Dictionary of Ichthyology

Brian W. Coad and Don E. McAllister^†

Revised: 17 August 2010

P

P = 1) abbreviation for pectoral fin.

P = 2) Permian, a geological period of the Palaeozoic ca. 290-245 million year ago.

P = 3) symbol for the (parental) generation in which fertilization produces hybrids.

P1 = abbreviation for pectoral fin.

P2 = abbreviation for pelvic fin; V is an alternate abbreviation.

p = probability.

p. (plural pp.) = page.

p.m. = post meridiem, for after noon indicating time after 12.00 noon.

p. p. = pro parte.

p.p.m. = parts per million.

p.p.t. = parts per thousand.

Pacific Trash Vortex = Great Pacific Garbage Patch (a gyre in the central North Pacific Ocean between about 35-42ºN and 135-155ºW, having large amounts of plastic and other garbage trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre. The size of the patch has been estimated at 700,000 km² to 15 million km² with perhaps over 100 million tons of debris. A major source of pollution and of plastics ingested by marine organisms as it resembles zooplankton. May form a habitat for fishes in the featureless open ocean. Also known as the Eastern Garbage Patch.

Pacini's Law = the nervous face of the electroplax of an electric organ becomes electrically negative to the non-nervous face during the discharge, whatever the orientation of the organ as a whole (except in Malapterurus).

pachy- (prefix) = thick.

pack = 1) a collective noun (a noun that denotes a collection of persons or things regarded as a unit) for perch.

pack = 2) a large school of dogfish (Squalus acanthias), a term used by fishermen.

pack = 3) a quantity of fishing line belonging to a member of a boat's crew, the amount varying with the district (Scottish dialect).

pack ice = floating ice that has been driven together into a single mass.

pack rod = a fishing rod that can be disassembled into short sections for easy transport.

package = 1) any type of barrel for shipping dried fish (Newfoundland).

package = 2) cured herring (Newfoundland).

packed like sardines = anything tightly packed or confined, after the appearance of sardines in a can. Usually refers to people in overcrowded conditions.

packie = a bundle of fishing lines. Each bught is fitted with from nine to fourteen hooks. It is usual to call twenty bughts a packie, and the whole of the packies that a boat carries is a fleet of tows (Shetland Isles dialect).

packing fish = a method for keeping partially dried and dried cod-fish from spoiling or developing dun, q.v., when damp weather conditions prevailed that did not allow for spreading. Salted and drying fish would be moved from one pile and repacked into another to keep dun and other conditions from harming the fish.

packload = a dry measure, used sometimes for fish, although mainly for salt and corn.

pad = a wicker basket used as a fish measure.

padda = fish slices dipped in a paste of clarified butter or oil with chilies, mustard and other spices (Malabar, India). Packed in jars.

paddy = a field for growing rice, flooded with water and often stocked with fish.

paddy-cum-fish culture = the combined culture of rice in flooded fields or paddies with fish during the flooded stage. Canals, pools and trenches can be constructed around the fields to maintain fish during dry seasons.

padec= fermented fish paste made with rice husks (Laos).

padell = paidle.

paedomorphosis = phylogenetic retention of juvenile or larval characters in the adult.

paedophage = a feeder on larval or embryonic forms; larvivore.

paedophagous = larvae or embryo eating; larvivorous, e.g. some Haplochromis which feed on cichlid embryos and larvae, sucking them out of the maternal mouth using thick, rubbery lips, as opposed to post-larval to adult stages.

paedophore = paedophage.

paellick = pelek.

paellik = pelek.

page precedence = when two names for the same taxon are first published in the same publication, then the one which appears on the earlier page has precedence. Page precedence does not necessarily mean priority as well; this is determined by the action of the first reviser.

page reference = citation of the page or pages where an item of interest occurs. May be of particular significance in reference to names in publications concerning taxonomy and nomenclature.

pagophilic = ice-loving, applied to organisms for which ice is important in some part of their life cycle.

PAH = abbreviation for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons.

pahutoxin = ostracitoxin.

paidle = 1) a pocket in a fish net, especially that in a small stake-net used for catching flounders and trout (Scottish dialect). Also spelled  padell, peddle, pydle and pyddle.

paidle = 2) a net with a paidle (1) (Scottish dialect).

paidle = 3) a cone made of rushes and set in a river to catch fish such as trout on their downward migration (Scottish).

pain = fish have nocioceptors, a peripheral nervous receptor, sensitive to noxious stimuli and reporting to the central nervous system where the stimulus is perceived and motor responses initiated. Fishes can sense stimuli but these receptors provide no evidence of a psychological experience of pain as felt by humans. The concept of pain in fishes in the psychological sense is a hotly debated topic. The cortical regions where humans experience pain are lacking in fishes. The word "pain" should perhaps be used only where there is a conscious mind having an unpleasant psychological experience.

painted fish = aquarium fishes that have been artificially coloured by injection with a dye, dipping in dye or by feeding with dyed food. This marketing ploy fades after several months. Fatality levels are high and campaigns to ban this process have been mounted. Also called juicing. See also GloFish.

pair bond = the temporary or permanent association formed between a female and male fish during courtship and mating.

pair trawling = bottom or mid-water trawling by two vessels towing the same net. Very large nets can be towed in this manner by relatively small boats and the net is generally hauled alternately aboard the two vessels for processing of the catch. The net mouth is kept open by the outward pull of the two vessels.

paired appendage = paired fin.

paired fin = the pectoral and the pelvic fins (as opposed to the vertical fins).

paitie = patie.

paksiw = gutted or un-gutted fish, boiled with coconut or vinegar, and other spices and simmered over a slow fire (Philippines). See also sinaeng.

palace = a cellar or first floor of a house for curing and storing pilchards (Devon and Cornwall dialect).

palaeo- (prefix) = old, ancient.

Palaearctic = the biogeographic realm comprising Europe, northern Asia and North Africa.

Palaeocene = a geological epoch within the Tertiary Period ca. 65-54 million years ago.

palaeochannel = a former river channel.

palaeogenic = a disjunct distribution, where remnant populations are indicative of a once wider distribution.

palaeoichthyologist = one who studies fossil fishes.

palaeolake = an ancient lake.

Palaeozoic = a geological era ca. 570-245 million years ago comprising the Cambrian, Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous and Permian periods. Also spelled Paleozoic.

palatal = of or pertaining to the roof of the mouth.

palatal organ = a structure on the roof or palate of the mouth used to taste and touch food items in Carassius auratus.

palate = the roof of mouth; may be used to include the bones of the roof of the mouth, especially the vomer, palatine, pterygoid, ectopterygoid and parasphenoid; may include also the maxilla and premaxilla, as well as any braincase elements which are exposed on the roof of the mouth.

palatine = a paired, endochondral bone on the roof of the mouth lateral to the (pre) vomer. Properly called the autopalatine since it has a double nature, being covered ventrally by the dermal dermopalatine, which is often dentigerous. The palatine is cartilaginous in Lepisosteus and in Amia the dermopalatine is independent, not fused to the autopalatine.

palataobasal ridge = a ridge formed by the ventral part of the ethmoid articulation of the palatoquadrate in sharks.

palatoquadratal bar = palatoquadrate.

palatoquadrate = the cartilaginous, functional upper jaw of Elasmobranchii and Holocephali and the embryonic upper jaw of other gnathastome vertebrates. In adult Dipnoi, Crossopterygii and Actinopterygii, produces the autopalatine, metapterygoid and quadrate bones. Also called palatoquadrate or palatoquadratal bar, palatoquadrate cartilage, pterygoquadrate bar, epimandibular cartilage and maxillar cartilage.

palatoquadrate bar = palatoquadrate.

palatoquadrate cartilage = palatoquadrate.

pale around the gills = nauseated, as applied to humans.

pale cure = lightly salted and cold smoked haddock split so the bone is on the right hand side.

pale smoked red = lightly smoked red herring.

paleo =palaeo.

Paleozoic = Palaeozoic.

palingman = 1) a seller of eels (archaic).

palingman = 2) a fishmonger (archaic).

Palissy ware = dishes covered with coloured models from nature, such as fish, in high relief. After Bernard Palissy (1510–1590).

palistrophy = the coalescence or fusion of vertebrae.

pallace = palace.

pallet = the glass or metal float on a fishing net (Scottish dialect).

palm = a heavy mitten (glove without fingers) used to protect the hand in splitting fish or hauling lines (Newfoundland).

palmata zone = the region of a reef crest of a bank or barrier reef that is closest to the water surface.

palmate = shaped like a hand or palm.

palmered = feathers wound perpendicular to the shank of a hook on an artificial fly.

palming = use of the hand against the spool edge of a reel to control drag in fighting a fish.

palomar knot = an easily tied knot used by anglers to attach a hook, swivel, snap or lure to a line. Has a strength of 85% and the double loop through the eye provides a cushion for added strength. Ideal for braided lines. Various websites have animated steps showing how to tie this knot.

palu hook = a wooden hook used in the south-central Pacific Ocean to capture oilfish, Ruvettus pretiosus. Protective sticks (usually 6-8) are lashed to the line near the hook to prevent the sharp teeth of the fish from severing the line.

paludal = of a marsh or marshes.

paludarium = an aquarium with a dry land area as well as water.

palustrine = pertaining to swamps or marshy habitats, usually shallow and of limited extent.

pan = 1) a large depression without an outlet, periodically flooded with water, often salt-encrusted.

pan = 2) a shallow, circular container used in rendering fish oil (Newfoundland).

pan = 3) a dense shoal of small fish (Shetland Isles dialect). See also panner.

pan- (prefix) = all, all pervading.

pan fish = any kind of small fish suitable for cooking, often fried in an open pan, and generally affording but minor sport. Used in contrast to the larger species of game fish.

pan-dressing = a means of cleaning small fish that are to be cooked whole rather than filleted.

pan-global = all the globe or world; although global would seem to suffice.

pan-ready fish = 1) fish ready prepared for cooking. Also called kitchen-ready.

pan-ready fish = 2) fish specially prepared to make a good presentation. Also called kitchen-ready.

pan-size fish = any small fish that can be fried whole.

pan-temperate = throughout the temperate zone.

pan-tropical = throughout the tropics.

pancake ice = mostly circular pieces of ice from 3 cm to 3 m across, less than 10 cm thick, and with rasied edges.

pancaking = skimming along the surface on one side. Usually seen in compressed fish having a panic reaction.

pancreas = endocrine gland containing islets of Langerhan(s) which produces secretions controlling carbohydrate metabolism. Often located diffusely in the region of the gall bladder, spleen, pyloric caeca and small intestine in fishes. Size and number of islets of Langerhans increase during the spawning season.

pancreas disease = a probable viral infection of salmonids causing a degeneration of the pancreas causing high mortality in the salmonid marine phase.

pancreatic islets = the endocrine part of the pancreas producing hormones and, in particular, insulin. Also called islets of Langerhan(s).

pancreaticoduodenal vein = delivers blood from the pancreas, pyloric caecae and adjacent duodenum to the hepatic portal vein.

panel = a sheet of netting made of two or more sections joined together.

panes = rows on a flake, q.v., formed by loose longers, q.v., that held flake boughs in place and between which fish were laid in the Newfoundland fisheries. Also called lists.

panmictic population = one in which all members are equally likely to mate.

panner = a heavy catch of herring (from pan (3) above (Shetland Isles dialect).

pannibrad = a pot for melting or rendering fish livers (Shetland Isles dialect).

pannibrod = pannibrad.

pannier man = a fishmonger, a hawker of fish (archaic).

pannyman = pannier man.

pantothenic acid = a B vitamin essential in the diet of many cultured species.

paper fish = a TAC, q.v., much greater than real fishing possibilities.

paperfish stage = a prolonged pelagic phase in development characterised by a deep, strongly compressed, silvery body with a naked ventral keel in Cheilodactylidae.

papilla (plural papillae) = a small, nipple-like, fleshy protuberance.

papilla neglecta = macula neglecta (macula neglecta = a sensory structure located in Teleostomi in the utriculus of the inner ear near the opening of the ampulla of the posterior vertical semicircular canal, in selachians within a duct (posterior canal duct) through which the posterior vertical semicircular canal connects with the sacculus, while in the batoids it lies in the wall of the sacculus adjacent to the opening of the duct. It may have a neuromast associated with its sensory tissue. This structure has been demonstrated to be a sensitive vibration receptor in Raja. Also called crista neglecta and crista quarta).

papillae = plural of papilla.

papillary = a trio of small bones lying at the hind end of the priapium (q.v.) surrounding wholly or partly the genital pore and sometimes bearing a number of thin bony projections with hooklets, in the Neostethidae.

papillate = papillose.

papilliferous = papillose.

papilliform = slender, elongate and pointed, e.g. teeth.

papilliform hyoid barbel = a short fleshy protuberance in the hyoid region.

papillon = trade name for salted cod weighing less than 400 g at landing.

papillose = covered with papillae.

para- (prefix) = beside, by, along, beyond.

paraallotype = parallotype.

parabranchial chamber = the portion of the gill cavity lying between the gills and the gill cover; also called branchial chamber. See orobranchial chamber.

paracaudal organ = a fatty organ opening through pores on the caudal fin of Engraulidae. The organ is hypothesised to release stock specific fatty substances.

parachondral bone = bone formed from the ossification of connective tissue surrounding cartilage. Later the ossification penetrates the cartilage so the final bone has a mixed origin. Also called chondral or endochondral bone.

parachordal plate = an embryonic cartilaginous rod on either side of the notochord between the hind brain and the otic capsules, and which help form the skull.

parachute fly = a type of dry fly with the hackle wrapped horizontally under the hook or at the base of the wings providing an outrigger flotation.

paradentary = a bone lying in the maxillomandibulary ligament with the proximal end of the bone forming a ball and socket joint with the dentary near the symphysis in Ceratostethus (Neostethidae).

parafluvial = pertaining to groundwater or areas adjacent to the main river channel.

paraformaldehyde = a white crystalline solid, the polymerized form of formaldehyde gas (usually 90-97% pure). It has an irritating odor and can emit potentially flammable and explosive formaldehyde vapors at room temperatures. Dissolved in water, it can be used to fix and preserve fish specimens in the field, having less weight in transport than liquid formalin solution. As a white powdery substance, it is best transported across borders in its fully-labeled container.

paragenotype = a genotype (q.v.) designated later than one by the first revisor.

parahyoid = urohyal (a flat, median, deep, endochondral bone below the ceratohyal; a tendon bone arising in the septum between the longitudinal muscles of the isthmus. Absent in such primitive fishes as Lepisosteus. Also called clidost, episternal and interclavicle).

paralectotype = any one of the original syntypes remaining after the selection of a lectotype.

parallel drainage system = a pattern of rivers caused by steep slopes with some relief, often found in mountainous areas. The rivers are fast and straight with few tributaries. See also annular, dendritic, deranged, rectangular and trellis drainage systems.

parallel evolution = the development of similar forms by related but distinct phylogenetic lieages.

parallel key = bracketed key (a dichotomous key in which contrasting parts of a couplet are numbered and presented together, without intervening couplets (the brackets are omitted). Used in some fish keys).

parallel ponds = in aquaculture, a series of diversion ponds, arranged in parallel and each having an individual inlet and outlet for water.

parallelism = possessing similar characters by two or more related taxa in separate lineages.

paralliconic species = one described in terms of its difference from another species, instead of in absolute terms, e.g. certain species pairs of Coregonus and Ammodytes. Opposite to staticonic.

parallotype = paratypes of the same series and sex as the allotype (q.v.) described by an author other than the original author.

paramorph = a taxonomic variant within a species, so named because lack of data prevents a more accurate determination.

paraneotype = a figured specimen used in addition to the neotype. Neoparatype is also used.

parapatric = adjacent but non-overlapping distributions.

parapatric speciation = the differentiation into distinct species of populations experiencing some gene flow.

paraphyletic = adjective for paraphyly. "Fishes" as a group are paraphyletic.

paraphyly = a taxon that does not include all descendants from the common ancestor of its members.

parapineal organ = the left side counterpart of the pineal organ, q.v., in the dorsal midline between the telencephalon and the optic lobes. It is reduced or absent in some fishes.

parapophyses = plural of parapophysis.

parapophysial stay = a transverse bony bridge which connects the parapophyses of the abdominal vertebrae and separates the dorsal aorta from the kidneys, e.g. in Stichaeidae.

parapophysis (plural parapophyses) = a long, transverse process arising from the abdominal vertebral centrum. Parapophyses serve to support epipleural ribs (q.v.) when present and, in Gadidae, the gas bladder. In Clupeiformes they are not fused to the vertebrae. Also called transverse process, basal process and basopophysis.

pararostrum = a projection of the posterior part of an otolith, somewhat anterior to the postrostrum, the most posterior point.

