolution derived by a different mechanism, thus leading to superficial similarity. Parallelisms derive from closely-related ancestors, i.e. independent evolution using the same mechanism.

homopterygia = plural of homopterygium.

homopterygium (plural homopterygia) = pectoral fin (the paired fin born by the pectoral girdle, usually just behind the gill opening or slightly dorsal or ventral to this position. Also called omopterygium or homopterygium. This fin is generally larger than the pelvic fin and less variable in position and structure. The pectoral is low on the body in more primitive bony fishes and higher in more advanced ones. It functions to steer, brake and propel the fish. Pectoral fin ray counts include all the rays branched and unbranched. The length is measured from the origin (upper or outer part of base) to the distal tip of the fin. Abbreviated as P or P1).

homotherm = homoiotherm.

homotopotype = a homoeotype, q.v., from the type locality.

homotype = homoeotype.

homotypic school = a well-defined group composed of one species with individuals of similar size, cf. heterotypic school.

homotypic synonym = a synonym based on the same nomenclatural type.

honey hole = an area containing big or many fish (American slang).

honeycombing = pitted, spongy-looking tuna flesh usually near the head of the fish appearing on cooking flesh that has started to decompose.

hoodik = hoder.

hook = 1) a bent piece of wire with its tip sharpened and often a barb below the tip, used to catch fish. Available in many sizes and styles, variously numbered and named. May be single, double or treble but all these are counted as one hook in angling regulations. Hooks separated by stretches of line are counted as multiple hooks. Bronze hooks are favoured for live bait fishing as swallowed hooks will dissolve in digestive juices if they cannot be removed without harming the fish. A hook comprises an eye (a circular bend at one end for line attachment), a shank (the long straight part, may be long- or short-shanked, depending on types of bait used, rounded (regular) or flattened (forded)), a bend or shape (the curved part), the spear, spearhead or point (the straight part after the bend), the point (the end of the hook) and a barb behind the point. The distance between the point and the shank is the gape or gap and the distance between the lowest part of the bend and the gape is the throat or bite. There are various forms of the eye of a hook, the ball or ring eye being the most common. Others include tapered, needle, hole, brazed, looped, loose, open straight, open cut, open bent aside and koohto. The eye itself may be straight (in line with the shank), turned down or turned up. Some hooks do not have an eye but a flattened end to which line must be whipped or snelled rather than tied. Flattened ends come in various patterns such as straight, marked, tapered, marked tapered, spaded and knobbed. Each hook pattern has a normal shank length, varying between patterns, and many patterns come in a variety of shank lengths. While most shanks are straight, they can be bent in various ways. Bent patterns include bent back, bent down, tipped back, bent aside, curved, kinked, stepped, crimped popper, Swedish dry fly, flybody, sedge and flat-body nymph, all variously directed to penetrate efficiently or to hold particular baits. A humped shank is to prevent cork, plastic, wood or rubber bodies from turning around on the shank, a sliced shank has barbs to attach a worm, egg or other bait, a curved down one is made to bring the line of pull closer the the line of point penetration and a central draught shank is bent upward for a quick and raking penetration. Names of gapes and bites include English Bait, Aberdeen, Siwash, Trout Italien, Pike and Wide Bend. The pike has a very wide gape, for example, to hold a large bait, hook a long-snouted fish and in in setting the point behind a long jawbone. The point comes in various forms, such as spear, hollow, rolled, Dublin, knife, barbless needle, barbless humped and harpoon. The bend can be kirbed (offset to the right when viewed from the top of the hook with the eye towards the observer), straight or reversed (opposite of kirbed, bent to the left), the shank can be in various lengths and cross sections, and the diameter of the wire the hook is made of can vary significantly. The hook's pattern is usually based on the shape of the bend and named types include Carlisle, O'Shaughnessy, Eagle Claw, Beak, Kirby, Model Perfect, Aberdeen, Siwash, Limerick, Sproat, Sea Mate and Albacore. Eyes may be ball (a circle perpendicular to the plane of the hook; closed, tempered and strong or open and not as strong or expensive), tapered (the eye and shank nearby are tapered to make the hook lighter for dry fly-fishing), looped (the eye runs back along the shank and may be tapered; found in salmon wet flies), needle (shaped like a needle eye, easily used with a natural bait), brazed (the eye gap is brazed to the shank ensuring the leader will not be cut and for strength; found in big-game hooks), or flattened (the shank is pierced, used for medium-sized species in commercial fishing). Eye positions may be ringed (parallel to the shank, used with lures in tandem), turned up (gives more clearance between the shank and point for fully dressed flies) or turned down (closer to the line of penetration). Types of points include needle (best penetration but easily blunted), hollow (rounded out between barb and tip for fast penetration), spear (more easily made than the preceding, varies types and not as penetrating as the preceding), barbless, arrow (does not penetrate easily, rarely used), and knife-edge (very sharp with all four sides ground, flattened and difficult for a big-game fish to throw). The point position may be straight (parallel to the shank), rolled or rolled-in (bent in towards the shank), bent-in (whole spear bent in towards the shank giving a small bite but difficult for the fish to eject), and bent-out (bent out away from shank for quick penetration). The various types and shapes of hooks can be seen in angling books and sales catalogues.

