Noun: butterfish 'bú-tu(r),fish
- Slippery scaleless food fish of the northern Atlantic coastal waters
"butterfishes are difficult to handle due to their slippery skin";
- rock gunnel, Pholis gunnellus
- Any of numerous small flat Atlantic food fish having smooth skin
"The chef prepared a delicate butterfish fillet with herbs"
- Small marine fish with a short compressed body and feeble spines
"Butterfish are often caught in nets targeting other species";
- stromateid fish, stromateid
Derived forms: butterfishes
Type of: bracketed blenny, gunnel, percoid, percoid fish, percoidean, saltwater fish
Part of: family Stromateidae, genus Pholis, Pholis, Stromateidae
Encyclopedia: Butterfish