black-fish

Dictionary of Australasian Words Phrases and Usages by Edward E. Morris

n.


The name is given, especially inSydney, to the sea-fishes Girella simplex, Richards (see Ludrick), and Girella tricuspidata, Cuv. andVal.; also to a fresh-water fish all over Australia, Gadopsis marmoratus, Richards. G. marmoratus isvery common in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, andparts of Tasmania. There are local varieties. It is muchesteemed as a food fish, but is, like all mud fishes, rich andoily. Girella belongs to the family Sparida, orSea-Breams, and Gadopsis to the Gadopsidae, afamily allied to that containing the Cod fishes. The name wasalso formerly applied to a whale.

1853. C. St. Julian and E. K. Silvester, `Productions,Industry, and Resources of New South Wales,' p. 115:

«There is a species of whale called by those engaged in thesouth sea fishing the Black-fish or Black-whale,but known to the naturalist as the Southern Rorqual, which thewhalemen usually avoid.»

1888. D. Macdonald, `Gum Boughs,' p. 100

«Nothing is better eating than a properly cooked black-fish.

The English trout are annihilating them, however.»

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