hook = 2) a spit or narrow cape turned landward at the outer end thus forming a hook shape.

hook gap = the distance from the shank to the point of a hook. This gap often determines the type of bait that can be used.

hook guard = plastic covers for hooks, especially treble hooks, so they can be carried safely.

hook, line and sinker = to swallow a fantastic story. See also swallow a gudgeon.

hook set = setting the hook, the methods by which a hook is embedded in the fish mouth and kept there.

hook silver = legal tender, hook-shaped silver pieces used in Ceylon in the early nineteenth century.

hook size = size is determined by the gap or gape between the shank and point; the lower the number the larger the hook, e.g. a size 24 hook has a gap of 2 mm while a size 2 has a gap of 10 mm. After size 1 the numbering system becomes 1/0, 2/0, 3/0 as size increases. There is a great deal of variation in hook size with pattern and manufacturer and other numbering systems may be encountered. Using the correct hook size for the bait and the fish sought after can be critical in successful angling.

hook snell = a knot used by anglers to attach a line to a hook through its eye; can only be used with a free length of line as both ends pass through the eye. Various websites have animated steps showing how to tie this knot.

hook snood = a high strength knot used by anglers to attach trace line to a hook. Various websites have animated steps showing how to tie this knot.

hook tyer = a device used by anglers to help snell, q.v., hooks; or to tie line to small spade-end hooks.

hook-and-line = a hook on the end of a line with a natural or artificial bait. Also applies to hooks used to catch fish by snagging or jigging. Hook-and-line units may be used singly or in large numbers.

hook-fish = fish caught on a hook.

hook-maker = artisan who made fish hooks for use in the cod fishery of Newfoundland.

hook-set = device for bending fish-hooks into proper shape.

hook-to-nylon = a spade-end hook sold already tied to a hooklength and with a loop at the other end for attachment to the main line.

hooked = over-reached, tricked, caught, being a simile taken from fishing and the slang fish hooks meaning fingers.

hooker = 1) angler.

hooker = 2) a one-masted fishing smack (English dialect).

hooking = fishing for cod with hand lines.

hooking-boat = a small, single-masted, fishing vessel (Newfoundland).

hooklength = the line directly attached to a hook (Britain). Usually of lower breaking strain than the main line so that the fish will not break off a long length of line and become entangled. Called snell in North America.

hooklet = a small hook, e.g. sexual hooklets in Characidae.

hookset = setting the hook, the methods by which a hook is embedded in the fish mouth and kept there.

hoop = dan leno hoop (a hoop-shaped dan leno made of bent wood with short rigging ropes wired to the outer circumference. Also called dan leno ring, geer, hoop bridle, round dan leno and yoke hoop).

hoop bridle = dan leno hoop (a hoop-shaped dan leno made of bent wood with short rigging ropes wired to the outer circumference. Also called dan leno ring, geer, hoop, round dan leno and yoke hoop).

hoop net = a fyke net mounted on hoops which help support the netting.

hootchie = a plastic or rubber lure made to imitate a squid. Used on the west coast of North America.

