maori-chief

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

n.


name given to a New ZealandFlathead-fish, Notothenia maoriensis, or coriiceps. The name arises from marks on the fishlike tattooing. It is a very dark, almost black fish.

1877. P. Thomson, `Transactions of the New ZealandInstitute,' vol. x. art. xliv. p. 330:

«Some odd fishes now and then turn up in the market, such asthe Maori-chief, cat-fish, etc.»

1878. Ibid. vol. xi. art. lii. p. 381:

«That very dark-skinned fish, the Maori-chief, NototheniaMaoriensis of Dr. Haast, is not uncommon, but is rarelyseen more than one at a time.»

1896. `The Australasian,' Aug. 28, p. 407, col. 5:

«Resemblances are strange things. At first it would seemimprobable that a fish could be like a man, but in Dunedin afish was shown to me called Maori Chief, and with the exerciseof a little imagination it was not difficult to perceive thelikeness. Nay, some years ago, at a fishmonger's in Melbourne,a fish used to be labelled with the name of a prominentVictorian politician now no more. There is reason, however,to believe that art was called in to complete the likeness.»

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

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