parasagittal = a plane parallel to the sagittal plane which divides the left and right sides.

parasitic male = complemental male (the small, usually degenerate (except for gonads) male which lives attached to the female, e.g. some Ceratioidei. Parasitic male is the less preferable name).

parasitic spawning = fertilisation of eggs by a subordinate male while the female and dominant male are spawning.

parasitism = the manner of life in which an organism lives for some period of time, to its own benefit, in or on another organism (the host) to the host's detriment, e.g. Ichthyomyzon on Esox masquiniongy; Vandellia in the gill cavity of Platystoma.

parasitofauna = the diversity of parasitic animals on a host such as a fish.

parasphenoid = the median dermal bone extending along the base of the cranium, posterior to the prevomer (or vomer). May bear teeth, e.g. in Amia, or molariform teeth, e.g. in Albulidae.

parasymphysial = the first anterior tooth row in Chondrichthyes, if a symphysial tooth row is absent (Herman et al., 1994).

parataxon (plural parataxa) = 1) a fossil taxon based on a part of the organism, e.g. fossilised fish teeth.

parataxon (plural parataxa) = 2) a taxon base don only a particular stage in the life history of an organism.

parataxon (plural parataxa) = 3) a domesticated taxon, isolated from it wild ancestors by human intervention.

parataxa = plural of parataxon.

paratenic host = a fish which serves as an additional or optional intermediate host for a parasite. No development of the parasite occurs but the host fish may serve as an essential link in the parasite life cycle. Also called transport host.

parathyroid gland = absent in fishes, function being replaced by corpuscles of Stannius, q.v.

paratopotype = a paratype from the same locality as the holotype.

paratype = every specimen, other than the holotype, in the type-series; all the specimens on which the author bases the series, except any that (s)he refers to as variants, or doubtfully associates with the nominal species, or expressly excludes from it.

paratype allotype = a paratype from a different locality than the holotype.

paratype omotype = a paratype from the same locality as the holotype.

paravane = a flat board used in angling and commercial fishing to make the line shear laterally or downward. Lateral shearing enables two lines to be towed behind a boat and downward shearing helps send the baited hook into deep water. Also called shearing boards and otter boards.

paravertebral = along the same plane as the spinal column.

paraxial hypoblast = found lateral to the axial hypoblast and formed mostly or entirely of mesoderm. It forms somites and their derivatives in the trunk and muscles and endothelium in the head.

pardaxin = a man-made chemical from the Moses sole (Pardachirus marmoratus). The sole produces a milky chemical from its dorsal and anal fins that freezes the shark jaw and generally repels sharks. It was only effective when squirted into the shark's mouth (rather risky).

parent population = any population considered as the source or origin for the population under study or analysis.

parental biomass = the weight of the adult spawning population of a species. Also called spawning stock biomass.

parental family = where both parents equally share the duties of caring for the young; usually formed by monogamous, open-water brooders, although exceptions are common, e.g. in the Cichlidae. Sexes are difficult to separate on external experience. Also called nuclear family.

parenteral = entry not through the intestine but through skin, cuts, etc.

paresthesis = numbness, tingling, burning, prickling and increased sensitivity, all human neurological symptoms of ciguatera poisoning (q.v.).

parethmoid bone = a paired deep bone of perichondral origin lying in the front of the orbit under the prefrontal. Also called pleurethmoid, lateral ethmoid, prefrontal, exethmoid, and also ectethmoid (latter only present in birds so not be be used in fishes).

parhypural = the last haemal spine that forms part of the the hypural plate. It is considered as a typical haemal spine or a hypural by authors but is recognised as distinct because it bears a hypurapophysis (q.v.), is notched to allow the caudal artery to exit the haemal canal and supports the lowermost principal caudal fin ray, e.g. in Siluriformes.

parietal = a dermal paired bone on each side of the top rear of the head over the auditory region, behind the frontals and partly or wholly separated by the supraocciptal. In Amia and Elopidae both parietals meet in the midline and separate the frontals and the supraocciptal, forming a type of skull called medioparietal. In contrast, a lateroparietal skull has the frontals and supraoccipital meeting in the midline, separating the parietals, e.g. in Gadidae. In an aparietal skull, the parietals are absent, e.g. in Syngnathiformes, Siluruidae.

parietal body = a dorsal evagination of the diencephalon. See epiphysial apparatus.

parietal head spine = a spine on the head of Scorpaenidae members. They are, from anterior to posterior over the top of the head on each side, the nasal, preocular, supraocular, postocular, tympanic, coronal (medial to the tympanic and postocular spines), parietal, and nuchal. Opercular spines are at the postero-dorsal corner of the operculum, preopercular spines line the posterior margin of the preoperculum, and the cleithral and postcleithral spines are just above the opercular spines on the side of the head.

parietal pericardium = the single membrane lining the pericardium or heart cavity.

parietal peritoneum = the single layered membrane lining the pleuroperitoneal cavity.

parietal shield = a set of bones covering the skull roof posterior to the intracranial joint in Crossopterygians.

parietolateral skull = one in which the parietal bones are separate allowing the frontals to suture with the supraoccipital.

parietooccipital = dermosupraoccipital (the superficial, paired dermal bone covering the supraoccipital with which it may fuse. In many Teleostei it is a hinge for the skull articulation with the circumorbital ring. Siluridae have a posterior toothed process that secures the nuchal disc. Also called postparietal or dermal supraoccipital.

parity = the number of times a female has produced young (0 = none, 3 = three times but does not indicate number of young).

parlour trap = a trap with one or more funnels which lead into a central area, the parlour, where the fish are retained as they cannot find the narrow end of the funnel to exit. The trap may be baited.

paronym = in nomenclature, a name related etymologically to another name but spelled differently.

parotic process = a posterior lateral process of the skull formed by the pterotic and opisthotic.

-parous (suffix) = producing.

parr = a young salmonid (salmon or trout) with parr-marks before migration to the sea and after dispersal from the redd.

parr mark = one of the large dark bars or blotches found along the sides of certain young salmonids.

pars sustentaculum = fused anterior second, third and fourth vertebrae in e.g., Ictalurus punctatus, which supports the pars auditum, q.v.

parsauditum = a chain of ossicles on each side of the pars sustentaculum connecting the swimbladder to the inner ear in the Weberian apparatus, q.v.

pars inferior = part of the internal ear of fishes comprising two sac-like structures, the sacculus and lagena, both q.v. These function principally in sound reception. The endolymphatic duct rises upwards from from the sacculus and, in Myxini ends blindly in a cartilaginous capsule, in cartilaginous fishes opens to the outside via a narrow aperture, in chondrosteans and Clupeidae is open in young but ends near the endolymphatic sac in adults, and in most teleosts is absent or short without an external opening, terminating in the endolymphatic sinus.

pars superior = part of the internal ear of fishes comprising three semicircular canals, q.v., and the sac-like utriculus, q.v. Function is mainly in motion detection but may have some sound reception. Connected to the pars inferior by a short utriculus-sacculus canal in gobies and many cyprinids.

parsimony = in phylogenetic systematics, the principle that the phylogeny requiring the least number of character changes is most likely correct (simpler is better). Use of many characters may swamp reversals and convergences as these are relatively rare and this is another form of parsimony.

part. = abbreviation for partim.

parthenogenesis = production of eggs without genetic recombination or a reduction in ploidy. The eggs develop without sperm and are clones of the female parent, e.g. in captive hammerhead and white-spotted bamboo sharks.

partial recruitment = the degree to which a year class has joined the fishable stock. When a year class is young, only some of its fish are big enough to be caught, so it is partly but not fully recruited. Very young fish are not caught at all and have a partial recruitment of zero; when a year class is half as vulnerable to fishing as it will be when fully recruited, its partial recruitment is 0.5 or 50%.

partial spawner = fish that spawn over a long time span, having eggs at various stages of development in the ovaries.

partially suppressed name = the older of two objective synonyms which is suppressed for the Principle of Priority (q.v.) alone, without also being suppressed for the Principle of Homonymy (q.v.).

particle = a small bait used in angling, e.g. hemp seed, pellets, maggots, casters, beans, peas or nuts.

particle glue = in European angling, a tasteless, odourless and colourless glue used to attach large numbers of small baits like hemp to a hook.

particle size = size ranges for sediments. The Wentworth-Udden scale is an international standard as follows:-

Size Range	Particle Name
>256 mm	boulder
64-256 mm	cobble
4-64 mm	pebble
2-4 mm	gravel, granule
1/16-2 mm	sand
1/256-1/16 mm	silt
<1/256 mm	clay

particulate feeding = catching each prey item individually, whether a zooplankter or a whole fish.

partim = in part, partly. May be used in citations to indicate scientific names used partly in one sense.

parts per million = "parts" by weight of a substance per million parts of water; used for pollution concentrations. 1.0 μg/mL water, 1.0 mg/L water, 1.0 mg/kg. Abbreviated as p.p.m.

parts per thousand = a chemical concentration used to express salinity. 1.0 mg/mL water, 1.0 g/L. Symbol ‰ or abbreviated as p.p.t.

parturition = the process of giving birth, e.g. said of male seahorses.

party = a collective noun (a noun that denotes a collection of persons or things regarded as a unit) for rainbowfish.

partyboat = a charter boat carrying more than six anglers and as many as 100. There is a per capita fee on a first-come, first-served basis.

parurohyal = a bone lying medially behind the ventral hypohyals and connected to them by two ligaments, e.g. in Heteropneustidae.

paso = looping (the local name of a fishing technique in Nepal, used for migratory fish such as Schizothorax and Labeo species (Cyprinidae). A nylon line with 3-5 loops is placed in a river with a coloured lead weight acting as bait. Fish, shrimps and aquatic insect larvae may also be used as bait. The fish is attracted by the bait, swims into the loop and becomes stuck by its dorsal and pectoral fins).

pass = fish passage facility.

passage = 1) the movement of migratory fish through, around, or over dams, reservoirs and other obstructions in a stream or river.

passage = 2) a leg of a voyage, which is an extended offshore trip that involves a return to the point of origin.

passage centre = a centre that plans and implements an annual smolt monitoring program, developing and implementing flow and spill requests; and monitoring and analyzing research results to assist in implementing a water budget.

passage efficiency = the proportion of juvenile fish passing a project through the spillway, sluiceway, or juvenile bypass system, as opposed to passing through the turbines.

passage facility = a feature of a dam that enables fish to move around, through, or over without harm. Generally an upstream fish ladder or a downstream bypass system.

passenger = a person carried seasonally by water to participate in the fishing enterprise in Newfoundland.

passim = here and there.

passing by prey = food for those fishes that lie in wait for prey that swims by.

passive gear = fishing equipment that is left to catch fish and is not actively moved through the water or attended.

Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags = an integrated microchip about 11 mm long that is programmed to include specific fish information and inserted into the body cavity of the fish and decoded at selected monitoring sites. Used for identifying individual fish for monitoring and research purposes. The tag is activated by passing a hand-held scanner over the fish.

passway = fish passage facilities.

paste = 1) fish mixed with salt and ground to a fine consistency with or without added fat, spices and other seasonings. Should contain 70% or more fish. Used as a sandwich spread.

paste = 2) a bait used in Europe in angling, such as cheese mixed with a bread base.

pasteurellosis = an acute systemic bacterial disease caused by Pasteurella piscicida in marine fishes.

pasteurised = fish packed in airtight containers and preserved by heating at below 100°C for a limited time and stored chilled.

pasteurized caviar = caviar sealed in jars and then immersed in a water bath at about 60°C. The jars are labeled in traditional colors: sevruga (red), oscietre (yellow), beluga (blue). Pasteurised eggs may be firmer and will keep unrefrigerated for up to one year but, once opened, need to be consumed within a few days.

patch = a term describing small teeth grouped together rather than isolated.

patch reef = a section of coral reef inshore of the main reef. Usually of less than 70 m depth and unattached to a major reef structure.

patchiness = unevenly distributed in a given area. Also called patchy distribution.

patchy distribution = unevenly distributed in a given area. Also called patchiness.

patent anchor = a type of folding anchor.

paternoster rig = a fishing rig where the hooklength branches from the mainline. Various styles exist and may have rigid wire branches with several hooklengths. St. Peter is supposed to have used a paternoster ("our father") rig to catch fish, hence the name.

patey = patie.

patie = a club for killing salmon (Scottish dialect, apparently from priest, q.v., and a jocular association with Pat or Patrick, a typical name for an Irishman). Also spelled paitie, patey, peatie and pettie.

patis = the free liquid extracted during fermentation of bagoong (q.v.) and used as a sauce (Philippines).

patriarch/matriarch family = the condition in Cichlidae where the male defends a large territory, which includes multiple spawning sites of several females. Each female assumes the responsibility of her own brood. The male is polygamous, and clear sexual dimorphism is present. This form takes place among cavity brooders. Also called male-with-harem family.

patriarchal family = the condition where no bond is formed between the parents, known only in the cichlid Sarotherodon melanotheron. The male carries the eggs and the fry, and there is no sexual dimorphism or dichromatism.

patrick = a fisherman or fisherman's servant of Irish extraction (Newfoundland).

patronym (adj. patronymic) = a taxonomic name derived from the name of a male person. Often used to honour a scientist or collector. Not the author or describer of the taxon. See also matronym.

patronymic = adjective for patronym.

patronymotype = a joke name for the type specimen of a new species that the owner/collector will donate to a museum if the new species is named after him/her.

pattern = 1) the way in which fishing operations are conducted.

pattern = 2) distribution of fishing mortality among age groups.

pattern = 3) in angling, any location, rig or presentation situation that can be duplicated elsewhere in the body of water being fished.

pattern = 4) the specific arrangement of fly-tying materials when tying a particular fly.

Patterson's Rule = instances of fossils overturning theories of relationship based on Recent organisms are very rare, and may be non-existent (Grande, 2000).

pauciglomerular = with few glomeruli in the kidney.

paupiette = a stuffed roll of fish fillet.

pavé  = supreme cut (a slice cut off a fillet, often at a slant. Pavé (slab or block) is a term usually used for cakes and desserts).

pavement teeth = the series of rows of flat teeth found in rays and skates, and some sharks (Hexanchus, Heterodontus, Mustelus), used for crushing such hard foods as molluscs and crustaceans. Also called mosaic teeth.

pawl = the clicking drag mechanism in a fly reel.

pay lake = a lake where a fee is charged for fishing.

payaos = a bamboo and palm fronds raft found in southeast Asia, particularly the Philippine. The raft attracts pelagic fish seeking shelter and food. Fishermen use handlines to catch the fish, even tuna. Modern gear can be made of stainless steel, involve fish lights and sonar gear, and be used with gill nets, pump fishing equipment and purse seines, leading to overfishing.

paying away = laying out (paying out a line or net. Also called setting).

paying out = paying away.

payusnaya = caviar pressed into cakes that last for months and can be sliced like cheese (from the Russian "to shave").

pb = abbreviation for personal best, the largest fish of a particular species caught by an angler. Seen particularly in British fishing magazines.

pea = a fish egg (usually used in the plural).

pea gravel = small rocks less than half an inch (1.25 cm) in diameter often favoured as spawning areas by such fishes as basses (Centrarchidae).

peak period = a highly active part of the annual life cycle of a fish when anglers most easily make catches.

peal = a salmon of the first season, a grilse, or by extension any young salmon (British dialect).

peal stream = a salmon stream.

pearl essence = a nacreous pigment containing guanine crystals derived from scales, e.g. from herrings, used to produce sparkle in metallic paints, lip gloss and iridescent eye shadow and used in simulated pearls and plastics. Guanine crystals are rhombic platelets composed of multiple, transparent layers but they have a high index of refraction that partially reflects and transmits light from layer to layer thus producing a pearly luster. It is usually a liquid suspension of the guanine crystals that can be applied by spray, painting or dipping. Also called essence d'Orient.

pearl organ = see preferred term: tubercle, breeding. The term pearl organ has been applied vaguely and is not apt since the structure is often not pearl colored (usually small, raised, epidermal structures on regions of the head, body, or fin rays where two individuals come in contact. May consist of aggregations of non-keratinized epidermal cells, the same with a light, superficial keratinized cuticle, or with substantial number of fully keratinized cells that are organized to form a discrete, usually conical cap. Breeding tubercles may function to maintain body contact between the sexes during spawning; in the defence of nests and territories; in the stimulation of females in courtship; and in some forms perhaps in sex and species recognition. Also called nuptial tubercles. Found in 15 families of 4 orders; Salmoniformes, Gonorhynchiformes, Cypriniformes, and Perciformes (Wiley and Collette, 1970)).

pearl sharkskin = a shagreen or sharkskin leather made from a Japanese ray and used for trim on pocketbooks. Also called galuchat leather.