Hootie and the Blowfish = an American pop-rock band. Blowfish was the nickname of a friend of band member Darius Rucker, who had chubby cheeks.

horizontal classification = a grouping of species from a similar time interval of evolution rather than those sharing a common lineage (horizontal with respect to a phylogenetic tree). Compare vertical classification.

horizontal distribution = the location of fish in the cross section of a river or a lake.

horizontal frame line = the lines inserted through the lumen of the framed gill net meshes at regular intervals to make horizontal sections in a frame net.

horizontal incubator = a box-shaped structure used for hatching large fish eggs in a horizontal water flow, e.g. used for salmonids.

horizontal integration = a fishery where firms in the fishery operate and manage multiple units at the same level of the supply chain, e.g. a firm that operates several processing plants, across several regions or for different species.

horizontal septum = 1) a sheet of connective tissue separating the epaxial and hypaxial muscle masses. Also called horizontal myoseptum.

horizontal septum = 2) the lateral midline when referring to pigmentation in larval fishes.

horizontal tow = pulling a net at a set depth and for a set time.

horizontal transmission = disease transmission from individual fish to individual fish by contact or through the environment, cf. vertical transmission.

horn = 1) a bony projection, e.g. on the head of Ostraciidae.

horn = 2) a ring made from a section through a cow's horn, forming the apex of a capelin net (Newfoundland).

horned pike = a pike (Esox lucius) bearing horns or spines on the head. These are backward pointing extensions of the frontal bones, an anomaly and rare occurrence that attracts some interest from anglers.

horny capsule = an egg case as in the Rajidae.

horny teeth = keratinous, conical teeth derived from the epidermis in Petromyzontidae.

horse = 1) to force a fish in too shore too quickly when angling.

horse = 2) a frame, usually on four legs, used for supporting or holding, e.g. in carrying fish, as in a herring horse.

horse = 3) a platform of stones or boards on which split and salted cod are placed in layers after washing in order to drain during the curing process (Newfoundland).

horse = 4) the pile of fish placed on a horse (3).

horse = 5) to horse (3) cod.

horse fishing = the use of horses in shallow water to scare fish towards nets.

horse haul = a small catch of fish (Newfoundland).

horse net = using a horse to drag a seine through the shallows in the sea.

hose net = a small net affixed to a pole and used for rivulet fishing (archaic).

hospital tank = quarantine tank (an aquarium set aside from the main aquaria and used to isolate sick fish for treatment or new fish that need to be checked for parasites and diseases).

hossack = a knot tied in a broken fishing line to strengthen it (Scottish dialect).

host = a collective noun (a noun that denotes a collection of persons or things regarded as a unit) for angelfish.

host fish = a fish that is the accidental, abnormal, final, intermediate, natural, paratenic, primary, reservoir, secondary, transport and typical (all q.v.) host or environment for a parasite, e.g. a wide variety of crustaceans and nematodes, glochidia of mussels.

host species = the species which provides the sperm which activates the development of the egg in the sexually parasitic forms or combines with the chromosomes of the sexually parasitic hybridogenetic forms.

hot marinated = fish flesh marinated in hot vinegar or acidified brine at 80-90°C. Packed in jelly or sauces.

hot smoked = a process whereby the flesh of the fish is cooked (at up to 120°C) during smoking over 12-18 hours; hot smoked fish can be eaten without further cooking, cf. cold smoked. The flavour is intensely smoky and the fish is dry.

hot-spot = in angling, any area where fish concentrate and can be readily caught. See also hotspot.

hot spring = a spring bringing hot water to the surface; defined as having water temperatures 8C° or more above mean air temperature.

hot-shotting = fishing a wobbling plug directly downstream from a boat or wading angler.

hotspot = an area rich in species (often with many endemics) but environmentally threatened. See also hot-spot and biodiversity hot spot.

