hogfish

American  

[hawg-fish, hog-] / ˈhɔgˌfɪʃ, ˈhɒg- /

noun

hogfish, plural hogfishes plural

1. a large wrasse, Lachnolaimus maximus, of the western Atlantic Ocean, used for food.

2. any of various other fishes having a fancied resemblance to a hog, as the pigfish and logperch.

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hogfish British  

/ ˈhɒɡˌfɪʃ /

noun

1. a wrasse, Lachnolaimus maximus, that occurs in the Atlantic off the SE coast of North America. The head of the male resembles a pig's snout

2. another name for pigfish

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• hogfish
  plural
• hogfishes
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hogfish

1590–1600; translation of Medieval Latin porcopiscis porpoise. See hog, fish

Example Sentences

When she later went to retrieve the hogfish, she was startled to find that it had changed color to perfectly match the white deck—complete with little black circles that mimicked the textured floor.

From Scientific American • Aug. 22, 2023

Biologists behind the new study took a closer look at hogfish skin and found that these proteins weren’t in the pigmented layer of cells that change the animal’s color.

From Science Magazine • Aug. 22, 2023

As a marine biologist, Lorian Schweikert knew hogfish could change color to match their surroundings.

From New York Times • Aug. 22, 2023

When Lorian E. Schweikert, Ph.D., reeled in a hogfish on a fishing trip to the Florida Keys, she noticed something strange after setting it down on the deck of the boat.

From Salon • Aug. 22, 2023

The Bay at hand, and its estuaries, abounded in trout, hogfish, rock, shad, sturgeon and other edible species in season, not to speak of soft-shell crabs, hard-shell crabs, turtles, terrapin, clams and oysters.

From Domestic Life in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century by Jester, Annie Lash