pearl thorn = a thorn resembling half a pearl in colour and shape in Chondrichthyes.

pearl tubercle = see pearl organ.

pearlescent = coloured like the surface of a pearl.

peat-diver = peat-spawner.

peat-spawner = killifishes (Cyprinodontidae) that deposit their eggs within a substrate. In aquaria this substrate is boiled peat moss. The fish are removed after spawning, and the peat can be removed, placed in a plastic container and wetted after the appropriate diapause, q.v., for hatching.

peatie = patie.

pebble = small and rounded rock fragments 2 or 4-64 mm in diameter (sources differ).

peck = a heading knife used by fishermen (Kentish dialect).

pectinate = comb-like.

pectinate scale = a scale with a comb-like posterior edge as in Brevoortia (Clupeidae).

pectiniform = pectinate.

pectoral = pertaining to the pectoral fin, its skeleton, or the adjacent region.

pectoral fin = the paired fin borne by the pectoral girdle, usually just behind the gill opening or slightly dorsal or ventral to this position. Also called omopterygium or homopterygium. This fin is generally larger than the pelvic fin and less variable in position and structure. The pectoral is low on the body in more primitive bony fishes and higher in more advanced ones. It functions to steer, brake and propel the fish. Pectoral fin ray counts include all the rays branched and unbranched. The length is measured from the origin (upper or outer part of base) to the distal tip of the fin. Abbreviated as P, P1 or P₁.

pectoral fin abductores = muscles originating on the medial surface of the scapula and coracoid and inserting on the medial surface of the radials.

pectoral fin adductores = muscles originating on the scapula and coracoid and inserting on the radials and base of the lepidotrichia.

pectoral fin rotatores = muscle fibres on the leading and trailing edges of the pectoral fin, continuations of the abductores and adductores.

pectoral girdle = the bony support of the pectoral fin behind the gills and usually attached to the posterior part of the skull; the "shoulder" girdle. Composed of the following basic elements (some of which may be lost): coracoid, scapula, pterygials, postcleithrum, cleithrum (main bone), supracleithrum and posttemporal. The "primary" pectoral girdle includes actinosts, scapula, coracoid, and sometimes mesocoracoid cartilage or endochondral bones and supports the fins directly. The "secondary" (and more primitive) pectoral girdle encloses the dermal post-temporal, supracleithrum, cleithrum, and two postcleithra, which are membrane bones and is only indirectly related to the fins. Also called scapular girdle, shoulder girdle.

pectoral photophore = old name for the PVO photophores in Myctophidae.

pectoral propterygium = the outer or anteriormost basal cartilage in the paired fins.

pectoral radial = on of the bony or cartilaginous supports for the pectoral fin.

pectoral ring = one of the dermal plates in members of the Syngnathidae forming a series of rings enclosing the body; the first trunk ring, just behind the head.

ped = a wicker basket or hamper in which fish such as plaice or herring were offered for sale or hawked around the country (English dialect).

pedah = salted Scomber spp., ripened by fermentation (Thailand).

peddle = paidle.

pedicel = a stalk-like supporting structure. Also called pedicle or peduncle.

pedicle = pedicel.

pedlar = 1) an entrepreneur and vessel owner who purchases fish from fishermen in exchange for cash or supplies, operating outside the established system (Newfoundland).

pedlar = 2) a vessel engaged in collecting fish from fishermen and in carrying supplies (Newfoundland).

peduncle = 1) caudal peduncle, pedicel (the wrist-like portion of the posterior part of the body between the end of the anal fin and the base of the caudal fin. Its length is measured between the insertion of the anal fin and the caudal flexure (the fold shown by the hind edge of the hypural plates when the caudal fin is flexed). Depth is measured vertically at the narrowest point).

peduncle = 2) pedicel.

peduncle disease = coldwater disease (a bacterial disease of juvenile and yolk-sac fry of salmonids caused by Cytophaga psychrophila (or Flexibacter psychrophilus). It occurs at temperatures below 10°C and is an external and systemic disease with lesions on the fins skin and muscles, often concentrated on the caudal peduncle. Survivors may lose the caudal fin. Severe outbreaks leave fish lethargic and spinal deformities develop, or some fish may show spiral swimming, dorsal swelling and dark pigmentation on one side of the body; mortality is common. Also called low temperature disease).

peduncular plate(s) = the bony plate(s) on the caudal peduncle of some Acanthuridae which become sharply keeled forming a defensive weapon, e.g. in Prionurinae and Nasinae (in Acanthurinae there is a posteriorly hinged erectile sharp spine in a groove).

peel = 1) a flexible mold formed by applying a thin layer of the molding material (usually a plastic compound) to an object such as a fish fossil. The peel can then be studied or sent to a researcher without the need to examine the original fossil.

peel = 2) peal.

peel stream = peal stream.

peg = 1) a swim for match fishing, i.e. a section of river, canal or lake bank is split evenly into sections for an angling contest with numbered pegs. Anglers pick a peg number at random and are only allowed to fish within the limits of the peg.

peg = 2) to throw a fly in angling (British dialect).

peg board = a piece of wood with numbered holes once used to record the weight of fish catches. Pegs were placed in the appropriate hole and catches were usually recorded as quintals.

peg-down = used in reference to a fishing competition which uses pegs to mark fishing spots for the competitors, e.g. anglers will fish a peg-down match.

pegging = use of a slip sinker and worm bait with a peg to prevent the sinker sliding up the line.

pelagic = oceanic or lacustrine waters occurring above the bottom; non-benthic. See also epipelagic and bathypelagic, holopelagic and mesopelagic.

pelagic egg = an egg which floats above the bottom.

pelagic fish = fish living in the open ocean or lake water at or near the surface and, in the sea, often undergoing lengthy migrations, e.g. tunas, sharks.

pelagic fishery = a fishery targeting pelagic species.

pelagic seine = a seine net fished almost vertically in deep water.

pelagic trawl = a net shaped like a bag which is dragged through open waters above the bottom. Lacks chafe protection gear, bobbins, discs and rollers.

pelagophil = 1) a reproductive guild (q.v.) of a pelagic spawner with numerous buoyant eggs, not guarded, none or poorly-developed embryonic respiratory organs, little pigment and no photophobia, e.g. Anguilla anguilla, Platichthys flesus.

pelagophil = 2) a reproductive guild (q.v.) of a pelagic spawner with buoyant eggs guarded at the surface of hypoxic waters and having extensive embryonic respiratory structures, e.g. Anabas testudineus.

pelagophil = 3) favouring surface waters for feeding, reproduction, schooling, etc.

peld = pelit.

pelek = the membrane of the roe of a fish (Scottish dialect). Also spelled paellik, paellick, pyalick, pyaelick, peyailack, pjelek and pilek.

pelit = fish not treated, e.g. as by drying, and bulk packed (Scottish dialect).

pellet = 1) a food particle compounded with all the essential nutrients needed for aquaculture species, shaped into a standard form and stored frozen or dried. It must retain its shape for some time and not disintegrate in water but be easily digestible.

pellet = 2) animal feed, typically trout pellets, fished on a hair rig, used as loose feed or crushed and used as a paste.

pellet = 3) pallet.

pellicle = a glossy film on the cut surface of a fish during dripping due to swelling of protein under the influence of brine and subsequent surface drying in the smoking kiln.

pellock = a wooden vessel for carrying bait for fishing lines (Cumberland dialect).

pellucid = transparent.

pelometoxin = a little used synonym for scombrotoxin (the poison in scombrotoxic fishes, believed to consist of histamine, saurine and possibly other toxic by-products resulting from bacterial action on histidine, a normal muscle constituent of dark-meat fishes).

pelvic = relating to the pelvic fins or girdle.

pelvic bone = 1) innominate bone (the pelvic fin bone in Gasterosteidae, sometimes a misnomer for the ectocoracoid. Also called pelvic plate, posterior process, pubic bone and medial plate).

pelvic bone = 2) the ventral element in the priapium of the Phallostethidae on which articulate the ctenactinia (q.v.). Also called aproctal bone.

pelvic fin = the paired fin which is located posterior, ventral or anterior to the pectoral fins (abdominal, thoracic or jugular in position). Also called ischiopterygium. It functions to steer, brake and propel the fish and acts as a keel. In the pelvic fin ray count usually all the rays are counted except a small ray preceding the first ray and usually bound so closely to it so as to require dissection to be seen. In some fishes with reduced pelvics, the spine and the first ray may be bound together by a membrane and appear as one; both are counted, e.g. in Cottidae. Abbreviated as P2, P₂ or V.

pelvic fin abductores = muscles originating on the outer surface of the pelvic plates and inserting on the outer surface of the fin radials.

pelvic fin adductores = muscles originating on the medial surface of the pelvic plates and inserting on the medial surface of the radials.

pelvic girdle = the skeletal support of the pelvic fins. May be free, or may attach anteriorly to the pectoral girdle. Consists of paired bones, the basipterygia. Absent in some species, the apodal fishes.

pelvic plate = innominate bone (the pelvic fin bone in Gasterosteidae, sometimes a misnomer for the ectocoracoid. Also called pelvic bone, posterior process, pubic bone and medial plate).

pelvic terminus = a small spinous knob at the end of the long pelvic girdle of Balistidae.

pen = 1) an enclosure in the water for aquaculture made of netting on a frame; it serves to keep desired fish in and unwanted species out.

pen = 2) a place in the hold of a ship where fish are kept while fishing or transporting the catch or where fish are iced or salted.

pen = 3) pan (2).

pen board = one of a series of boards in the hold of a ship that prevent fish movement.

pen culture = cage culture on a large scale (rearing of fish in cages, on the bottom or floating. Cages may be made of wire or netting).

pencil float = a large, slim balsa or hollow plastic float used in fishing live or dead baits for pike (Esox lucius) or zander (Sander lucioperca) in Europe. Attached by the bottom only and used in still or slow waters.

pendle = in Cichlidae the behaviour where two fish face each other, advancing and retreating in turn.

pendulum feeder = demand feeder (a device allowing measured amounts of food to be delivered when triggered by fish in aquaculture, operating on a pendulum).

penis = male copulatory organ, e.g. in Bythitidae, although intromittent organ is to be preferred.

pennant = a handling wire connecting warp to bridle and allowing the bridle to by-pass the otter board of a trawl.

penner = a trunk or box for keeping fish alive (Sussex dialect).

pennyman = pannier man.

penstock = a gate or sluice used to control water flow.

penultimate = the one before the last; the second from the end.

pep = pip.

pepper fish = not a fish but a cultivar of the chili pepper plant Capsicum annuum. The fruit resembles a swimming fish because of its variegation.

peppered = used to describe a pigment pattern of dark stippling.

pepple = to come up suddenly to the surface as a fish does to take a fly (Lancashire dialect).

pepsin digestibility = a measure of the nutritional availability of protein in fish meal, determined by the amount of protein digested by pepsin under controlled conditions.

per- (prefix) = through.

per capita consumption = the amount of fish eaten per person in a given area or country, usually on an annual basis.

perch = 1) a member of the family Percidae, more specifically Perca fluviatilis in Eurasia and P. flavescens in North America.

perch = 2) an old English measure of distance, also called a rod or pole, equivalent to 5.5 yards (5.03 metres), sometimes encountered in older scientific literature.

perch punch = bait made of chopped worm and some liquid flavouring frozen with small rocks in a convenient container. Removed from the container, they can be thrown into a fishing area to slowly melt and attract perch and trout. Used in Europe.

perched culvert = a culvert whose outlet is too high to allow passage of fish.

perennial = said of a stream with continual flow. Opposite of intermittent, q.v. Also said of lakes of other water bodies with water year round.

perfect loop knot = a knot used by anglers to connect lures or flies to a heavy leader; does not affect the action of the lure or fly. Various websites have animated steps showing how to tie this knot. Also called perfection loop knot.

perfect name = nomen perfectum (a perfect name, an available name which when originally published met all mandatory requirements of the Code and needed no correction of any kind, but which is validly alterable by change of ending).

perfection loop knot = perfect loop knot.

perforate = pierced.

peri- (prefix) = near, around, enclosing.

perianal = near or surrounding the anus; peritroct.

perianal organ = an organ near or surrounding the anus, e.g. in the Chlorophthalmidae.

periblast = a thin membrane in Teleostei lying below the embryo and surrounding the yolk. An old term for the yolk syncytial layer.

peribranchial chamber = the chamber exterior to the branchial bars and which communicates with the outside by an atrial pore in Amphioxi.

pericardial cavity = the coelomic cavity containing the heart.

pericardial sac = parietal pericardium.

pericardium = a coelomic chamber around the heart.

perichondral bone = formed from an ossification starting at the perichondrium of a cartilage and rapidly extending internally. Also called chondral or endochondral bones.

perichondria = plural of perichondrium.

perichondrium (plural perichondria) = a sheath of connective tissue covering a cartilage.

periderm = specialised, impermeable epithelial cells covering the entire embryo after epiboly ends and representing the sole derivative of the enveloping layer.

perigean range = the average semi-diurnal range occurring at the time of perigean tides; larger than the mean range where the type of tide is either semi-diurnal or mixed and of no practical significance when the tide is diurnal.

perigean tidal current = a tidal current of increased velocity occurring monthly as a result of the moon being in perigee (nearest earth).

perigean tide = a tide of increased range occurring monthly as the result of the moon being in perigee (nearest earth).

periglacial = areas, objects or processes near the edge of a glacier.

perinasal groove = a cleft or groove around the nasal opening in Chondrichthyes. Also called cirumnarial fold or groove.

period of catchability = the time when a given species is permitted to be caught.

periodic parasite = parasitic for part of its life cycle.

periodical = a publication issued at intervals; a serial.

periosteum = a sheath of connective tissue covering a bone.

peripatric speciation = populations isolated at the periphery of a species range may diverge morphologically and/or ecologically, eventually forming distinct species.

peripharyngeal groove = a ciliated groove around the inside of the pharynx connecting the hyperpharyngeal and hypopharyngeal grooves.

peripheral = the division of fishes that occurs in freshwater but which is very tolerant to salt water, e.g. Petromyzontidae, Acipenseridae, Anguillidae, Gobiidae.

peripheral isolation = the process that allows peripatric speciation, q.v.

peripheral nervous system = nervous structures such as ganglia outside the central nervous system.

periphyton = plants and animals adhering to parts of rooted aquatic plants.

periphyton collector = a fish that combs algae from plants without eating or damaging the plants.

periphytonophagy = feeding on periphyton.

perissopterygia = plural of perissopterygium.

perissopterygium (plural perissopterygia) = median fin (one of those fins located on the sagittal plane of the body, the dorsal, caudal and anal fins).

peristaltic pump = a dosing pump for aquaria which works by using rollers to squeeze flexible tubing.

peritonea = plural of peritoneum.

peritoneal canal = a canal permitting the sperm to leave the body cavity in certain Teleostei.

peritoneal cavity = the coelomic cavity containing the viscera.

peritoneal membrane = peritoneum.

peritoneum (plural peritonea) = a membrane covering the body cavity (coelomic cavity) including the viscera. Often its color, light, speckled or black is of taxonomic significance. There are visceral and parietal peritonea, q.v. A black peritoneum may prevent luminescent prey from lighting up the stomach of deepsea fish, leaving them apparent to even larger predators.

peritroct = the area surrounding the anus; perianal region.

perivisceral cavity = coelom; the main body cavity.

perivitelline space = the fluid-filled space between the embryo and chorion of an egg. The width varies between fish groups and so can be used in identification.

permanent collection = specimens owned by a museum.

permanent current = a continuously running current independent of tides such as a river and the ocean currents.

permanent parasite = parasitic for its entire life cycle.

Permian = a geological period of the Palaeozoic ca. 290-245 million year ago. Abbreviated as P.

permit = a permit is a document giving the holder the right to operate in a fishery according to the terms established by the regulating authority. Also called a license.

permit stacking = cumulative limit stacking (the association of cumulative limits with permits rather than vessels. A vessel with multiple limited entry permits can harvest multiple cumulative limits. Also called permit stacking).

pers. comm. = personal communication. Used to document information received from another, as in a scientific paper.

pers. obs. = personal observation. Used to document information seen by the writer, as in a scientific paper.

persistence = the tendency of a population to continue to exist in the long term, despite short-term fluctuations.

personal best = the largest fish of a particular species caught by an angler. Abbreviated as pb, particularly in British fishing magazines.

personal communication = unpublished information communicated to the author verbally, or in personal correspondence. Abbreviated pers. comm.

personal flotation device = a life jacket or life vest used to support a person in the water and prevent drowning. Abbreviated as PFD.

personal observation = information or data obtained by the actions of the author. Abbreviated pers. obs.

pescaphile = presumably similar to pescophile; a name for a registered user on Flyfishing Forum web site.

pescatarian = a person who eats fish but not meat.

pescavore = a person who eats fish but not meat.

pesco-vegetarian = a person who eats fish but not meat.

pescophile = lover of fish (Time, Canadian Edition, 2 December 2002, 160(23):75). Not in any dictionary at this date! (and only 3 Google hits as of 24 May 2005; but more all the time).

pessoner = a fishmonger (archaic).

pet fish = an aquarium or pond fish kept as a pet, rather than for food or for scientific study.

peter man = a fisherman (archaic), presumably from St. Peter in the Bible. Used in England for those unlawfully fishing in the Thames River (archaic).

peter-boat = a fishing boat with a sharp bow and stern for quick handling; from peter man.

