snailfish

American

[sneyl-fish] / ˈsneɪlˌfɪʃ /

noun

PLURAL

snailfish

PLURAL

snailfishes

any of several elongate, smooth-skinned fishes of the family Liparididae, inhabiting cold seas, having the ventral fins modified to form a sucking disk.

snailfish British

/ ˈsneɪlˌfɪʃ /

noun

another name for sea snail

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of snailfish

First recorded in 1830–40; snail + fish

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The deepest marine vertebrate life filmed before this expedition was at 8,336m - a snailfish that was filmed swimming in a deep ocean trench off the coast of Japan in 2023.

From BBC

The deepest marine life filmed before this expedition was at 8,336m - a snailfish that was filmed swimming in a deep ocean trench off the coast of Japan in 2023.

From BBC

In addition to jellyfish, crustaceans and macroalgae were other important components of the diet of some species, while fish species such as the polar cod or snailfish played an important role for other species.

From Science Daily

It looks like a character from an animated film but the EVNautilus deep-sea exploration project found this real snailfish deep in the Pacific Ocean.

From BBC

The tadpole-shaped, translucent creature is a type of snailfish, and it’s probably the deepest fish anyone will ever find.

From Scientific American

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023