grunion

American  

[gruhn-yuhn] / ˈgrʌn jən /

noun

1. a small, silvery food fish, Leuresthes tenuis, of southern California, that spawns at high tide in wet sand.

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grunion British  

/ ˈɡrʌnjən /

noun

1. a Californian marine teleost fish, Leuresthes tenuis, that spawns on beaches: family Atherinidae (silversides)

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Etymology

Origin of grunion

1915–20; probably < Spanish gruñon grunter, derivative of gruñir to grunt < Latin grunnīre

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

grunion

“We usually say, if it’s a beach where there’s surfing, they like the same surfing waves that people like,” said Karen Martin, a professor of biology at Pepperdine University and leading grunion expert.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026

One recent study found that even quite dim light alters where plovers roost and grunion spawn.

From Washington Post ● Feb. 1, 2023

Yet another 2021 study, led by Longcore, showed similarly low thresholds of light on stretches of California beach can prevent plovers from roosting and fish called grunion from throwing themselves ashore to spawn.

From Scientific American ● Oct. 1, 2022

No one I know thinks that humans should spawn like wave-borne grunion or subsist entirely on flies.

From New York Times ● May 16, 2017

Soon after we were released I wrote a paper for a seventh-grade journalism class, describing how we used to hunt grunion before the war.

From "Farewell to Manzanar" by Jeanne Houston

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