Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Shellfish |
ShellfishNoun1. Meat of edible aquatic invertebrate with a shell (especially a mollusk or crustacean). 2. Invertebrate having a soft unsegmented body usually enclosed in a shell. Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "shellfish" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1726. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
''Atlantic herring Clupea harengus
one of the most abundant species in the world''A fish is a poikilothermic water-dwelling vertebrate with gills. Fishes (over 27,315 species) are a paraphyletic group and are divided into the bony fishes (class Osteichthyes, 22,000 species); cartilaginous fishes (class Chondrichthyes, 800 species); and various groups of jawless fishes (75 species), including lampreys and hagfish. Fishes come in different sizes, from a 45 foot whale shark to a 8 mm long dwarfgoby. Other aquatic animals, such as jellyfish and cuttlefish, are not true fish.
Note on usage: fish vs. fishes
Fishes is the proper English plural form of fish that biologists use when speaking about two or more fish species, as in "There are over 25,000 fishes in the world" (meaning that there are over 25,000 fish species in the world). When speaking of many fish that all are part of the same species, then the word "fish" is used, as in "There are several million fish in the species Gadus morhua."
Fish ecology
Fishes can be found in most all large bodies of water in either salt and fresh water, at depths ranging from just below the surface to several thousand meters. However, hyper-saline lakes like the Great Salt Lake do not support fish. Some species of fish have been specially bred to be kept and displayed in an aquarium.
Fish are an important source of food. Other water-dwelling animals such as mollusks and crustaceans (commonly called shellfish) are often considered as fish when used as food. Catching fish for the purpose of food or sport is known as fishing. The annual yield from all fisheries worldwide is about 100 million tonnes.
Overfishing is a threat to many species of fish. On May 15, 2003, the journal Nature reported that all large oceanic fish species worldwide had been so systematically overcaught that fewer than 10% of 1950 levels remained. [1] Particularly imperilled were sharks, Atlantic cod, and Pacific sardines. The authors recommended immediate, drastic cutbacks in fish catches and reservation of ocean habitats worldwide.
Black seabass Centropristis striata (photo: Uwe Kils)See also: aquarium, freshwater aquarium fish species, marine aquarium fish species, deep sea fishes, list of fish families, list of fish common names, fish farming, fish anatomy, fish migration
External links
- Fish database (FishBase)
- Project for children - build a fish mobile with a behavior
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Fish."
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Shellfish is a term for mollusks and crustaceans used as food (a type of seafood).
Mollusks: clam, snail, mussel, oyster, scallop
Crustaceans: shrimp, lobster, crayfish
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Shellfish."
Synonyms: ShellfishSynonyms: mollusc (n), mollusk (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Animal | Mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, fish, crustacean, shellfish, mollusk, worm, insect, arthropod, microbe. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Shellfish |
| English words defined with "shellfish": anaphylactic shock ♦ bisque, bouillabaisse ♦ Cestraciont ♦ Dodman ♦ Finfish, fish, fishpaste ♦ jambalaya ♦ Oyster catcher ♦ paella, pilaf, pilaff, pilau, pilaw ♦ seafood, Shell lime, Shell meat ♦ Testaceography. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "shellfish": aquaculture ♦ BONE PICKER, BUTCHER, CHICKEN AND FISH, byssus silk ♦ chicken-and-fish cleaner, CLAM SORTER ♦ hunter, skin diver, Hypoxie zone ♦ Interstate Shellfish Sanitation Conference, ISSC ♦ Mariculture, marine silk ♦ National Shellfish Sanitation Program, NSSP ♦ Oyster ♦ poultry-and-fish butcher, PUBLIC-HEALTH MICROBIOLOGIST ♦ RAW SHELLFISH PREPARER ♦ SEPARATOR OPERATOR, SHELLFISH MEATS ♦ UNDERWATER HUNTER-TRAPPER. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "shellfish": testudo. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Is the whole shellfish thing really serious (Gilmore Girls; writing credit: Povl Erik Carstensen; Sebastian Dorset) | |