house = 1) fish house (a building where fish are stored or processed).

house = 2) a restaurant serving or specialising in fish and seafood.

house = 3) a merchant firm engaged in the Newfoundland fish trade, purchasing and exporting salt cod, and financing fishing operations through the advance of supplies and credit.

house bankin' = Dutch mess (salt cod and potatoes with browned onions. Garnished with scrunchions (the crunchy bits remaining after pork fat is rendered). Also called fish and scrunchions or hugger-in-buff).

house standard = the quality of dried and salted cod specified by a merchant as the basis for payment to a fisherman (Newfoundland).

hover = 1) a collective noun (a noun that denotes a collection of persons or things regarded as a unit) for trout.

hover = 2) a hiding place for fish such as a rock or overhanging bank (English dialect). See also holt.

hoyd = a fishing lodge (Shetland Isles dialect).

HSI = hepatosomatic index (liver weight as a percentage of the whole body weight (Htun-Han, 1978)).

hubba = a cry given to warn fishermen of the approach of pilchards (Cornish dialect). See also heva.

hüdik = a gaff or fish spear, a Scottish dialect taboo-name, with variant spellings.

huer = formerly a sentry on a high cliff, pointing out pilchard schools (reputedly by waving a small bush) in Cornwall to seine netters. See also herring caller, balker, conder.

hugger-in-buff = Dutch mess (salt cod and potatoes with browned onions. Garnished with scrunchions (the crunchy bits remaining after pork fat is rendered). Also called house bankin' or fish and scrunchions).

huggie staff = a wooden pole terminating in a strong iron hook, used for striking fish into a boat.

huid = a knot used to join two parts of a fishing line (Scottish dialect).

hula grub = a soft, plastic curly-tiled grub with a soft skirt at the head of the grub.

hull = to drive a trout into its hole (English dialect).

hum = the milt of cod, used as delicacy (Angus dialect).

human = a space suit for a fish.

humeral = pertaining to the "shoulder" area of a fish just behind the head.

humeral hiatus = pseudotympanum (a translucent, triangular area in the humeral region on the side behind the gill cover where the muscles are missing and the anterior part of the gas bladder is directly in contact with the skin, which is hypothesised to improve the hearing in many very young characoids and persists in some adults, notably the Cheirodontidae).

humeral process = a projection of the cleithrum usually just above the base of the pectoral fin.

humeral "scale" = a large, usually dark, scale-like projection of the postcleithrum above the base of the pectoral fin and just behind the opercle, e.g. in Etheostomatinae (Percidae).

humeral scale = 1) a hypertrophied black-tipped scale found on the body above the midline about a head length behind the head in mature male Pterobrycon (Characidae, Glandulocaudinae), probably a recognition signal.

humeral scale = 2) a modified scale with a pointed tip above the pectoral and pelvic fins of Clupeidae and Engraulidae.

humeral spot = humeral "scale".

humic lake = a lake rich in organic matter in the form of suspended plant colloids and plant fragments but low in nutrients.

hump = 1) any area higher than the surrounding area in reference to lake bottom features.

hump = 2) the raised area behind the head in certain fish species, usually mature adults or breeding males.

humuhumu-nukunuku-a-pua‘a = the blackbar or Picasso triggerfish (Rhinecanthus aculeatus), the unofficial state fish of Hawaii, one the longest common names for an animal. The name is often jokingly said to be longer than the fish. Its meaning is "fish with a snout like a pig" from its appearance or "fish who comes out of the water and sounds like a pig" from the snort it makes when removed from the water. It puffs up with air to wedge itself among rocks as a defensive measure.

hundi = a traditional vessel used in India to transport fry or fingerlings. Originally an earthen pot, now often of aluminium.

hundred = a measure of quantity; for fish the exact number in a hundred varied with the species. A hundred herring was 128 fish and a hundred mackerel was 132 fish. A long hundred was 120 fish. See also warp and tally.

hundredweight = 50.802 kg (long), 45.359 kg (short). Abbreviated as cwt, long and cwt, short respectively.

hunger the hook = to spare the bait.

hungry schooner = a Newfoundland vessel returning to port without a catch of fish or with few fish.