Peterson method (of aging) = the calculation of age by the size distribution of a population.

Petersen tag = a tag composed of two plastic discs fastened by a pin through the back muscles of a fish.

petfish = pet fish.

petite = bite (a small piece of fish breaded or coated with batter, weighing less than 1 oz. Of various shapes such as round, square, or irregular. May be cut from regular blocks or blocks of minced fish. Generally sold by count, 25-35 per lb. Also called cubes, nuggets, and tidbits).

petrosal = the old term applied to otic bones, the pterotic.

pettie = patie.

pew (noun) = 1) fish fork with a long stick handle and a sharp prong or tine affixed to its end. Used to prong fish from the boat onto the fishing stage in Newfoundland.

pew (verb) = 2) the process of using a pew.

pewer = the person who handles the pew.

peyailack = 1) pelek.

peyailack = 2) the roe entire (Shetlands and Orkneys dialect).

pezac = a pilchard with a broken back; hence pezzacky meaning offish, poorly, sickly (Cornish dialect).

pezzack= pezac.

PFD = personal flotation device.

Pfiesteria = a toxic dinoflagellate, Pfiesteria piscicida, implicated in lesions on fish and in major fish kills both in aquaculture and the wild. Warm water, high nutrient levels and low dissolved oxygen levels appear to favour the development of this dinoflagellate which becomes toxic in the presence of fish schools. The trigger for toxicity may be fish secretions or faeces. This toxicity is controversial and still under investigation.

pH = a measure of how acidic or alkaline a solution is, i.e. the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution (log to base 10 of the reciprocal of the hydrogen ion concentration). pH 7.0 is neutral, lower values are acidic and higher values are alkaline. Acid rain decreases the natural pH of rivers and lakes. Some fish require a specific pH, others will live at wide range of values: the general range for fish is 6-9. The internal pH of a fish falls after death but rises as amines are formed during spoilage.

pH controller = a device used to control the pH of the aquarium through the addition of carbon dioxide to the system.

phaenotype = phenotype.

-phagous (suffix) = feeding on, eating.

phantom nomen = a scientific name accidentally published in an amateur publication without a proper description.

phantom reference = a reference cited in a published work as in preparation or in press but which is never subsequently published.

phantom taxonomy = a name for the trend to include taxonomic information from phylogenetic studies in on-line appendices in order to save space. These risk rejection by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature or may simply be ignored.

phantom trawl = a form of pelagic or midwater trawl.

pharotaxis = moving towards a place in response to a learned or conditioned stimulus.

pharyngeal = pertaining to the region of the pharynx.

pharyngeal apophysis = the apophysis in Cichlidae that supports the upper pharyngeals comprised of elements of the parasphenoid, basioccipital and prootic or only the parasphenoid. Probably of little value in assessing relationships.

pharyngeal arch = a segment of the lateral wall of the pharynx that will form jaw and gill structures. The anterior two arches form jaw structures and the following 5 arches form gill structures. Each arch is separated from its neighbours by an endodermal outpocketing or pharyngeal pouch which meets an ectodermal inpocketing or pharyngeal cleft. Between the second and last arches the gill slits develop during the hatching period.

pharyngeal bar = branchial bar (the vascularized cartilaginous bars serving as gills in Amphioxi).

pharyngeal jaw = fused left and right fifth ceratobranchial bones, e.g. in Cichlidae, Embiotocidae, Labridae and Pomacentridae. The suture may leave no trace and have teeth over the symphysis.

pharyngeal mill = molar teeth in the pharyngeal region used to crush shellfish, e.g. in Sparidae; in Poeciliidae the roof plates in the throat are on pharyngobranchials 2-4 and the floor plates are on ceratabranchials 4 and/or 5.

pharyngeal organ = diverticulum pharyngealis (epibranchial organ (a paired dorsal diverticulum at the posterior limit of the pharynx in certain microphagous fishes. Also called gill-helix, pharyngeal organ, or pharyngeal pocket. In all forms with these organs, except some characids, prominent gill rakers extend into the organ dividing its cavity into two parts, one confluent with the pharynx, and one with the opercular cavity. Small food particles, generally plankton, are retained by the rakers, consolidated by mucus and squeezed out into the oesophagus. Found in Heterotidae, Characidae, Chanoidei, Gonorhynchoidei, Clupeidae and Engraulidae)).

pharyngeal pad = the covering of the pharyngeal process against which the pharyngeal teeth grind food.

pharyngeal pocket = an outpocketing of the gill cavity in certain teleosts (having different origin). Functioning as accessory digestive, sensory (?) organs, e.g. Dorosoma (Clupeidae), Ophiocephalidae, Heterotis (Osteoglossidae), Anabantidae.

pharyngeal process = a large posterior expansion of the basioccipital above the pharyngeal tooth plates of the fifth certaobranchilas in Cyprinidae and related fishes.

pharyngeal sac = the paired toothed pockets projecting laterally from the gullet immediately behind the last gill arch in most Stromateoidei.

pharyngeal teeth = teeth on the pharyngeal bones. May be placed in a dorsal and ventral pair, as in most teleost fishes, or in laterally opposing pairs, one set on each side, as in Cyprinidae and Catostomidae. The upper pharyngeal teeth are located on a dentigerous plate on the fourth pharyngobranchials and the lower pharyngeal teeth on the dentigerous plate on the fifth ceratobranchials. The pharyngeal teeth of minnows and suckers are processes on the dentigerous plate of the fifth ceratobranchials and are thus homologous to the lower pharyngeal teeth of other fishes; these oppose a prominent horny pad which rests on a projection from the basioccipital.

pharyngeal tooth count (or tooth formula) = pharyngeal tooth counts (of Cyprinidae) are presented in a formula from the outer to the inner rows of the left arch, then the inner to the outer rows of the right arch, e.g. 2,5-4,2 means 2 teeth in the outer and 5 teeth in the inner row of the left arch and 4 teeth in the inner and 2 teeth in the outer row of the right arch. If variation in the outer row occurs it may be written as 1 or 2, 5-4, 2 or 1; or as 2,5-4,2 or 1,5-4,1. Periods and colons are sometimes used to separate the inner and outer rows; 1.4-4.1; 1:4-4:1. The third row, if present, is placed at the beginning and end of the formula 1,3,4-4,2,1. There may be no teeth in outer rows, e.g. 5-4. As there is only one row on pharyngeal arches of Catostomidae usually the count of only the left arch is given.

pharyngobranchial = the deep, endochondral bone at the top of the gill arch. May bear the upper pharyngeal and a dentigerous plate. May occur on arches 1, 2, 3, 4. Also called super-pharyngeals or superior pharyngeals. Suprapharyngobranchials are never associated with teeth while infrapharyngobranchials may be associated with dermal plates bearing teeth.

pharyngognathus = having lower pharyngeals united.

pharyngula = an embryo that has developed to the phylotypic stage.

pharynx = the portion of the intestine between the mouth and the oesophagus, or the oral cavity posterior to the mouth if it is distinguished and the oesophabus

phase type = an unofficial term in nomenclature for a type showing a different phase from the holotype, e.g. different sex.

phena = plural of phenon. 

phenetics = classification based on grouping by overall similarity, not recency of common descent.

phenology = the study of the timing of recurring biological phases, the causes of their timing with regard to biotic and abiotic forces, and the interrelation among phases of the same or different species.

phenols = chemicals in wood smoke used in smoking fish, mainly responsible for retarding bacterial activity.

phenome = the phenotype as a whole, not as manifested by a specific genotype.

phenon (plural phena) = a group of phenotypically similar organisms (the numerical taxonomy equivalent of taxon; may be a taxon).

phenotype = the observable structural and functional properties of an organism, produced by the interaction between the genotype and the environment.

phenotypic = adjective for phenotype.

pheromone = a chemical secreted by an organism which affects the behaviour of others of the same species.

philopatry = the tendency of an individual to stay in its birth site, home area or other locality, or to return to such areas. This condition is opposed to dispersal or roaming behaviour; both are found in fishes.

-philous (suffix) = loving or thriving in.

phinnick = finnock (immature sea trout, Salmo trutta (Scottish dialect). Also spelled finnack, finneck, finnoch, and phinnock).

phinnock = finnock (immature sea trout, Salmo trutta (Scottish dialect). Also spelled finnack, finneck, finnoch) and phinnick).

phish = pronounced fish, an American rock band founded in Vermont playing an eclectic mix of rock, jazz, bluegrass, heavy metal, blues, progressive rock, acoustic, and classical.

phishing = pronounced fishing; identity theft by false representation in an email which requests personal information. While many people ignore this, some people take the bait as fish do in real fishing.

-phobic (suffix) = intolerant of, lacking affinity for.

phoneses = a temporary attachment of one animal to a faster one, e.g. in remora fishing (a captured remora is released from a boat with a line attached through its tail or to a ring through the tail. The remora then attaches to a turtle or shark which can be pulled to the boat) (von Brandt, 1964).

phosphorescent organ = an obsolete term for photophore, q.v. The basis for light production is not phosphorescence so this is a misnomer.

photic zone = surface waters where there is enough light for photosynthesis.

photo-engraving glue = a glue made from fish skins, with an added preservative to prevent bacterial growth. Used as a coating on colour television picture tubes.

photocyte = light-producing cell.

photogenic = light producing.

photogenesis = light production.

photographotype = a phototype.

photoperiod = the length of sunlit portion of the day, which changes seasonally and latitudinally. Also refers to the lighting regime set up for an aquarium or for an experiment.

photophore = a light-producing organ. Light may be produced from compounds produced by the fish itself or from prey it has ingested, or by symbiotic bacteria. The organ may be simple or variously equipped with reflectors, lenses, shutters, etc., e.g. in Myctophidae, Gonostomatidae, Batrachoididae. Various abbreviations are used for light organs in descriptive works, e.g. AC, Ant, AO, AOa, Aop, BR, Dn, IC, IV, OA, OP, ORB, PLO, PO, Pol, Prc, PVO, SAO, So, SO, VAV, Vn and VO.

phototype = iconotype (an illustration on which a new species or subspecies was based). Iconotype is preferred. May be merely a photograph of the type.

phrase name = 1) a polynomial.

phrase name = 2) an element in a taxon label (q.v.).

phreatic = of or relating to ground water.

phreatic surface = water table (top of the zone of saturation).

phthitic = shrinkage and wastage of an organ.

PhyloCode = a phylogenetic Code of biological nomenclature. Principles and rules governing the naming of taxa and application of taxon names based on the principles of common descent.

phylogenetic definition = a statement explicitly linking a taxon name with a particular clade.

phylogenetic hypothesis = an hypothesis on the relationships of taxa based on a common ancestry.

phylogenetic specificity = closely related fish parasites which are found on phylogenetically related hosts. Compare physiological specificity.

phylogenetic system = in nomenclature, the principles and rules which cover the naming of taxa based on common ancestry.

phylogenetic systematics = the study of systematics aiming to infer the phylogeny of the organisms investigated. In a more restricted sense, the study of systematics using cladistics, q.v.

phylogenetic tree = a branching diagram or tree showing phylogeny with the minimal number of connections.

phylogeny = the evolutionary descent and interrelationships of a group of organisms; an evolutionary history.

phylogeography = relationships between gene genealogies (phylogenetics) and geography.

phylotypic stage = the stage at which an embryo develops characters defining it as a vertebrate or chordate such as the notochord, neural tube, pharyngeal arches, somites and postanal tail.

physiological specificity = fish parasites, not necessarily closely related, restricted to certain hosts by having similar physiological factors for development.

physoclist = a species having the the gas bladder closed, with no connection to the gut. There is supposedly a connection in larvae to allow for first inflation. Adult fish must secrete gases against a pressure gradient using a gas gland and rete mirabile. The gas gland secretes lactic acid into the blood, causing a decrease in pH which results in haemoglobin releasing oxygen which diffuses across the rete. An organ known as the oval body is the re-absorbent organ when the partial pressure of gases in the swim bladder is greater than that of the dissolved gases in the blood.

physoclistous = having the gas bladder closed, with no connection to the gut.

physostome = a species having the gas bladder connected by a tube to the gut.

physostomous = having the gas bladder connected by a tube to the gut.

phytobenthophagous = eating plant food from bottom sediments.

phytolithophil = a reproductive guild (q.v.) of a non-obligatory plant spawner characterised by adhesive eggs scattered on submerged objects, late hatching, cement glands in free embryos, showing photophobia, and moderately developed respiratory structures, e.g. Perca flavescens (Percidae).

phytophagy = plant eating; herbivorous.

phytophil = 1) a reproductive guild (q.v.) of an obligatory plant spawner characterised by an adhesive egg envelope sticking to submerged plants (both live and dead), by late hatching, cement glands, by not being phototactic, and by having very well developed embryonic respiratory structures, e.g. Cyprinus carpio.

phytophil = 2) a reproductive guild (q.v.) of adhesive eggs attaching to aquatic plants but tended by the adult. Extended embryonic period, free embryos without cement glands swim instantly, e.g. Pomoxis annularis (Centrarchidae).

phytophil = 3) a reproductive guild (q.v.) of adhesive eggs attaching to plants in a nest with the embryos hanging onto the plants by cement glands. Embryos have well-developed respiratory structures but are also fanned by the parents, e.g. Amia calva.

phytoplankton = plant plankton; minute, floating aquatic plants.

phytoplanktophagy = feeding on phytoplankton.

piabas = local term for aquarium fishes captured in the Amazon basin.

pick = 1) an unsuccessful oral grasp, q.v.

pick = 2) to separate male from female capelin (Mallotus villosus) in a fish-processing plant (Newfoundland).

pick = 3) a gaff used in sea fishing.

pick = 4) an eel spear.

pick = 5) a fisherman's heading knife.

pick-up = clems (fish and potatoes fried together (Cornish dialect)).

pick-up and lay-down = a fly fishing cast using only a single back cast followed by a forward cast onto the water.

picarooner = a small herring-fishing boat (Devon, England).

picker = 1) a young fish, such as a cod too small to swallow bait (Scottish dialect).

picker = 2) a person cleaning and preparing fish industrially.

pickerel = a common name used by anglers for walleye (Sander vitreus, Percidae) but strictly speaking the name for the smaller species of the pike family, Esocidae Pickerel is the Middle English for a small pike.

picket = a hook attached to the end of a small stick and used by fishermen in landing their fish (Northumberland dialect).

pickie = a wooden pole, furnished with a strong iron hook, used for striking fish into the boat (Shetlands and orkneys dialect).

pickle = 1) a mixture of brine and the body fluids of fish extracted by the brine. Also called brine pickle, brine liquor.

pickle = 2) to steep in pickle or brine.

pickle cured fish = fish treated with salt in a watertight container such that they are cured in the resulting pickle drawn out from the flesh by the salt.

pickle salted fish = pickle cured fish.

pickled fish = 1) fish that have been pickle cured.

pickled fish = 2) fish preserved in scientific collections, usually first fixed in formalin and later transferred to ethanol for long-term storage.

pickled grainy caviar = caviar immersed in a saturated salt brine pickle before packing.

pickled herring = 1) gutted herring, dry salted in barrels and allowed to cure in the resulting pickle.

pickled herring = 2) a buffoon (slang).

pickled salmon bellies = Pacific salmon ventral sections hard saltedin pickle. Also called salmon bellies.

pickled salted fish = pickle cured fish.

pickling = 1) making a pickle.

pickling = 2) buckling (a large fat herring, sometimes headed, lightly salted and hot smoked).

pico reef = a small marine aquarium of less than 3 gallons. Cheaper than larger setups but difficult to maintain and very restricted in the fishes it can support. The smallest version of the nano reef, q.v.

pie = a fish pie comprises minced fish baked with potatoes, and sometimes mixed with vegetables, in a pastry.

piebald = with two colours irregularly arranged, usually black and white.

pieces = individual fish.

pier = a narrow platform providing access from the shore to deeper water for landing or as a recreational facility. May be floating or fixed on pilings built out into the water but usually of open construction. Often used for fishing.

