[buht-er-fish] 
) -fish⋅es, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) -fish. | 1. | a small, flattened, marine food fish, Peprilus triacanthus, of Atlantic coastal waters of the U.S., having very small scales and smooth skin. |
| 2. | the rock gunnel. |
| but·ter·fish (bŭt'ər-fĭsh') n. pl. butterfish or but·ter·fish·es
[From its slippery mucous coating.] |
butterfish
any of the thin, deep-bodied, more or less oval and silvery fishes of the family Stromateidae (order Perciformes). Butterfishes are found in warm and temperate seas and are characterized by a small mouth, forked tail, and a single dorsal fin. Like the related rudderfishes (Centrolophidae) and man-of-war fishes (Nomeidae), they also have peculiar, toothed outpocketings in the esophagus. (In some systems of classification Centrolophidae and Nomeidae are included in Stromateidae.)
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