moonfish

American  

[moon-fish] / ˈmunˌfɪʃ /

noun

plural

moonfish,

plural

moonfishes

1. Also called horsefish, horsehead.  any of several silvery marine fishes of the genus Selene, having a very compressed body and inhabiting shallow coastal waters.

2. the opah.

3. any of various other rounded, silvery fishes.

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moonfish British  

/ ˈmuːnˌfɪʃ /

noun

1. any of several deep-bodied silvery carangid fishes, occurring in warm and tropical American coastal waters

2. any of various other round silvery fishes, such as the Indo-Pacific Monodactylus argenteus

3. another name for opah

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Etymology

Origin of moonfish

First recorded in 1640–50; moon + fish

Example Sentences

Into hundreds of plastic pails lined up in rows, they tossed grouper, barracuda, tuna, flying fish, moonfish and sardines: 300 tons of fish on an average day.

From New York Times • Apr. 2, 2020

To confirm that these special gills helped the opah stay toasty, the researchers tagged a number of moonfish with temperature monitors and tracked the fish as they dove.

From Scientific American • May 14, 2015