Hunter's organ = a long thin ventral electric organ below the main electric organ in Electrophorus.

huratoxin = a plant piscicide based on the latex of Hura crepitans (Euphorbiaceae), used in South America. Other piscicidal plant chemicals include callicarpone, ichthyothereol, inophyllolide, juglone, justicidin, maingayic acid, rotenone, and vibsanine, all q.v.

hurdy-gurdy = an apparatus turned by a crank, e.g. in fisheries used to haul in a trawl or longline. Also called gurdy.

husbandry = the scientific management and control of the hatchery environment for the production of fish; may include the breeding, feeding and health care of the fish.

huselack = a small stone hut used for drying fish (Shetland Isles dialect).

hut = fish hut (a small, moveable shack placed over a hole in the ice in winter to protect the fisher from the elements. May be heated and have other facilities).

hutch = a box trap for catching fish such as salmon and eels (English dialect).

huvie = a large straw basket used as a bag-net for trout (Orkney Isles dialect).

hyaline = clear, glassy, vitreus, semi-transparent.

hyaline cartilage = cartilage with a clear, translucent matrix.

hyaline zone = a zone on an otolith that allows more light to pass than an opaque zone. Also called translucent zone, the preferred term.

hyalodentine = a bony material of calcium salts. Found deposited on the fibrillary plate of teleost scales.

hybodont = a form of early (Devonian to Mesozoic) shark tooth, characteristically elongate, low in profile, with sinuous ridges and pierced by numerous nutrient canals. Named for the genus, Hybodus. See also cladodont, diplodont and symmorid.

hybrid = the offspring of the crossing of two different taxa (most commonly two different species). Hybrids commonly have reduced fertility, increased size and are intermediate between the parent forms. Hybrids are designated by the names of the parents separated by an "x". The parental names are arranged in alphabetical order, e.g. Ptychocheilus oregonense x Richardsonius balteatus.

hybrid name = names of progeny of two individuals belonging to different taxa, names given to hybrids are not normally available (q.v.), as they are individuals, not populations, and hence not taxa.

hybrid purse seine = one designed to catch tuna where porpoise are also expected (and must be released) as opposed to a net for tuna only.

hybrid vigour = the occurrence where hybrid offspring perform better than the parents. Also called heterosis.

hybrid swarm = an interbreeding population formed from hybridisation of two species.

hybridogenesis = the consistent production of only female offspring where sperm from a male of a bisexual species contributes parental chromosomes to the diploid hybrid progeny, which itself transmits only the maternal chromosomes to the eggs of its progeny, the paternal chromosomes being lost at meiosis, e.g. Poeciliopsis monacha-lucida, P. monacha-occidentalis. See also gynogenesis.

hydric = wet; characterized by, relating to, or requiring an abundance of moisture.

hydro- (prefix) = water.

hydrobiology = the study of life in aquatic habitats.

hydrocephaly = an increased volume of cerebro-spinal fluid in the head occurring in some larval and juvenile hatchery fishes.

hydrogarum = garum (q.v.) mixed with water.

hydrogen ion concentration = pH (a measure of how acidic or alkaline a solution is, i.e. the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution (log to base 10 of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion concentration). pH 7.0 is neutral, lower values are acidic and higher values are alkaline. Acid rain decreases the natural pH of rivers and lakes. Some fish require a specific pH, others will live at wide range of values: the general range for fish is 6-9. The internal pH of a fish falls after death but rises as amines are formed during spoilage).

hydrograph = chart of water levels over time.

hydrography = 1) the measurement of the physical features of fresh and marine water bodies.

hydrography = 2) the description and study of rivers, lakes, seas and other waters.

hydrohaline = water with an ocean-derived salt content greater than 40 p.p.t.

hydrology = the study of water, its distribution, circulation, properties and effects, on the surface, subsurface and in the atmosphere.