Tongue Twisters | Selfish shellfish. (references; author: unknown) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | After initially being ingested in contaminated food such as shellfish, or water, the Salmonella typhi bacteria migrate through the intestinal mucosa of the terminal ileum into the submucosal lymph nodes. Credit: CDC. |  | Coastal marsh area along the bay is home to fish, shellfish, and sea birds. Credit: America's Coastlines. |
 | A wide variety of fish and shellfish species support a mostly small-scale fisher y, operating near to the coast. Over 40 types of gear are used in the Mediterran ean. Most common type is trawlgear for benthic species; coastal purse seiners for small pelagics; trammel and gillnets for inshore species; and purse seines, long surface gill nets, and longlines are used for large pelagic fish. Credit: Fisheries. |  | A tray of eelgrass turf and plugs ready for transplant. Eelgrass, Zostera marina contributes substantially to the health of coastal ecosystems. Eelgrass meadows provide shelter and spawning habitat for fish and shellfish and the living blades or leaves provide food for waterfowl like brant and Canada Geese. And eelgrass is a critical element of the Bay's detrital food web. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |
 | A slide of a map showing sites of the quahog spawner sanctuaries. The quahog spawner sanctuaries were established to compensate for injuries to shellfish after oil spilled in Narragansett Bay when the World Prodigy ship grounded in 1989. Quahogs were taken from polluted areas of Narragansett Bay and allowed to depurate and then moved into clean areas where they were protected from harvest. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |  | A local shellfisherman unloads his harvest at the docks where the quahogs were weighed by local shellfish enforcement agencies before being transferred to the spawner sanctuaries. The shellfishermen were paid for the harvest by the RI DEM. Credit: NOAA Restoration Center. |
 | North Inlet - Winyah Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve. Loggerhead sea turtles nest on South Carolina beaches from May to August. Adult and juvenile sea turtles can be observed in South Carolina estuaries during most months of the year where they feed on a variety of shellfish. Credit: National Estuarine Research Reserve System (NERR). |  | Plate 275. A variety of shellfish . Credit: National Marine Fisheries Historical Image Collection. |
 | Surgeon General Terry speaking at the dedication of the Northeast Shellfish Sanitation Research Center. Credit: National Library of Medicine. |  | Diving for shellfish at Enoshima. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Gulliver's Travels | Swift, Jonathan | I found some shellfish on the shore, and ate them raw, not daring to kindle a fire, for fear of being discovered by the natives |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Do not eat raw oysters or other raw shellfish. (references) | |
Avoid undercooked or raw fish or shellfish, including ceviche. (references) | ||
Eat shellfish promptly after cooking and refrigerate leftovers. (references) | ||
Economic History | Cape Verde | Fish and shellfish are plentiful, and small quantities are exported. (references) |
Yemen | Plentiful stocks of fish and shellfish provide opportunities for packing and export. (references) | |
Austria | Since Austria is a landlocked country, all marine fish, shellfish, and crustacea must be imported. (references) | |
Travel | Peru | Fish, shellfish and vegetables should not be eaten unless well cooked, and all food should be eaten while still hot. (references) |
Indonesia | Avoid raw, unpeeled fruits and uncooked vegetables, food that is prepared in advance and then left to stand, and raw or undercooked meats, seafood, and shellfish in questionable eating venues. (references) | |
Bahamas | Local cuisine tends to favor freshly caught seafood, particularly using grouper, lobster (locally known as "crawfish"), and conch (a Caribbean shellfish), but American and ethnic cuisine such as Chinese and Italian are also available. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | OYSTER, n. A slimy, gobby shellfish which civilization gives men the hardihood to eat without removing its entrails! The shells are sometimes given to the poor. P |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Shellfish" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 98.59% of the time. "Shellfish" is used about 142 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 98.59% | 140 | 26,789 |
| Noun (proper) | 1.41% | 2 | 245,945 |
