weedfish

English

Crested weedfish (Cristiceps australis) - William Buelow Gould, c. 1832

Etymology

weed +‎ fish

Noun

weedfish (uncountable)

1. One of a variety of species of fish of the family found in the waters off Australia and New Zealand.
   • 1957, N. J. Berrill and Jacquelyn Berrill, 1001 Questions Answered about the Seashore, New York: Dover, p. 278,^[1]

     In spite of fishermen’s opinions and complaints, cormorants feed principally on bottom fish of no commercial value, such as rockfish and weedfish.

   • 1989, Roland J. Green, The Mountain Walks, New York: Ace, Prologue, p. 3,^[2]

     They’d been crammed like weedfish aboard the boat for two days; the trip home would probably be longer.