bottom fish

¹

noun

1. any of certain fishes that live at or near the bottom of a body of water, as certain of the cod and related species, the flatfishes, and catfishes.

bottom-fish

²

[bot-uhm-fish]

verb (used without object)

1. to fish with a weighted line for fish that feed close to the bottom.

Word History and Origins

Origin of bottom fish¹

First recorded in 1840–50

Example Sentences

The healthy system is highly energy-efficient — with sediment-dwelling invertebrates and bottom fish feeding on the rain of algae, and then birds and large-bodied mammals, such as walrus and whales, scooping them up.

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Does that mean in the Pacific Northwest, the salmon, bottom fish, seabirds and marine mammals, not to mention the raw natural beauty of our beaches, are expendable?

Read more on Seattle Times

"The bottom fish are the deep seven, the nice big red fish that you see at nice restaurants, that you see on your nice holiday platters," Richards said.

Read more on US News

Orr and his colleagues measure the abundance of rockfish, flatfish and other "bottom fish" for the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, the research arm of the NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service.

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Orr and his colleagues measure the abundance of rockfish, flatfish and other “bottom fish” for the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, the research arm of the NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service.

Read more on Seattle Times