pier fishing = catching of fish from artificial structures raised out of the water on supports. These structures often form good habitat for fishes.

pier rat = a fisherman (mostly men) who spend inordinate amounts of time of large piers waiting for fish to bite, even sleeping there and developing their own customs.

piesmotype = an unofficial term in nomenclature for an illustration prepared from a plate with an imprint made mechanically from a merotype (q.v.).

pig catcher = madrague (a trap used for tuna in the Mediterranean Sea).

pigeon droppings = dried and powdered these are used in groundbaits in Europe especially for roach (Rutilus rutilus).

pike = Esox lucius, said to be the only fish that did not dive underwater at Christ's crucifixion. It lifted its head and saw this event which is recognisable on it's head, showing a cross, three nails and a sword.

pike bung = a large rounded float used to support a live or dead bait when fishing for pike (Esox lucius).

pike fly = a large artificial fly imitating a fish and used to catch pike.

pike fry rhabdovirus = a virus found in fry and fingerlings of northern pike (Esox lucius).

pike grey = a greyish colour like that of a pike.

pike pest = motile aeromonad septicaemia or bacterial haemorrhagic septicaemia (a bacterial infection with Aeromonas liquefaciens, Aeromonas hydrophila or Pseudomonas affecting fishes of all ages, usually in spring. Usually associated with stress and overcrowding. Haemorrhages occur in the skin, fins, mouth cavity and muscles. Exophthalmia and cavity ulcers may occur. Also called infectious dropsy, red pest, freshwater eel disease, and redmouth disease).

pike rod = a rod for pike fishing, about 3.7 m long with a test curve of 0.9-1.4 kg.

pike slider = a streamlined balsa or hollow plastic float with a hole through its length, sliding along the line until stopped at the desired distance from the bait by a bead and stop knot.

pike tube = a long mesh tube conforming to the shape of a pike and used to keep captured fish temporarily.

pikemonger = a person who sells pike and other freshwater fishes (obsolete).

pilchard = Sardina pilchardus, a member of the family Clupeidae and an important food fish. Many terms were associated with the fishery for this species, particularly in Cornwall in southwest England. These terms in Cornish dialect are now archaic. The season in Cornwall lasts from June until the following March, and is carried out by fishing boats, regulated by size. Traditional drift or ring nets with a species specific mesh size are fished for a few hours in the evening, icing the catch as it is caught, before landing later the same evening. See also sardine.

pile (noun) = 1) a stack of split and salted cod at various stages of the drying and curing process.

pile (noun) = 2) the motion of the water, caused by a fish when it rises to the surface (English dialect).

pile (noun) = 3) one of the heaps of sand used in the ancient Annan practice of casting the mell (q.v.) by which poke-net fishing rights in the Solway are allotted.

pile (verb) = 4) to place split and salted cod in a stack at various stages of the drying and curing process.

pile-builder = one who takes part in casting the mell (q.v.).

pileate (adjective) = having a cap.

pileus (noun) = a cap marking on the head.

pilger = an implement for catching eels; a three-pronged spear (British dialect).

pilik = pelek.

pilk = 1) jig (one to several bare hooks attached to a weighted line. The hook(s) may have a lead head (lead molded around the hook) and be dressed with, or have a skirt of, rubber, hair, silicone or plastic).

pilk = 2) to pull out of the water with a jerk.

pilk = 3) to remove a hook with a stick or disgorger.

pilk = 4) a gaff (q.v.).

pillow = polster.

pilly ground = a fishing term for alternate stretches of sand and rocks covered with sea-weed, under water (Cornish dialect).

piloting = swimming within the friction layer of a larger fish, thus reducing energy expenditure, e.g. from the pilotfish, Naucrates ductor.

pimple = wedge (a small, cut-out and lens-less portion of the pupil margin of the eye. This widens the field of vision and allows more light to enter the eye, rather than falling on the iris. Usually found antero-ventrally for improving forward vision. Found in a various species of salmonids and cyprinids, for example. Also called notch or notche. See also aphakic space).

pimple disease = knot disease (a disease characterised by small knots formed in the skin of fishes. Found in Cyprinus carpio and caused by the protozoan Myxobolus exiguus).

pin = to attach the snood of a fishing line to the main line (Scottish dialect).

pin bone = 1) a small, fine bone in the middle of fish fillets (intermuscular bones).

pin bone = 2) the rib bones remaining at the anterior end of a fillet from round white fish.

pin bone trimming = pieces cut out of a j-cut fillet (a cut made through a skinned fillet from the neck end of the fillet, dorsal to and along the line of the pin bones (q.v.) towards the last pin bone and then curving sharply down to the ventral edge of the belly flap (q.v.). Also called j-cuts.

pindang = un-gutted small fish or chunks of bigger fish, usually Scombridae, salted and boiled or steamed (Indonesia).

pine = 1) to dry or cure fish by exposure to the weather (Scottish dialect).

pine = 2) to shrink during curing (Scottish dialect).

pineal eye = median, eye-like structure on the top of the head in members of the Petromyzontidae, e.g., developing from the pineal organ.

pineal foramen = a small opening in the skull roof in the pineal plate of Placoderms and Agnatha and between the frontals in Osteichthyes - the "third eye".

pineal organ = the light sensitive dorsal evagination of the diencephalon part of the brain. See also epiphysial apparatus. This large and dark body lies to the right of the midline while its left side counterpart is the parapineal, not always present or reduced in some fishes. Secretes melatonin which is thought to be important in reproduction, migration and growth.

pineal shield = a set of bones covering the skull roof posterior to the intracranial joint in Crossopterygians.

pineapple disease = pinecone disease.

pinecone disease = dropsy (a swelling of the fish's body usually caused by bacterial infection, and also by viral infection, osmoregulatory problems, a flagellate protozoan (Hexamita), aggravated by poor environmental conditions. Serous fluid accumulates in any body cavity. Other symptoms are lethargy, gasping, increased respiration, colour loss, skin ulceration and exophthalmia. Also called vertical scale disease (and pinecone disease) because the scales stick out, and ascites).

pinger = a sound-emitting device. Attached to static nets to discourage dolphins and porpoises from their vicinity so that the mammals do not become entangled. Also called acoustic device.

pinhole camera eye = a teratological condition in which the size of the eye is reduced, the lens is absent and the pupil is very small, acting as a pinhole camera, e.g. observed in white crappie, Pomoxis annularis (Centrarchidae) and Kurtus gulliveri (Kurtidae).

pink fish = salted dry fish with halophilic bacterial growth causing a pink or reddish colour. The fish eventually turn brown and have a foul odour.

pinkstern = chebacco boat (a fishing vessel employed in the Newfoundland fisheries. The word may be a corruption of Chedabucto, a bay in Nova Scotia, from which vessels are fitted out for fishing or the same as the chebec).

pinna (plural pinnæ) = fin.

pinna abdominalis (plural pinnæ abdominales) = pelvic fin.

pinna adiposa (plural pinnæ adiposæ) = adipose fin (a small fleshy fin lacking rays or spines but reinforced by actinotrichs posterior to the soft dorsal fins (rarely a hard ray or a few soft rays may be developed in the adipose fin of certain catfishes), e.g. in Salmonidae, Osmeridae, Argentinidae, Myctophidae, Ictaluridae, Percopsidae).

pinna analis (plural pinnæ anales) = anal fin (the median ventral fin or fins behind the anus. Abbreviated as A, or A1 and A2 if there are two. Also called proctopterygium, it functions to maintain equilbrium against rolling).

pinna ani (plural pinnæ ani) = pinna analis.

pinna caudalis (plural pinnæ caudales) = caudal fin (the tail fin, aiding movement. Also called the uropterygium. The fin at the posterior end of the vertebral column (but in Centriscidae the hind end of the body rotates so that the caudal fin is ventral, and in some Trachipteridae the upper lobe of the caudal may be dorsal (the separate lower lobe may disappear). In other families, such as the Zoarcidae and Anguillidae, dorsal, caudal and anal fins are united and are externally indistinguishable. Abbreviated as C).

pinna cercalis (plural pinnæ cercales) = caudal fin.

pinna dorsalis (plural pinnæ dorsales) = dorsal fin (the unpaired fin(s) on the midline of the back. Also called the notopterygium. In Pleuronectiformes it is on the opposite side to the anus. In Centriscidae the hind end of the fish has been rotated under the fish so the dorsal fin is on the under surface. Abbreviated as D, D1, D2, or D3 respectively for the only, first, second or third dorsal fins (or their rays and spines). It functions to prevent rolling).

pinna impare (plural pinnæ impares) = median fin (one of those fins located on the sagittal plane of the body, the dorsal, caudal and anal fins. Also called perissopterygium).

pinna imparile (plural pinnæ impariles) = median fin (one of those fins located on the sagittal plane of the body, the dorsal, caudal and anal fins. Also called perissopterygium).

pinna mediana (plural pinnæ medianæ) = median fin (one of those fins located on the sagittal plane of the body, the dorsal, caudal and anal fins. Also called perissopterygium).

pinna parilis (plural pinnæ pariles) = paired fin.

pinna paris (plural pinnæ pares) = paired fin.

pinna pectoralis (pinnæ pectorales) = pectoral fin.

pinna ventralis (plural pinnæ ventrales) = ventral or pelvic fin, q.v.

pinnæ = plural of pinna.

pinnæ abdominales = plural of pinna abdominalis.

pinnæ adiposæ = plural of pinna adiposa.

pinnæ anales = plural of pinna analis.

pinnæ ani = plural of pinna ani.

pinnæ caudales = plural of pinna caudalis.

pinnæ cercale = plural of spinna cercalis.

pinnæ dorsales = plural of pinna dorsalis.

pinnæ impares = plural of pinna impare.

pinnæ impariles = plural of pinna imparile.

pinnæ medianæ = plural of pinna mediana.

pinnæ pariles = plural of pinna parilis.

pinnæ pares = plural of pinna paris.

pinnæ pectorales = plural of pinna pectoralis.

pinnæ ventrales = plural of pinna ventralis.

pinnate = feather-like, having parts arranged on each side.

pinner = a small mackerel (Scottish dialect).

pinnula = finlet (one of a series of small fins consisting of a few rays each, separate from each other and found posterior to the dorsal and anal fins, e.g. in Scombridae).

pinny = a fish which is just hatched (Yorkshire dialect).

pint = 568.26 cm³ (Imperial, abbreviated as pt_BI), 550.6 cm³ (U.S. dry, abbreviated as pt, dry), 473.17 cm³ (U.S. liquid, abbreviated as pt).

pinwiddie = a whole smoked haddock with its backbone retained, usually gutted and headed (Scotland). Initially cold smoked for several hours, then hot smoked. Also known as Arbroath smokie, Auchmithie cure, close fish.

pip = 1) the entrails of a fish.

pip = 2) to remove the gills and abdominal organs of a herring (Newfoundland).

pipe = extension piece (tapered sections of netting between the belly and the batings and the cod end of a trawl. Also called swallow piece, tail, tail piece, taper, Y-piece).

pipe trap = a trap associated with a weir on Japanese rivers. Two gravel dikes, parallel with the river flow, direct fish to a small weir, 30-40 cm high. A pipe just below the weir carries fish blocked by the weir to a holding tank or net just outside the gravel dike.

pipsey = pipsi.

pipshy = pipsi.

pipsi = cod and trout preserved by drying in the sun and wind without salt, an Inuit technique (Newfoundland).

piquoir = a sharp instrument used to spear and pick up fish in greenfishing, q.v. (Canada).

piracy = the action of a pirate stream.

pirate fishing = undertaken by large-scale fishing vessels registered under flags of convenience, the vessels being owned in one country but registered in another to avoid fisheries regulations. Not only are fish taken illegally but many seabirds are also killed incidentally by net entanglement, particularly albatrosses. See also white gold.

pirate stream = a stream that has captured the headwaters of another stream by deepening its valley more rapidly until it breached the divide between the streams.

pirn = the reel of a fishing rod (Scottish).

pirogue = a small, flat-bottomed boat often associated with West Africa and Louisiana, as well as other parts of the world. Small and light enough to be easily taken onto land, to move through very shallow water, and be easily turned over to drain water. Usually propelled by paddles that have one blade (as opposed to a kayak paddle, which has two). Can also be punted with a pole in shallow water. May have a small sail and/or an outboard motor.

piscage = 1) a fishing right (obsolete).

piscage = 2) payment for fishing rights (obsolete).

piscan = of or relating to fishes.

piscary = 1) the right to fish in another man's waters (legal). Also called common of piscary.

piscary = 2) a fishing place or fishing ground where fish may be caught.

piscary = 3) a fishery.

piscary = 4) a fish market.

piscary = 5) a fisherman.

piscary = 6) a fish monger.

piscation = fishing, fishery.

piscatology = the science of fishing; erroneously ichthyology.

piscator = a fisherman, an angler.

piscator non solum piscatur = there is more to fishing than catching fish; motto of the Flyfishers' Club.

piscatorial = pertaining to fishing or fishes or fishermen.

piscatorial pornography = pictures of large fish that anglers drool over (from "The Economist" 22 December 2007, online edition).

piscatorian = 1) a fisherman.

piscatorian = 2) piscatorial.

piscatorical = of or relating to fish; piscatorial.

piscatorius = that catches fish; a humorous nickname for an angler.

piscatory = 1) of or pertaining to fish or fishing or fishermen.

piscatory = 2) living by or given to fishing.

piscean = 1) one born under the zodiacal sign Pisces.

piscean = 2) relating to fish (presumably a misuse of the above).

Pisces = 1) fishes, the twelfth sign of the zodiac represented as a fish.

Pisces = 2) a southern constellation.

Pisces = 3) a class of vertebrates, no longer in use.

Pisces = 4) a general term for fishes.

pisci- (prefix) = pertaining to fish, from the Latin piscis, fish.

piscian = 1) a fish (noun; presumably a misuse of piscean (1).

piscian = 2) relating to fish (adjective; presumably a misuse of piscean (1).

piscicapture = the catching of fish.

piscicapturist = one who catches fish, fisher.

piscicidal = adjective for piscicide.

piscicide = 1) extermination of fish.

piscicide = 2) an agent used to exterminate fish. Plant extracts are widely used around the world and are usually alkaloids. There are thousands of plants used in capturing fish, either as the whole plant, as bark, leaves, roots stems, pods, fruits and seeds, often crushed or fermented.

piscicle = a little fish.

piscicolous = parasitic on fishes.

piscicultural = adjective for pisciculture.

pisciculture = the artificial rearing of fish.

pisciculturist = a specialist in fish culture; superintendent of a fish hatchery.

piscifauna = a fish fauna; fish life of an area. The synonym ichthyofauna is more generally used.

pisciform = fish-shaped.

piscina = 1) a Roman pond for fishes.

piscina = 2) a pond or other facility for bathing or swimming, e.g. the swimming venue at the 2000 Olympic Games.

piscina = 3) a stone basin used in church services for carrying away the water used in rinsing the chalice and the hands of the priest.

piscina dulcis = a Roman freshwater pond for fishes, more plebeian than marine ones.

piscine = 1) of or pertaining to fish.

piscine = 2) a pond or pool, used for bathing.

piscine erythocytic necrosis-associated virus = a virus found in Atlantic cod and other marine species associated with erythrocytes; possibly an iridovirus and relationship to piscine erythocytic necrosis unknown.

piscine tuberculosis = myxobacteriosis (a disease of fish caused by any member of the Myxobacteria, e.g. coldwater disease, columnaris disease, fin rot, peduncle disease, etc.).

piscinity = the quality or state of being a fish, fishiness or fishhood (humorous).

pisciocephalic = having an overwhelming ego and thus leaving oneself open to ridicule. From an African saying "The fish whose head gets too large swims with his tail out of the water."

pisciponic system = a recirculating fish culture system.

piscis = Latin for fish, and the basis for many fish words.

Piscis Australis = Pisces Austrinus.

Piscis Austrinus = the Southern Fish, a constellation in the southern autumn sky. Represents the Babylonian fish-god Oannes (q.v.) and was sacred to the Egyptians. Also called Piscis Australis. See also Fomalhaut.

Piscis Volans = flying fish, a southern hemisphere constellation of stars.

piscivore = a feeder on fish.

piscitarian = fish monger (obsolete).

piscivorous = fish-eating or subsisting on fish.

pisculent = abounding in fish, full of fish.

pisiform = pea-shaped, the size of a pea.

pissala = variety of garum (q.v.) made in Nice, France.

piston cartilage = a retractable cartilage support of the three lingual laminae in Petromyzontiformes enabling a rasping action.

pistris = a sea monster sent to devour Andromeda. Usually depicted with a dragon's head, the neck and head of a beast, fins for the forelegs and the body and tail of a fish. In Christian art, the pistris was usually employed to represent the whale which swallowed Jonah. Also spelled pistrix, pristis or pristix.

pistrix = pistris.