hydroperiod = the cycle of rise and fall in water levels, e.g. the period of flooding in a stream.

hydrophone = an underwater microphone.

hydropic = the adjective for hydrops.

hydrops = a fish disease evidenced by liquid accumulating in the belly. Also called dropsy.

hydrosaline = water with a land-derived salt content greater than 40 p.p.t. Also called hypersaline.

hydrosinus = a dorsal recess of the oral cavity in Petromyzontiformes involved in the pumping action of the sucker. Compression of the hydrosinus causes expulsion of water from the pharyngeal cavity into the branchial tube.

hydrosphere = the waters on the Earth in the atmosphere, oceans, fresh waters, glaciers and snowfields and groundwater.

hydrothermal vent = an ocean bed site where hot, sulphur-rich water vents from a geothermal source; with a unique fauna including associated fishes.

hydrotroph = a uterine "milk" secreted by the trophonemata (villi-like structures) in Rajiformes.

hygiene = the processes that make sure food fish are safe for human consumption.

hyobranchium = the lower section of the hyoid arch together with the branchial arches.

hyodont = said of teeth not ankylosed to the jaw.

hyoid arch = the arch lying between the gill arches and jaws, with which it is believed homologous and which helps support the floor of the mouth cavity. Composed in teleostomes of the following paired endoskeleton elements: hyomandibula, symplectic, interhyal, ceratohyal and one or two hypohyals which articulate with the basihyal. The prefixes epi-, cerato- and hypo- should not be interpreted as indicating correspondence with branchial elements bearing the same prefix. Posterohyal (epihyal), anterohyal (ceratohyal), dorosohyal (dorsal hypohyal) and ventrohyal (ventral hypohyal) have been coined to avoid this confusion. Some authors eschew the term epihyal and employ for the epihyal and ceratohyal, posterior and anterior or proximal and distal ceratohyal.

hyoid barbel = a barbel which hangs down from the hyoid region of the throat in members of the anglerfish family Linophrynidae and the beardfish family Polymixiidae.

hyoid teeth = misnomer in fishes for the basibranchial or hypobranchial teeth.

hyomandibula = the upper paired deep bone or cartilage of the hyoid region, sometimes taking part in jaw suspension and which supports the opercle. Dorsally it articulates with the otic capsule at the hyomandibular fossa, ventrally with the quadrate and symplectic. In most Teleostei it has a foramen for the hyomandibular branch of the facial nerve (VII). Often spelled hyomandibular.

hyomandibular = hyomandibula, strictly the adjective.

hyomandibular canal = preoperculo-mandibular canal (the cephalic lateral line canal extending along the preoperculum and lower jaw. The preopercular and mandibular parts of the canal may be disconnected. Abbreviated as PM).

hyostylic = suspension of the jaw in which the upper jaw loses any major direct connection with the cranium and the upper and lower jaws are supported solely by the hyomandibula, e.g. in Elasmobranchii and Teleostomes.

hyosymplectic cartilage = the fused symplectic and hyomandibular, a dorsal cartilaginous structure of the hyoid arch in adults of some fishes.

hypalmyroplankton = brackish-water plankton.

hypapophysis = a ventral keel or spine on a vertebra.

hypaxial = any structure morphologically ventral to the chordal axis; a muscle on the lower side of the body below the horizontal septum; a bone supporting the caudal fin below the urostyle.

hypaxonal = hypaxial.

hyper- (prefix) = above, exceeding, higher, more than, abnormally increased.

hyperaggregation = 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).

hyperbenthic = living above but close to the bottom.

hyperbolic tank = an oval tank with a hyperbolic bottom used in culturing fish larvae as the shape aids dispersal of larvae and food.

hypercalcification = development of very densely calcified cartilage during growth in sharks. This growth may distort and engulf existing cartilage, e.g. the rostrum of Lamna ditropis, the salmon shark.

hypercoracoid = coracoid (the lower endochondral bone on which the pterygials or actinosts of the pectoral fin rest. Dorsally it has a notch which, with a similar ventral notch on the scapular, frames the scapular foramen).