| Total | 100.00% | 142 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "shellfish": shellfish-collecting, shellfish-eating. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "shellfish"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | gocë deti (mollusc, mollusk, oyster, scallop, scollop), butak (cockle, mollusc). (various references) | |
Arabic | طعام البحر (seafood), المحار. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | ракообразно животно. (various references) | |
Chinese | 貝類 (mollusks), 貝 (cowries, shell, valuables), 贝类. (various references) | |
Cornish | bós-tryg. (various references) | |
Croatian | rakovi. (various references) | |
Czech | drobní jedlí korýši a mìkkýši. (various references) | |
Danish | bloeddyr. (various references) | |
Dutch | weekdier. (various references) | |
Farsi | نرم تن صدف دار (Snail), حلزون صدف دار. (various references) | |
Finnish | avattu simpukka (shucked shellfish). (various references) | |
French | mollusque, fruits de mer, crustacé, coquillages. (various references) | |
German | Schellfisch (haddock), schaltier (crustacean), Schalentier (crustacean), Weichtier (mollusc, mollusk), Muschel (bivalve, clam, earpiece, mouthpiece, mussel, Pinna, seashell, shell). (various references) | |
Greek | μαλάκια (mollusca), μαλάκιο (mollusc, mollusk), οστρακόδερμο (crustacean, mollusk), οστρακοειδή, θαλασσινά (seafood). (various references) | |
Hungarian | rákfélék, mészhéjú állatok, kagylók. (various references) | |
Italian | mollusco (clam, mollusc, mollusk), crostaceo (crustacean). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 貝類 , 貝類 , 貝 (shell), 介 (being in between, concerning oneself with, mediation, shell). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | かいるい, かい (assembly, association, avail, being in between, buyer, buying, club, concerning oneself with, counter for occurrences, effect, -floor, large, low rank, lower order, mediation, meeting, mystery, oar, paddle, party, purchase, result, scull, shell, stories, subordinate, the feelings of the people, together, use, wonder, worth). (various references) | |
Korean | 갑각류 (Crustacea). (various references) | |
Manx | eeast shliggagh (mollusc), eeast bleaystagh. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | ellfishshay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | molusco de concha, molusco (borer, clam, cockle, mollusc, mollusk), marisco (clam, mussel), crustáceo (crustacean). (various references) | |
Russian | моллюск (clam, mollusc, mollusk). (various references) | |
Scottish | maorach (shell-fish, shellfish of all kinds). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | ostriga (oyster). (various references) | |
Spanish | marisco. (various references) | |
Swedish | skaldjur (crustacean, seafood). (various references) | |
Turkish | kabuklu deniz hayvanı. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | ракоподібні, молюск (mollusc, ostracean). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | lo i sò hến lo i tôm cua. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | concha. (various references) |
| Old English | 450-1100 | sciellfisc. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "shellfish": shellfisheries, shellfishery, shellfishes. (additional references) | |
| |
"Shellfish" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: shelfish, Shollais. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "shellfish" (pronounced she"lfi'sh) |
| 5 | -e" l f i' sh | selfish. |
| 4 | -l f i' sh | Angelfish, cuttlefish, dealfish, needlefish, sailfish. |
| 3 | -f i' sh | catfish, crawfish, dogfish, flatfish, goldfish, goosefish, hagfish, jellyfish, jewfish, lungfish, pipefish, redfish, starfish, sunfish, swordfish, whitefish. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-f-h-h-i-l-l-s-s" | |
-2 letters: hellish, hisself, selfish. | |
-3 letters: elfish, filles, filses, fishes, lisles, shells, shiels, shills. | |
-4 letters: fells, files, fille, fills, flesh, flies, heils, hells, hills, isles, lisle, seifs, selfs, sells, shelf, shell, shiel, shies, shill, sills. | |
-5 letters: elhi, ells, fehs, fell, fess, file, fill, fils, fish, hehs, heil, hell, hies, hill, hiss, ills, isle, leis, less, lief. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-f-h-h-i-l-l-s-s" | |
+2 letters: shellfishes. | |
+3 letters: shellfishery. | |
+5 letters: shellfisheries. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Fiction | 9. Quotations: Non-fiction 10. Usage Frequency 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