PIT = pit tag.

pit = 1) a deeper hole or sump in a fish pond where fish gather and can be caught.

pit = 2) an area excavated for gravel, sand or other materials and later naturally filled with water; often stocked for fishing.

pit lines = the series of dimples left on bones or fossil bones by the overlying lateral line.

pit organ = a neuromast set in a small depression in the skin, not enclosed in a lateral line canal.

pit tag = passive integrated transponder. Also spelled PIT.

pitch = to fish with a boat and a pitchin net (English dialect).

pitchin net = a large triangular net attached to two poles, and used with a boat to catch salmon. The boats are flat-bottomed, about seventeen feet long, about four feet and a half wide, and pointed at both ends. They can easily be managed by one person and rarely overturn (English dialect).

pitching = underhand pendulum method of casting when fishing to avoid tree limbs of to deliver bait to a particular spot. Similar to flipping, q.v., but not as stealthy and done from further distances.

pitfall trap = a hole dug into the ground to trap fish migrating overland. Seen in Myanmar and China.

pithing = killing a fish by means of inserting a sharp object into the brain.

pituitary gland = the endocrine gland located below the diencephalon just posterior to the crossed optic nerves. It controls the thyroid and interrenal gland, the gonads, growth, protein and carbohydrate metabolism, and chromatophore concentration and dispersion.

pizza and caviar = an unlikely combination offered on the ski slopes of St. Moritz to cater to Russian visitors.

pizza fish = anchovies (Engraulidae) used as a topping on pizzas. Rather strong-tasting and not always favoured.

pjelek = pelek.

PKD = proliferative kidney disease (a temperature-dependent disease of salmonids caused by a myxosporean protozoan causing gross changes in the kidney).

pl. = abbreviation for plate (3).

Pl. = abbreviation for plate (3).

pla thu nung = gutted fish, salted and then boiled in saturated brine (Thailand).

pla-ra = headed, gutted fish or pieces of fish salted and then fermented (Thailand).

place names = many geographical localities are based on fish, using this and related words in English. There are also many place names in other languages based on fish, e.g. and q.v. Fishguard, Iqaluit, Oxyrhynchus, Siskowit, Tippecanoe. Self-evident names are Alewife, Boston; Big Salmon, Yukon; Carp, Ontario; Catfish Paradise, Arizona; Fishkill (New York although here kill probably means stream); Herring Neck, Newfoundland; Herringfleet (Suffolk); King Salmon (Alaska); Little Salmon, Yukon; Poissant (= fish), Québec; Salmon Arm, British Columbia; Trout (Kentucky).

placenta = a close association or fusion of maternal and foetal tissues for feeding and physiological exchange, e.g. in Poeciliidae.

placental matrotrophy = nutrients provided directly via a placenta in endogenous feeding, q.v.

placentotrophic live bearer = a reproductive guild (q.v.) where eggs, embryos and juveniles develop within the maternal reproductive system. Food and gas exchange is via a yolksac placenta, a buccal and branchial placenta, or follicular and trophataenial placenta, e.g. Sphyrna tiburo.

placentrotrophy = nutrient transfer via a placenta.

placode = a thickened or plate-like region within an epithelium.

placoid scale = a type of scale, typically thorn-shaped, found on the skin of Elasmobranchii and claspers of Holocephali. Consists of a spine and a basal plate which is usually rhomboidal. It contains a pulp cavity and is composed of an inner layer of dermal bone, a middle layer of dentine and is covered by enamel-like vitrodentine. Also and less preferably called denticle, dermal denticle or odontoid.

plaice = flatfishes of the righteye flounder family (Pleuronectidae). The word comes from a Greek root meaning flat. Plaice is both singular and plural and plaices is seldom used.

plaice mouth = having a mouth like a plaice, i.e. wry or pursed.

plain = uniformly coloured or unadorned with structures.

plaited = folded longitudinally.

planer = a flat metal device attached to a troll line such that it dives or planes downward with the baited hook; lighter than downrigger cannonball (q.v.).

plank cooking = baking a fish in an oven or roasting it over open flames or coals while it is attached to a plank. The natural oils and moisture from the plank season the fish. Pre-cut planks are now available and can be used on barbecues.

planked shad = a split American shad (Alosa sapidissima) traditionally nailed to a plank and baked in the radiant heat from the coals of a fire.

plankter = an individual planktonic organism.

planktivore = consumer of plankton.

plankton = small aquatic organisms with weak locomotory powers living above the bottom. Fish eggs and larvae are often planktonic and some adults are. Opposite of nekton.

plankton feeder = planktivore.

plankton net = a fine-meshed net used to catch plankton and larval fishes.

plankton rain = the gentle falling of dead plankton from surface waters into the deeper part of the sea or a lake where they form food for other organisms, including fish directly or indirectly. Also called marine snow.

planktonivorous = plankton feeding.

planktophagy = feeding on plankton.

plant = a specific area of the Newfoundland foreshore with structures upon it for the landing and curing of fish. See also plantation.

plant eater = a fish feeding on higher aquatic plants or phytoplankton.

plantation = fishing room (a lot on a beach used as a base by fishermen and where drying of the catch is carried out (Newfoundland)).

planter = 1) a fisherman and owner of a fishing room or plantation and a boat in Newfoundland. Supplied by a merchant, he engaged a fishing crew.

planter = 2) a migratory fisherman from Newfoundland who conducts summer fishery from a station, room or harbour on the coast of Labrador.

planter = 3) a log lodged in the river bed with the other end at or below the water surface, dangerous to boats. See also deadhead.

planter fishery = the fishery carried out by planters (2).

planting = the addition of eggs, young or adults of a species of fish to a body of water by humans.

plaque = 1) a small flat formation or area.

plaque = 2) the bony covering of lateral line scales in Paralepididae.

plara = headed, gutted fish or fish pieces salted and then fermented. Made in India.

plash = to break the water surface.

plastic = skirted, brightly-coloured baits containing a large hook, trolled at high speed for such fish as marlin.

plastic worm = a plastic, flexible, and coloured worm with hooks.

plasticity = variation in form, ecology or behaviour, e.g. phenotypic plasticity.

plastotype = an unofficial term in nomenclature for an artificial specimen moulded directly from a type (used for fossils).

plate = 1) any flattened structure, usually an external armament in certain fishes.

plate = 2) the flattened part of the shank of a hook.

plate = 3) an illustration in a book, usually filling a whole page. May be a drawing or a photograph, in colour or in black and white, and may be divided into separate elements usually called fiigures and numbered or labelled sequentially.

plate freezing = freezing of fish product between two hollow plates with refrigerant flowing through them. The plates also compress the fish so that freezing is uniform.

plate-gill = a gill with laminae in Elasmobranchii and Holocephali.

plateau = flat or nearly flat area of considerable extent, dropping off abruptly on one or more sides. Includes undersea features of this form.

platelet = former name for loculus (one of the minute subquadrate bead-like elements forming the circuli in scales of Anguilliformes) or small plate-shaped segments of bone in some Gobiidae.

platform reef = a large reef of variable shape lacking a lagoon, seaward of a fringing reef and/or a barrier reef, for which the width is more than half its length.

platybasic skull = a skull with widely separated trabeculae, e.g. in Amia, Polypterus, Acipenser, Cypriniformes. The skull is dorsoventrally flattened, generally broad, lacks an interorbital septum, and the brain extends up to the ethmoid. Also called platytrabic.

platytrabic = platybasic.

play-ground = a tract of water at an estuary in which salmon may not be caught.

playa = a low, flat area in an arid or semi-arid region underlain by lacustrine sediments deposited in periods of higher precipitation than prevailing at present. May be covered in water in periods of high rainfall or runoff.

playing fish = in angling, the fighting of a hooked fish. This may be extended and necessary to land very large fish or deepwater fish to avoid narcosis. Care should be taken to avoid excessive playing as lactic acid buildup can be fatal.

Pl*co = an internet urban legend or superstition which maintains that if Pleco (for Hypostomus plecostomus, a suckermouth catfish, Loricariidae) is spelled correctly, then the aquarium pet will soon die - hence the asterisk.

plectospondylus = fishes with the anterior 4 or 5 vertebrae modified into ossicles connecting the gas bladder with the inner ear in Cypriniformes and Siluriformes.

pleio- (prefix) = more.

Pleistocene = a geological epoch of the Quaternary Period ca. 1.6-0.01 million years ago.

Plenary Power = the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature is empowered by use of its Plenary Power to prevent the application of a rule of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature where such application in a particular case would disturb the stability or universality or cause confusion in zoological nomenclature.

plenty more fish in the sea = many other possibilities; said when current ones unsuitable or unsuccessful. Applied to people, things and situations.

plenum system = Jaubert plenum (a natural method of filtration for a reef tank using a plastic grid (called an egg-crate) to suspend a thick (8-10cm) layer of coral or aragonite sand above a 2 cm water-filled void called the plenum. The system helps in lowering of nitrate through the presence of denitrifying bacteria deep within the bed).

pleo- (prefix) = multiple, excessive.

pleomorphic = variable in size, form and shape.

pleonasm = in nomenclature the use of generic names and specific epithets which are identical or similar in meaning, or are different words having identical or similar meaning.

plesiogenotype = a specimen provisionally included in a genus at the time of description but which was subsequently designated as the type of that genus.

plesiomorphy = an ancestral character state; the state from which an apomorphy is derived; usually and correctly applied to a specific character and not to a taxon. Note that derived states need not be more complex than plesiomorphic states and so the plesiomorphic state should not be referred to as primitive.

plesion = a group consisting of a series of successive branches from a stem lineage united by plesiomorphies or homoplasies, a paraphyletic group.

plesiotype = 1) a specimen identified by a subsequent author as belonging to a particular species or the same as a type.

plesiotype = 2) a specimen related to the type specimen but from another biological province or geological formation.

plesiotype = 3) a described or figured specimen which has been compared with the type specimen or original figure.

plesodic = said of a cartilaginous pectoral fin where ceratotrichia, q.v., reach the border and offer better support than in the aplesodic fin, q.v.

pleural rib = pleuroperitoneal rib.

pleurethmoid = parethmoid (a paired deep bone of perichondral origin lying in the front of the orbit under the prefrontal. Also called prefrontal, exethmoid and, incorrectly, ectethmoid as this latter is only in birds).

pleurocentra = with two intercentra, the two pleurocentra unite to form the centrum of a vertebra. Thr pleurocentrum is formed between adjacent myomeres while the intercentrum is formed in the centre of a single myomere.

pleurodont = teeth implanted in the side of a bone, e.g. in Scaridae and Balistidae.

pleuroperitoneal cavity = the peritoneal cavity if lungs are also present along with the viscera.

pleuroperitoneal rib = a rib lying just outside of the body cavity, articulating with the parapophysis of the vertebrae and protecting the viscera. Also called ventral rib.

pleurosphenoid = misnomer for pterosphenoid, q.v., since it is not homologous with the reptilian pleurosphenoid.

pleurostyle = the upturned strut in the tailfin skeleton of Clupeoidei, Gonorhynchiformes and Cypriniformes, composed primarily of uroneurals rather than centra, unlike the typical teleostean urostyle made up of upturned caudal centra.

pleuston = 1) organisms living in the thin surface layer at the air-water interface in fresh water.

pleuston = 2) plants floating on the surface of fresh water bodies.

plica (plural plicae) = a small fold in the skin, e.g. diagonal skin folds along the side of Ammodytes.

plicae = plural of plica.

plicate = having plicae or a series of folds, grooves or wrinkles in the skin; plaited.

plication = a series of small folds or pleats.

Pliocene = a geological epoch within the Tertiary Period ca. 5-1.6 million years ago.

pliogenotype = an unofficial term in nomenclature for the type of a generic name which is a synonym of n earlier generic name.

PLO = a photophore above the base of the pectoral fin in Myctophidae.

plonger = plunger.

plosher = 1) a small coble (q.v.) used in herring fishing.

plosher = 2) a half-grown bream (unclear on which species this is, possibly the cyprinid Abramis brama).

plotolysin = the haemotoxic fraction of the catfish poison plototoxin, q.v.

plotospasmin = the neurotoxic fraction of the catfish poison plototoxin, q.v.

plototoxin = the poison derived from the catfish Plotosus lineatus (Plotosidae).

plucked = said of fish broken or injured, e.g. herrings removed from a net but stuck so fast that they cannot be shaken out but have to be plucked by hand, pulling their heads off.

plug = a fishing lure resembling a fish made of wood, plastic or metal with treble hooks attached. Available in many sizes, shapes, colours and actions and may be jointed or unjointed. Also called crank bait, jerk bait, minnow.

plugging = a nineteenth century "sport" of boys where a cork was affixed to the dorsal spines of fish. The fish dives but the cork brings it back to the surface.

plum-bob = the float of a fishing line.

plumb = a lead weight on a line, using for measuring water depth.

plumb line = plummet (1).

plumb the depths = 1) using a plumb.

plumb the depths = 2) to sink in misfortune or unhappiness.

plumbeus = lead colored; dull bluish grey.

plume = water, often turbid, beyond its usual confines, e.g. a river plume beyond the estuary or river channel.

plummet = 1) a cone-shaped lead weight with a loop at the top and a cork base. A hook at the end of a fishing rig is threaded through the loop and embedded in the cork. The rig is cast out and the plummet takes it to the bottom. The position of the float can be adjusted so that just its tip is visible above the water surface. The plummet is then removed and the rig fishes on the bottom.

plummet = 2) a metal weight with barbed points used to pierce flatfish lying on the sea bed.

plunge basket = cover pot (a wide-mouth basket with a smaller hole in the opposite end, plunged into the water over a fish spotted by a wading fisher, the fish being caught and extracted by hand through the smaller hole. Often used in turbid water or areas of rich plant growth. See also lantern net).

plunge pool = a basin scoured out by a waterfall.

plunger = a long shaft used in fishing with a trammel net. The shaft is plunged into the water to scare fish into the net (English dialect).

pluricuspid = tooth with many cusps or points.

pluriserial = arranged in two or more rows. Also pluriseriate.

pluriseriate = pluriserial.

plurivorous = feeding on a variety of different foods.

plus class = plus group.

plus group = the last age or size class which includes all the larger or older individuals than the nominal number of the class, e.g. 3+ is all individuals aged three years or more. Also called plus class.

pluvial = referring to a time period when precipitation is high and evaporation low, streamflow is strong and lake levels are high.

pluviotype = a joke name in nomenclature for a type specimen encrusted in silt after a flood.

PM = abbreviation for preoperculo-mandibular canal.

pm or p.m. = post meridiem, for after noon indicating time after 12.00 noon.

P_MAX = the probability of re-building a fish stock by T_MAX. A higher P_MAX probability is associated with a lower fishing mortality rate.

pneumatic artery = a branch of the coeliac artery that serves the swimbladder and anterior dorsal mesentery.

pneumatic duct = a tube connecting the pharynx to the gas bladder; ductus pneumaticus. Open in some fish, closed in others.