hyperdepletion = an exaggerated trend index, a stock seeming to have declined more than it really has because of faulty analyses of catch data (Walters, 2003).

hyperdominant = in an aquarium, the individual fish, of either sex or any species, which dominates the others.

hypereutrophic = a lake with excessive nutrient concentrations and thus high productivity.

hyperhaline = water with a salinity greater than 40 p.p.t. from ocean-based salts.

hypermelanosis = excess of dark pigmentation, e.g. on the blind side of some individual flatfishes, cf. hypomelanosis. Also called ambicolouration.

hyperosmotic = freshwater fish which regulate the ionic concentration of blood and body fluids above that of water.

hyperosmotic infiltration = a mass vaccination system used on fishes. Short baths are given in a hypertonic solution of sodium chloride thus enhancing the entrance of an antigen via the lateral line and possibly the skin and gills.

hyperossify = the process of massive bone growth seen in some fishes.

hyperostosis = excessive or abnormal thickening of bone. This is really a relative term as strongly developed and thickened bones occur in fishes naturally and contrast with the usual thinner bones, e.g. in the cranium of grunts (Haemulidae) and croakers (Sciaenidae) which lack suture lines and are very solid, unlike most fish skulls with sutures and discrete bones. Also called Tilly bones, q.v.

hyperphagy = heightened feeding activity, intensive biting or intensive feeding.

hyperpharyngeal groove = the longitudinal ciliated groove on the upper wall of the pharynx which sweeps food particles to the oesophagus in Amphioxi and in the ammocoetes stage of Petromyzontiformes.

hypersaline = salinity well in excess of that of sea water; found in enclosed water bodies, derived from land salts.

hypertonic = having an osmotic pressure higher than that of the environment, e.g. a fish in fresh water is hypertonic to its environment (and hence tends to lose salts and be flooded by water). Opposite to hypotonic.

hypertrophy =1) the over-development of a structure, e.g. the lips in some cyprinid fishes, the finfolds in the larval myctophid Loweina rara used in nutrient absorption.

hypertrophy = 2) waters of very high nutrient content.

hyperxanthic = having abnormal amounts of xanthin, a yellow pigment.

hypethmoid = ethmoid (the deep, embryonic, perichondral, cartilaginous bone ossifying in and around the nasal septum. Later covered by the nasals, prevomer, adnasals (and rostrals) and located anterior to the orbit. It may not ossify in some Teleostei. Also called dermethmoid).

hypo- (prefix) = under, below, beneath, lower than, small size, deficiency.

hypo-osmotic = marine fish which regulate the ionic concentration of blood and body fluids below the concentration of sea water.

hypobatic = said of a caudal fin with a longer lower lobe.

hypobenthile = abyssal (referring to water below 4000 metres or 2000 fathoms (= 3660 metres), down to 6000 metres, where light does not penetrate. Occasionally used for depths below 2000 metres. A constant environment with temperatures usually 0-2°C or temperatures are uniform).

hypobenthos = sea floor fauna below 1000 metres.

hypoblast = the inner of two layers of the blastoderm that forms during gastrulation and gives rise to the mesoderm and endoderm.

hypobranchial = one of a series of deep, paired endochondral bones on the lower part of the gill arch between the ceratobranchials and the basibranchials. May occur on arches 1, 2, 3, 4 and bear dentigerous plates. Salmonidae have only 3 pairs. In Chondrichthyes they are the most ventral paired cartilages.

hypobranchial teeth = teeth on the hypobranchial bones; sometimes incorrectly called hyoid teeth.

hypocercal = type of tail fin where the lower lobe is the longer and is supported by the vertebral column. Asymmetrical externally as well as internally, e.g. Pteraspides (fossil). See also heterocercal.

hypochord = a transitional rod of cells which develops under the notochord in the trunk region of some embryos.

hypochordal = below the notochord, in reference to the lower lobe of the caudal fin.

