释义 |
black fish 1. A name given to several varieties of English and American fishes; e.g. the Black Ruff (a kind of perch), Centrolophus pompilus (a kind of mackerel), Tautoga Americana (a species of wrasse).
1754Borlase Cornwall 271 Black ruffe, synonym Black⁓fish. 1765R. Rogers Acct. N. Amer. 68 In the sea adjacent to this island [sc. Long Island] are sea-bass and black-fish in great plenty. 1861J. Blight Week Land's End 142 During the mackerel-season the blackfish of Gesner, Coryphæna Pompilus, is not of rare occurrence. 1888Goode Amer. Fishes 39 The Sea Bass is also known south of Cape Hatteras as the ‘Blackfish’. 1897Outing (U.S.) XXX. 160/2 These fishermen, who think that God made blackfish for them exclusively. 2. A small species of whale.
1688S. Sewall Diary (1878) I. 239 [We saw] a number of Fishes called Bottle-noses. Some say they are Cow-fish or Black-fish. 1796Morse Amer. Geog. I. 398 Black fish, a sort of whale ‘of about five tons weight.’ 1879Wallace Australas. 428 The people of Solor..capture the small whales called black⁓fish. 3. A name given to salmon just after spawning. Hence black-fisher, one who catches salmon when in this condition. black-fishing, the taking of such salmon; especially applied in Scotland to their capture at night by torchlight, whence the term is sometimes explained.
1808Walker Prize Essays II. 364 (Jam.) The salmon in these states are termed in our acts of Parliament, Red and Black Fish. 1841Penny Cycl. XX. 363/1 The females are dark in colour and are as commonly called black-fish. 1809St. Patrick III. 42 (Jam.) Ye took me aiblins for a black-fisher. 1848Life Normandy (1863) II. 55 Black-fisher..is the name given to the poachers who kill salmon when they are out of season. 1794Forfar Statist. Acc. XII. 294 (Jam.) Black-fishing is so called because it is performed in the night-time, or perhaps because the fish are then black or foul. 1815Scott Guy M. ii, The holding of a black-fishing, or poaching court. 4. The freshwater fish Gadopsis marmoratus, found in Australia.
1850Clutterbuck Port Phillip iii. 44 The Schnapper, blackfish and eel. 1879McCoy Zool. Victoria I. iii. 39 Gadopsis gracilis... The Yarra Blackfish. 1890Melbourne Argus 9 Aug. 4/5 You could catch a few blackfish in the pools. 1962L. Wedlick Fishing in Australia iii. 76 The blackfish is a poor fighter. |