PO = a row of photophores on the breast in front of the pelvic fin in Myctophidae.

poach = 1) to catch and take away fish illegally.

poach = 2) to cook in boiling or simmering liquid.

poach = 3) to poke or stir with a stick, as applied to driving fish into cover or flushing them out of hole and overhanging bank.

pock = a bag-shaped fishing net especially one fastened to an iron ring.

pock net = 1) the stomach of a fish.

pock net = 2) to catch fish in a net.

pocket = 1) fish court (the holding chamber in a trap net or the last chamber in any net).

pocket = 2) a small indentation of a shoreline.

pocket = 3) an indentation in the stream bottom below a run, a riffle or a rock where water is calmer and fish hold position. Also called pocket water.

pocket = 4) any small, deep section in a lake or river.

pocket beach = a small beach between two headlands.

pocket water = pocket (3).

pocosin = a swamp partially or completely enclosed by a sandy rim.

pod = 1) a collective noun (a noun that denotes a collection of persons or things regarded as a unit) for billfish.

pod = 2) a collective noun (a noun that denotes a collection of persons or things regarded as a unit) for sailfish.

pod = 3) a collective noun (a noun that denotes a collection of persons or things regarded as a unit) for whiting.

pod = 4) a collective noun (a noun that denotes a collection of persons or things regarded as a unit) for tarpon.

pod = 5) a tight school of fish with individuals in contact with each other.

pod = 6) a group of fish related by a common factor, e.g. spawning males.

pod = 7) a folding stand on which carp rods are placed. It has a bite alarm at the front of the stand and a normal rod rest at the rear; can be set up on hard ground where bank sticks cannot be pushed into the soil.

pod = 8) a net used for fishing in small streams; an eel net or a purse-net.

pod net = pod (8).

podpod = boiled, smoked and seasoned fish product (Philippines).

pogey oil = a golden oil from menhaden or pogey (Brevoortia tyrannus) used in chumming (q.v.).

poikilo- = (prefix) = various, variable.

poikilosmosis = the ability of organisms to have an internal osmotic pressure which varies, following closely that of the environment, e.g. Myxinidae.

poikilosmotic = the adjective for poikilosmosis.

poikilotherm = an organism whose body temperature follows closely that of their environment as in most fishes, "cold-blooded". Opposite of homoiotherm.

point = 1) a narrow extension of land into the water, often sloping into deep water. Fish often congregate on and around points.

point = 2) tippet (the very end of a tapered leader that attaches to the fly in fly-fishing. It is the same diameter along its length and ranges from 7X (very fine) to 0X (very heavy)).

point = 3) the sharp end of a hook, q.v.

point = 4) tpoaching a fish with the point of a rod.

point bar = a stream bar deposited on the inside of a curve in the stream where water velocity is low.

point cut = n-cut (a net cut at right angles to the general course of the netting).

point fly = the lead fly in a two-fly rig.

point source pollution = pollution occurring from a discrete location such as a factory outlet.

pointing = fishing with a rod and line.

poison fishing = catching fish by means of a poison, usually one harmless to higher vertebrates, the poison being spread in the water or enclosed in a bait.

poisoning = 1) use of a chemical spread on water or added to a bait to poison fish and facilitate capture. See fish poisoning.

poisoning = 2) illness caused by eating poisonous fishes, q.v.

poisonous fishes = any fish containing a poison (exclusive of bacterial poisons). Sometimes restricted to those fishes whose poisons enter the victim's body orally, excluding venomous fish whose poison is introduced from glands by means of spines. For treatment of poisoning from spines, see venomous fishes, treatment of poisoning of; for poisoning from eating ciguatoxic fishes, see ciguatera poisoning; from clupeoid fishes, see clupeotoxism; hallucinogenic fishes, see ichthyoalleinotoxism; poisonous fish eggs or roe, see ichthyootoxism; improperly preserved scombroid and other marketed marine fishes, see scombrotoxism; pufferfish or tetraodontiform fishes, see tetrodotoxication.

poisson d'Avril = "April fish", French for April fool, based on a newly spawned, naive and easily-caught fish. A paper fish is attached to a victim's back without him noticing.

poke = 1) cod-end (the end of a trawl net which retains the catch and the part of the net where most size-selection takes place. Cod end mesh sizes and structure are usually regulated).

poke = 2) a fish salad in Hawaiian cuisine comprising raw fish cubes with various vegetables and condiments.

poke end = the bottom of the bag part of an eel trap.

poke line = lazy deckie (a rope to haul the cod end to a ship's side).

poke net = halve net (a bag-shaped net set or held to retain fish as the tide ebbs (Scottish dialect)).

poker = a wood or metal stick used to disturb fish from crevices; may be combination poker and gaff (q.v.).

poking = catching fish with a net or spear where a pushing, jabbing or poking motion is used.

pokkali field = a traditional brackish-water fish and prawn culture used in paddy fields of Kerala, India. Fry enter the fields at high tide and are prevented from leaving by fine mesh nets at the sluices. Mullets (Mugilidae) and cichlids (Cichlidae) are harvested in December after growth from October when the rice was harvested and the fields turned over to fish culture.

Pol = ventrolateral photophore(s) above the AO series which lie along the base of the anal fin but below the lateral line in Myctophidae. Sometimes spelled POL.

polarity = referring to the genealogical position (advanced or primitive) of a character state of a taxonomic character.

polarisation = the process of determining polarity.

polder = land reclaimed from a body of water and protected by dikes.

pole = 1) any fishing rod (a device to carry and project a fishing line, hook(s) and bait or lures. The construction of rods is both a craft and a science and there is an immense variety of types).

pole = 2) a very long rod blank, held by hand and fished directly over the water, and used in matches and speed coarse fishing. It is made of sections that can be disassembled for carrying or be telescopic. Size range is 12.5 to 20 metres. A whip pole has the line tied directly to the end of the pole and is used to catch very small fish while elasticised poles have elastic threaded through the top three sections. These long poles enable a float rig to be placed exactly in position without casting, directly under the pole tip. Various other equipment items are used to manage the long pole and are mentioned below. Others include pole U rests (a rod rest set up as a U nearer the water with a second one set up as an inverted U to the rear - the rod rests in the forward U and hooks under the rear U), pole seats which have a central groove running between the sitting angler's legs where the pole fits, pole winders which are H-shaped plastic structures for storing the float rig on and protecting it, and pole winder anchors that are silicone rubber structures used to hold the loose end of a rig on a pole float winder to stop the rig unraveling.

pole buoy = a float with an upright stick to mark the position of stationary fishing gear (Newfoundland).

pole feeder pot = a cup clipped onto the end of a match fishing pole containing ground bait which can be tipped out, the pole pulled in and the cup removed before putting out the float rig.

pole float = a very small and sensitive float with a thin tip, balsa wood body, a thin wire stem and about 15-20 cm long. Body up floats have a wider bulge at the top of the flat body, body down bulge at the bottom, slims have very long and thin bodies, dibbers have the float tip as part of the thin float body instead of a separate tip section, and continental floats are large and are designed to use olivettes, q.v., in large rivers.

pole hook = a large hook on the end of a pole used to impale a fish by sight or feel. Similar to a gaff, q.v.

pole line = a hook, baited or not, attached to a line from a pole of similar length to the line. Usually fished from a boat.

pole roller = a mechanism to allow the very long pole rod to be slid back a sections are added or removed. Various models exist but have a stand supporting horizontal rollers and vertical end rollers on both sides.

pole-and-line fishing = surface schooling fish such as tuna are attracted to a vessel and driven into very active feeding behavior by throwing live or dead bait into the water, by spraying water onto the sea surface to simulate the escape behavior of small prey, and sometimes by use of lights. The fish are lured with a line and a barbless hook attached to a pole and pulled off the water by manual (sometimes with two people to each pole) or powered devices.

pole-and-live bait fishing = pole-and-line fishing.

policy = a course of action in relation to fisheries selected from alternatives by an authority.

poling = pole-and-line fishing.

polje = a large depression in karst with a flat floor. Stream water runs in and exits via underground holes (called ponors). Flood waters are too heavy to exit through ponors and the polje becomes a seasonal lake.

polled = of fish, beheaded.

pollutotype= a joke name in nomenclature for a type so damaged by pollutants or encrusted that is is not recognisable.

polster = the hatching gland rudiment when it underlies the forebrain during the early segmentation period. Also called pillow.

poly- (prefix) = many, several, excessive, generalised, affecting many parts.

poly vinyl alcohol = polyvinyl alcohol.

polyacmic = referring to many periods of seasonal change in an aquatic population.

polyandry = a female mating with more than one male.

polyaulacorhizid = vascularisation of a tooth root through many small foramina concentrated in several grooves running parallel from the outer to the inner face, e.g. in Myliobatidae (Herman et al., 1994).

polybasic = an unofficial term in nomenclature for a genus-group name which had several species included in it when first published.

polycentric distribution = the establishment of a population, species or other taxonomic unit in several widely separated geographic places.

polyculture = the practice of raising several species of fish together in aquaculture, or of fish with other species like shrimps, in either case the species are not competitors or predators.

polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons = chemicals found in fish products as environmental contaminants, usually at low concentrations, much higher where there is contamination from petroleum and petroleum products. Found in smoked fish at 10 times or more than unsmoked fish. Some PAHs are carcinogenic.

polycyclic fishes = those fishes which spawn intermittently throughout their lives (as opposed to monocyclic fishes, q.v.), e.g. Salmo.

polygamy = both sexes mating with more than one other individual.

polygyny = a male mating with more than one female.

polyhaline = 1) water with a salinity between 18.1-30.0 p.p.t. from ocean-derived salts.

polyhaline = 2) sea water having a salinity greater than 34 p.p.t.

polyhalophile = an organism thriving in a wide range of salinities.

polyhalophilic = thriving in a wide range of salinities. Adjective for polyhalophile.

polyhymic tendon = a tendon bound to the ventral face of the gas bladder for its entire length and connecting the anterior end of the gas bladder to the first haemal spine in Velifer (Veliferidae).

polymorphic = 1) species having two or more distinct variants in the same population and sex, not recognised taxonomically.

polymorphic = 2) a character having two or more states.

polynomial = a scientific name comprised of the original genus and species but adding the name of the genus in which the organism is now classified. A subgenus and subspecies may also be added.

polynominal = polynomial.

polynya (polynia) = open water surrounded by ice in the Arctic, formed by wind displacement or warm upwelling (Russian).

polyonym = a name of different and confused meanings, e.g. nomen ambiguum, nomen confusum, both q.v.

polyparasitism = parasitised by more than one species, often the case in fishes.

polyphagous = adjective for polyphagy.

polyphagy = feeding on a wide variety of foods.

polyphasic = in taxonomy, the use of many different techniques used to produce a classification.

polyphil = a reproductive guild (q.v.) having various spawning substrates. Adhesive eggs are attached singly or in clusters. The eggs have dense yolk with high carotenoid content, embryonic respiratory structures are well-developed, and feeding of young on parental mucus is common, e.g. Symphysodon discus.

polyphydont = a type of dentition where the teeth are continuously replaced as in most fishes excepting Holocephali and Dipnoi.

polyphyletic = having more than one origin or lines of descent, not closely related. Species may be grouped polyphyletically as a convenience until a monophyletic classification can be made.

polyphyodont = polyphydont.

polyploid = having more than twice the haploid number of chromosomes, e.g. 3n, 4n, 5n, etc.

polysaline = water with a salinity between 18.1-30.0 p.p.t. from land-derived salts.

polyspondylic = adjective for polyspondyly.

polyspondylous = adjective for polyspondyly.

polyspondylous vertebra = vertebra showing polyspondyly (1).

polyspondyly = 1) notochord surrounded by many serially arranged calcified rays, in effect having several centra e.g. Chimaera has 5-9 centra, Amia has 2 in the caudal region.

polyspondyly = 2) calcified rings around the notochord at intervals which do not seem to correspond in a regular way to the placement of body segments, found in some Chondrichthyes.

polystenohaline = organisms that only inhabit oceanic waters of relatively constant high salinity.

polythetic = a classification where taxa are defined by a combination of characters. These may be possessed by other taxa and any of the taxa under consideration may not have any of the characters. Taxa with the most shared characters are grouped together.

polytomy = multifurcation (a node in a tree that connects more than three branches. If the tree is rooted or directed, one branch represents the ancestral lineage and the other branches descendent lineages. A multifurcation often results because of a lack of data to resolve the branches although it could be the simultaneous splitting of several lineages).

polytrophic = an ecological term used to describe an organism which has more than one mode of feeding.

polytypic = a taxon including several subordinate taxa, e.g. a polytypic genus is one containing several species.

polyunsaturated fatty acids = fatty acids with 18 or more carbon atoms and two or more double bonds, very important in the early development of marine fish larvae. Also important in human nutrition and health. Abbreviated PUFAs.

polyvinyl alcohol = a water soluble plastic used by anglers in Europe as bags to hold ground bait or as string for tying on boilies, q.v., or pellets. The bags or strings dissolve gradually in water and release the baits to attract fish. See PVA bag and PVA tape. Abbreviated as PVA.

pond = 1) a small, shallow, confined body of water, fresh or salt; technically less than 8 ha.

pond = 2) a pond stocked with fish for commercial or ornamental use.

pond = 3) an attraction at a fair where miniature fishing gear is used to hook fish-shaped tokens from a small pool to win prizes.

pond = 4) the ocean or sea, as a joke, e.g. the herring pond.

pond = 4) as a verb, to obstruct the flow of water to create a pond or small lake.

pond carp = the common carp, Cyprinus carpio, as raised in pond in historical times.

pond culture = the raising of fish in ponds on land, e.g. carp and rainbow trout.

pond fish = fish usually reared in a pond.

pond grate = a screen installed at the inlet or outlet of a water body to prevent entry or escape of fish.

pond spawning = spawning in a pond specifically designed for that activity, often equipped with nests for egg deposition or other suitable substrates.

pondage = 1) small-scale storage of water at a power plant to equalise daily or weekly fluctuations in river flow or to allow for fluctuations in power requirements.

pondage = 2) water capacity of a pond.

ponding = 1) an increase in water level caused by a blockage to stream flow.

ponding = 2) formation of a pond by damning a water course.

pondkeeper = a person who stocks and maintains a pond with various organisms including fish, usually for display rather than food, e.g. koi. Curiously not a word generally found in dictionaries although there are magazines with this term in their title.

ponor = a small hole forming an exit from a polje (q.v.).

pons moultoni = a loop of bone projecting from the inner wall of the chondrocranium appearing to arise from the sphenotic and spanning the anterior vertical canal of the ear medially, usually across the canal's anterior (lower) half in certain genera of Beryciformes, Polymixiiformes and Perciformes.

pony board = a small otter board used in place of a dan leno, q.v.

pool = 1) stream habitat having smooth surface, slow current and some moderate to deep water.

pool = 2) a small, deep confined body of water fed by springs or streams or flushed by the sea such that there is water circulation.

pool = 3) a small pond.

pool cue = a fishing rod with stiff action and therefore undesirable.

Pool of Sacred Fish = found at Şanlıurfa in southeastern Turkey in the courtyard of the Halil-ur-Rahman mosque dating from 1211. Legend has it that this is the site where Abraham was thrown into the fire by Nimrod, the fire miraculously becoming the pool and the burning logs the fish. The Turkish name is Balikligöl.

poor man's lobster = the tail meat of monkfish (Lophius species, anglerfishes).

pool quality = an index of the suitability of a pool for supporting fish. Factors involved are cover, dimensions, and velocity.

pool shark = a hustler at the game of pool or billiards; a hustler misrepresenting his skill level in order to cheat the other player out of money. Based on the predatory reputation of the shark. See also cardshark and loan shark.

pool/riffle ratio = the ratio of surface area or length of pools to the surface area or length of riffles in a given stream reach used to describe fish habitat rearing quality.

pool-and-weir ladder = a series of small dams making pools of regular length in a long, sloping channel for fish to travel around a dam. Fish jump from pool to pool in the ladder. See also rock-ramp fishway, vertical slot fish passage and DeNiel fishway.

pooler = a salmon which has lain a long time in a river but not yet spawned (Newfoundland).

poor fish = hapless, unfortunate.

poor john = dried and salted cod (Newfoundland).

poorly nourished = in aquaculture, fish receiving too small amounts of food, or a deficient diet.

pooty = a small cod (Orkney dialect).

pop corn = bass (Micropterus spp., Centrarchidae) too short to meet tournament standards; usually less than 14 inches (ca. 36 cm). Also called baby, dink, throw back, nubbin, and slick.

pop-up bait = a bait, usually a boilie, q.v., which float or pop-up off the bottom. Flotation is achieved by microwaving the boilie or inserting foam.

pop-up archival tag = pop-up tag.

pop-up tag = a tag that detaches itself from the fish after a pre-determined period has elapsed since tagging. The tag then sends a signal via satellite, providing its position and downloading any other available information. The fish or tag need not be retrieved for the data to be used.

popeye = protrusion of the eyeballs. Usually results from liquid or gas accumulation at the rear of the eye socket or by diseases. Also called exophthalmia.

popper = 1) a lure with a flat face that makes a popping sound and surface disturbance when retrieved by a jerk and pause method. Used for bass, other warmwater species and some marine fishes.

popper = 2) a fly with foam or cork in its makeup and a flat or cup-shaped design causing the popping sound. Used for bass and panfish in North America.