hypocoracoid = coracoid (the lower endochondral bone on which the pterygials or actinosts of the pectoral fin rest. Dorsally it has a notch which, with a similar ventral notch on the scapular, frames the scapular foramen).

hypodigm = all the material of a species available to a taxonomist.

hypogean = the subterranean environment inhabited by "cave" fishes.

hypognathous = 1) prognathous (having jaws that project forward markedly).

hypognathous = 2) having a projecting lower jaw.

hypohyal = the one or two deep, endochondral bones in the hyoid arch between the ceratohyal and the glossohyal. Articulates dorsally with the ceratohyal and ventrally with the basihyal. Lepisosteus has only one while Gadus has two, the dorsal hypohyal or dorsohyal and the ventral hypohyal or ventrohyal.

hypolimnion = the cold lower layer of a stratified lake, under the epilimnion and beginning just below the thermocline. This layer is not directly affected by surface events.

hypomaxilla = a small, paired, tooth-bearing bone found behind the premaxilla and below the maxilla in some Clupeidae.

hypomelanosis = lack of dark pigmentation, e.g. on the eyed side of some individual flatfishes, cf. hypermelanosis. Also called pseudo-albinism.

hypomeralia = those muscle bones or epipleurals which are attached to the ventral ribs or haemal arches.

hyponym = a name rejected in the absence of a type.

hypopharyngeal groove = a median groove on the floor of the pharynx of larval lampreys. Also called endostyle.

hypophyzation = injection of pituitary extract from cyprinids or salmonids into a fish to induce production of eggs or sperm.

hypopyle = the posterior opening of the tube formed by the claspers.

hyporheic = the saturated zone under a river or stream, comprising substrate with the interstices filled with water.

hyposaline = water with a salinity less than that of sea water.

hyposom = hypaxial musculature.

hyposquama = the two or three layers of very flat cells which lie immediately underneath the fibrous layer of the scale.

hypothalamus = a specialised embryonic region of the ventral diencephalon of the brain giving rise to the posterior pituitary gland and certain brain nuclei.

hypothesis = a refutable statement about one or a series of phenomena; testable predictions; a falsifiable concept or idea.

hypothetical ancestor = a supposed ancestor to extant taxa given a scientific name but this is not available under the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature because it is hypothetical, lacks a species description and lacks type species fixation.

hypotonic = having a lower concentration relative to the environment, e.g. a marine teleost is hypotonic to its environment (and hence tends to lose water and gain salts). Opposite of hypertonic.

hypotype = a specimen described and/or figured to increase knowledge of a previously described species. Becoming obsolete.

hypoxanthine = a chemical formed in fish muscle after death; can be used as a measure of the freshness of the fish.

hypoxia zone = dead zone (a very large dead spot in the ocean, e.g. the seasonally-depleted oxygen levels (< 2mg/l) in the Gulf of Mexico covering 18,000 sq km (increasing each year - expected to be 22,126 sq km in 2007). Fish can swim away from such areas if onset is gradual but many invertebrates die).

hypoxic = very low oxygen levels.

hypsi- = high.

hypsithermal period = a postglacial period having a climate warmer than present when some fish distributions extended further north.

hypural = one of the flattened, fused bony haemal spines fanning out at the base of the caudal fin and bearing caudal rays. Amia has 10 hypurals, Salmo 7 but in most teleosts the number is reduced or fused into a single structure, the urostyle, q.v.

hypural crease = hypural notch.

hypural fold = hypural notch.

hypural notch = the crease formed when the caudal fn is bent or flexed.

hypural plate = the series of bones supporting the caudal fin.

hypural spine = hypurapophysis.

hypurapophysis = a process on the arch of the parhypural (q.v.) in the caudal fin skeleton. It serves as the origin for the anterolateral portion of the hypochordal longitudinal muscle which inserts on the upper principal caudal fin rays, e.g. in Siluriformes.

hypurostegy = the overlapping of strengthened caudal ray bases over a strong hypural plate found in, e.g., Scombroidei, Xiphioidei, etc. An adaptation to strong caudal propulsion.

© Brian W. Coad (www.briancoad.com)

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