Popper's dictum = a theory should be tested with the direct aim of trying to refute it.

popping cork = a styrofoam device shaped to make a popping sound when retrieved, imitating the sound of fish feeding at the surface, thus attracting game fish.

population = a local group of individuals which form a potentially interbreeding community with other such populations. Usually populations have little demographic or genetic exchange with other such populations. Also defined as the total number of individuals of the species. May be used to mean a stock in fisheries work.

population density = the number or mass of individuals of a given population occupying a given space.

population dynamics = the study of fish populations and how fishing mortality, growth, recruitment, and natural morality affect them over time.

population model = a component of a stock assessment model describing how the population changes over time. May be age/size structured or biomass based, deterministic or stochastic, density-dependent or density-independent, spatially structured or spatially aggregated, equilibrium or non-equilibrium.

population structure = the characteristics of a given population such as age, size composition, sex ratio, etc.

population viability analysis = a quantitative analysis which estimates the extinction probability of a species or population based on the known life history and specified management or non-management options. Abbreviated as PVA.

pore = a tiny opening in the skin, often associated with sensory perception in fishes.

pored scale = a lateral line scale with a pore.

pork rind = a bait or lure made from pig skin cut into strips or shapes and preserved chemically. Used for bass, pike and muskellunge in fresh water and used in saltwater fishing in association with various jigs, spoons, feathers, etc.

pornotype = a joke name in nomenclature for a type based principally on characters of the genitalia.

porpoising = feeding in slow surface rolls, e.g. trout taking surface insects. See also priming behaviour.

port = 1) the land base for a fishing vessel (or any other type of vessel).

port = 2) the left side of a vessel when facing the pointy end.

port sampler = a scientist who samples fish catches at the point of unloading from fishing vessels. Usually length is recorded and some structure taken that shows growth rings, e.g. otoliths.

port sampling = the actions of a port sampler.

port technician = port sampler.

portable lift-net = a small lift-net, q.v., operated by hand, with no fixed installation. Also called lift hand net.

portal vessel = a large vein originating and ending in a capillary bed such as the kidneys and liver.

portion = a piece of a wet fish of specified uniform weight or size (about 2 cm thick) cut from a fillet, or a piece of a frozen fish usually rectilinear and of specified size and weight cut from a block of frozen fish flesh; wider than a fish stick or of a different shape.

Portuguese water dog = a dog used to retrieve fish and fallen articles from the water, to carry messages between boats and to guard boats. Used from about 1500 A.D. onward.

position = in nomenclature, the place of a taxon relative to other taxa in a classification, regardless of rank.

position precedence = the position on a page or in a book of a scientific name or nomenclatural act. This may be used by a first reviser in giving precedence to a name, act or spelling, or by a an author designating a type species. However, this is not mandatory.

positive = fish intent on feeding. Also called active.

possession limit = the number and/or size of a species that a commercial or recreational fisher can legally have at any one time (on hand, in storage, in transit, etc.), cf. catch limit.

post = a cove or harbour with space on the foreshore for facilities used in coastal fisheries.

post hoc = the cause of a later event simply by virtue of having happened earlier; coming to conclusions.

post- (prefix) = behind, posterior to, after. Often used in measurements for identification, e.g. post-branchial - behind the gill region.

post-branchial body = thyroid gland.

post-smolt = a stage in a salmonid's development from its departure from a river until the onset of wide annulus formation at the end of the first winter in the sea (Allan and Ritter, 1977).

post-spawning = of or pertaining to the period after spawning.

post-type = in nomenclature, an obsolete name for neotype (q.v.).

postanal membrane = a membrane between the anus and anal fin origin in larvae, e.g. in Terapontidae.

postanal myomeres = muscle bands posterior to the anus in larval fishes, the count being used in identification. The most posterior myomere is bordered by a complete myoseptum in some counts or an incomplete one in other counting methods.

postclavicle = postcleithrum.

postcleithra = plural of postcleithrum.

postcleithral head spine = a spine on the head of Scorpaenidae members. They are, from anterior to posterior over the top of the head on each side, the nasal, preocular, supraocular, postocular, tympanic, coronal (medial to the tympanic and postocular spines), parietal, and nuchal. Opercular spines are at the postero-dorsal corner of the operculum, preopercular spines line the posterior margin of the preoperculum, and the cleithral and postcleithral spines are just above the opercular spines on the side of the head.

postcleithrum (plural postcleithra) = a dermal bone of the pectoral girdle posteroventral to the cleithrum which supports it dorsally. There may be one to several postcleithra (absent in some species). Also called metacleithrum and postclavicle.

postcranial pit = a marked depression in the rear of the skull in certain Agonidae, e.g. Bothagonus swani. It may be involved in sound production via modified anterior ribs which produce stridulation.

postdorsal length = the distance from the insertion of the dorsal fin to the base of the caudal fin.

posteriad = behind, posterior to.

posterials = teeth on the posterior field of the oral disc in lampreys (Petromyzontidae).

posterior = behind, opposite of anterior.

posterior anal photophore = one of a row of light organs on the ventrolateral surface of the caudal peduncle in Myctophidae.

posterior cardinal vein = paired veins from the posterior part of the trunk originating in the renal and segmental (intercostal and interspinous) veins and lying on each side of the dorsal aorta and between the kidneys.

posterior cerebral vein = a vein draining blood from the posterior braincase into the lateral head vein, q.v. or anterior cardinal vein, q.v.

posterior field = the exposed part of the scale, usually wedge-shaped and delineated by imaginary lines from the focus to the posterior dorsal and ventral corners of the scale.

posterior intestinal artery = a branch of the coeliac artery that serves the straight posterior terminal portion of the intestine.

posterior margin = the rear edge of a scale. Also called apical margin.

posterior process = innominate bone (the pelvic fin bone in Gasterosteidae, sometimes a misnomer for the ectocoracoid. Also called pelvic bone, pelvic plate, pubic bone and medial plate).

posterohyal = epihyal (the deep bone at the upper end of the hyoid arch below the interhyal. May bear a dentigerous plate. Also called dorsal ceratohyal. May or may not be homologous with the epal element of the branchial arches).

posterolateral photophore = one of the ventrolateral light organ(s) above the AO series which lie along the base of the anal fin but below the lateral line. Abbreviated AOp.

posterotemporal = posttemporal.

postflexion = one of three sub-stages in the larval stage of fishes (the others being preflexion and flexion, q.v.). The caudal fin section of the notochord is at an angle of 45° to the notochord axis, ventral caudal rays and supporting elements may not be fully developed. Postflexion ends with beginning of transformation to the juvenile stage.

postfrontal = a term misapplied to the dermosphenotic, q.v., of fishes. Equivalent to the supraorbitals.

postglacial lake = a lake formed after a glaciation from melting ice; it often provides a route for fish movements.

postinfraorbital = dermal bones of the circumorbital series found posterior to the orbit and often elongated anteroposteriorly.

postlabial groove = a groove behind the lower lip.

postlarva = a larva following the time of absorption of yolk; applied only when the structure and form continues to be strikingly unlike that of the juvenile (Hubbs, 1943). Postlarvae of some species are so distinctive they were placed in different genera than the adults. Some of these generic names are now used to indicate the postlarval stage, e.g. acanthostedion stage of Peristediidae, tholichthys of Chaetodontidae, acronurus of Acanthuridae, rhynchichthys of Holocentridae, krohnius of Macrouridae.

postmaxillary process = a process directed upward and backward at the middle or posterior part of the premaxilla. It serves to prevent the lateral movement of the premaxilla when the mouth opens.

postocular = the region or distance between the posteriormost rim of the orbit and the posterior edge of the opercle (or opercular membrane).

postocular canal = the cephalic lateral line canal connecting the interorbital canal with the body lateral line canal, e.g. in Tripterygidae.

postocular head spine = a spine on the head of Scorpaenidae members. They are, from anterior to posterior over the top of the head on each side, the nasal, preocular, supraocular, postocular, tympanic, coronal (medial to the tympanic and postocular spines), parietal, and nuchal. Opercular spines are at the postero-dorsal corner of the operculum, preopercular spines line the posterior margin of the preoperculum, and the cleithral and postcleithral spines are just above the opercular spines on the side of the head.

postorbital = behind the orbit or eye; a bone in the series behind the eye, part of the infraorbital series. They are SO₃, SO₄, SO₅ and SO₆ or IO₃.....IO₆. IO₆ is also called the dermosphenotic, q.v.

postparietal = 1) extrascapula (one of several small bones bordering the posterior margin of the skull roof in primitive Teleostomi. They apparently originate from enlarged scales. One of a series of from 2-8 bones known variously as cervicals, nuchals, supratemporals or tabulars).

postparietal = 2) dermosupraoccipital (the superficial, paired dermal bone covering the supraoccipital with which it may fuse. In many Teleostei it is a hinge for the skull articulation with the circumorbital ring. Siluridae have a posterior toothed process that secures the nuchal disc. Also called parietooccipital or dermal supraoccipital).

postrematic filament = one of the anterior set of gill filaments extending into the gill slit in front of each gill arch at the posterior border of the gill slit.

postrostral = one of the superficial dermal bones covering the upper face of the ethmoid in front of the eye behind the rostrals in certain Holostei.

postrostrum = the posterior point of an otolith, generally longer than the pararostrum.

posttemporal = the superficial, Y-shaped dermal bone connecting the pectoral girdle with the skull, namely the epiotic or supraoccipital (upper part of the bone) and the opisthotic (in primitive fishes) or the intercalar (in modern fishes)(lower part of the bone). Traversed by the posttemporal lateral line canal. Also called suprascapula, suprascapular, supracleithrum I and supraclavicle I.

postzygapophyses = plural of postzygapophysis.

postzygapophysis (plural postzygapophyses) = the posterior paired process of the centrum of a vertebra which articulates with the prezygapophysis of the vertebra posterior to it. There may be two dorsal and two ventral postzygapophyses. The articular facet is on the ventral surface of the postzygapophysis.

pot = a portable cage-like trap which fish enter through one or more small openings and from which they cannot readily escape because of the funnel shape. May be baited or not, made of various materials, of various sizes and shapes, and of various local names from country of use or species of capture, e.g. eel pot, Scottish creel. Usually set on the bottom, singly or in rows, and with a buoy to show their position although modern GPS equipment may enable the buoy to be submerged to prevent poaching (or facilitate poaching). Used to catch crabs, lobsters and occasionally fishes.

pot gear = pot.

pot-and-line = a stationary line with a buoy attached to a pot.

potable = water fit for human consumption.

potam- (prefix) = river.

potamal = adjective for potamon.

potamal zone = the sandy-sludge zone of a watercourse where summer temperatures exceed 20°C.

potamic = referring to rivers.

potamicolous = living in rivers.

potamocoa = the biotope and biocenosis of the potamal zone.

potamodromous = those fishes which make true migrations wholly in freshwater, e.g. Salminus, Moxostoma, Labeo.

potamology = the study of running water and its inhabitants.

potamon = the organisms inhabiting the sandy-sludge zone of a watercourse where summer temperatures exceed 20°C.

potamophobia = a fear or rivers or running water.

potamoplankton = plankton found in running water. Also called rheoplankton.

potassium permanganate = a strong oxidising chemical (KMnO₄) used as a disinfectant and to control external parasites of fishes.

potential fecundity = the batch of ripe ova present in the ovary, although some oocytes undergo atresia in the post-spawning period.

potential yield = the yield of fishes estimated to be available for exploitation.

potentially valid name = an available name which is not objectively invalid.

pothole lake = a lake filling a depression formed by glacial activity.

potpourri fishing = fishing where a variety of species are available or in which more than one method can be used.

potted herring = herring pickled with salt, vinegar and spices. Often as rolled fillets baked in an oven and sometimes sprayed with kipper dye after cooking.

potter = a person in charge of, or uses, fish pots.

potting = the act of setting and pulling pots.

pouch brooder = a reproductive guild (q.v.) where eggs are incubated in an external marsupium (an enlarged and everted lower lip, a fin pouch, a ventral pouch covered by a membranous or bony plate). The embryonic respiratory structures and pigments are usually well-developed, e.g. Loricaria vetula, Syngnathus spp., Hippocampus spp.

pouder = preserved with salt, cured. Also spelled powder.

pound = 1) 0.454 kg (avoirdupois, abbreviated as lb), 0.373 kg (troy, abbreviated as lb tr).

pound = 2) a temporary compartment or bulk constructed in a fishing stage, q.v., from boards in which to salt fish in Newfoundland.

pound = 3) the space where fish boxes are packed below deck on a ship.

pound = 4) an enclosure for fish, e.g. in inshore waters where fish are held before processing or a pond for fish.

pound = 5) pound net.

pound net = a net, fence, reed or bamboo screen, set, staked or moored in streams, in lakes or along the coast to direct fish into a holding container for easy removal. Also called trap net or setnet.

pounding = holding of live fish in tanks or nets for extended periods.

pout = a small fish (Scottish dialect).

pout net = a net fastened to poles by which fishermen poke the banks of rivers to force out the fish (British dialect). Also spelled powt net.

pout staff = the detachable pole of a pout net.

poutine = 1) young of several species of fish, especially Atherinidae. May be fried or used for making pissala.

poutine = 2) French fries topped with cheese curds and hot gravy (Québec).

pouting = spearing salmon (British dialect).

powder = pouder.

power = fishing power is the catch which a particular gear or vessel takes from a given density of fish during a certain time interval. Larger vessels have a greater ability to catch more fish and thus have greater their fishing power. Also, improvements in a vessel or gear, such as fish finders, Loran, etc., can increase fishing power. Depends on the area or volume affected by the gear, relative to the total area covered by the stock (a/A), the number of animals present in that area or volume relative to the total stock (n/N), and the proportion (p) of the animals present in that area or volume which can effectively be captured by the gear. If the stock (N) were randomly distributed in the distribution area (A), the proportion of the stock present in the sector affected by the gear (n/N) would be equal to (a/A) and the catch would be (pa/AN). p(a/A) will give a direct measure of fishing mortality.

power filter = a filter which hangs on the side of an aquarium or is submerged in it, containing an internal pump to draw water through. It provides mechanical filtration, and optionally chemical or biological filtration.

power roller = a roller at the stern of purse seiner that aids in hauling in nets.

powergum = a very strong silicone rubber line used as a shock absorber for lead weights and feeders in angling. Used when long casts are made so that the shock does not break the line.

powerhead = a small submersible pump with only one moving part, an impeller. Used to create current within a tank or to drive filters such as under gravel filters, canisters and protein skimmers. Usually too powerful for small aquaria.

powl = to wriggle or squirm as with a newly-caught fish (Scottish dialect).

powt net = pout net.

pox = any disease which causes skin and mucous membrane eruptions or lesions.

pox disease = carp pox (one of the oldest known fish diseases found in cultured carp, other cyprinids, pike-perch and aquarium fishes. It is caused by Herpesvirus cyprini. Also known as carp papillomatosis, epithelioma papulosum, fish pox, cyprinid herpesvirus I (CHV). Skin lesions appear as the water temperature drops in winter as small milky-white spots that merge and cover large skin areas).

pp. = pages.

ppb or p.p.b. = parts per billion.

ppm or p.p.m. = parts per million.

ppt or p.p.t. = parts per thousand.

practical salinity unit = the ratio K of the electrical conductivity of a sea water sample of 15°C and the pressure of one standard atmosphere, to that of a potassium chloride (KCl) solution, in which the mass fraction of KCl is 0.0324356, at the same temperature and pressure. The K value exactly equal to one corresponds, by definition, to a practical salinity equal to 35. In this definition, salinity is a ratio and parts per thousand (‰) is therefore no longer used, but an old value of 35‰ corresponds to a value of 35 in the practical salinity. Practical salinity is a ratio and strictly no units should be used but often PSU or psu is added to the value.

practice plug = a lure without hooks so that casting can be practiced on dry land without snagging.

praeopercle = preopercle.

praezygapophysis = prezyagapophysis.

præzygapophysis = prezyagapophysis.

pragmatotype = pragmatype.

pragmatype = an unofficial term in nomenclature for a specimen used as a source of information for a type lacking diagnostic characters.

prahoc = the gray, fermented fish paste of Cambodia. Strong-tasting but a Cambodian family consumes 20 kg a year.

prairie pothole = pothole lake on the plains of North America.

præcoracoid = a portion of the coracoid bone (q.v.) more or less separate from the rest.

præcoracoid arch = an arch in front of the coracoid (q.v.) bone.

Prc = photophore(s) on the lower half of the caudal peduncle at the base of the caudal fin in Myctophidae.

pre- (prefix) = before, anterior to. Often used in measurements for identification, e.g. predorsal length.

pre-baiting = throwing ground bait, q.v., into an area where the angler intends to fish the next day or next week. It attracts fish to this area on a regular basis to feed.

pre-ethmoid = one of the paired deep bones lying above the vomer in Amia and Esox. Similar bones occur in Catostomidae and Cyprinidae. Formerly called septomaxilla but not homologous with that bone in tetrapods.

pre-existing Codes = rank-based Codes (e.g. of Zoological Nomenclature) in operation before the PhyloCode was drafted in 1997-2000.

pre-existing name = a scientific name that, prior to its establishment under the PhyloCode was either potentially valid or valid, or in use but not governed by the Code of Zoological Nomenclature, e.g. names above the family-group.

pre-Linnaean name = a name published prior to 1 January 1758, the starting point for zoological nomenclature.

pre-recruit = a fish which has not yet reached the recruitment stage.

pre-spawning = of or pertaining to the period before spawning.

pre-spawning mortality = non-fishery mortality of adult fish between the time the fish enter a river on a migratory run and the completion of spawning.

pre-stretched line = line that has been stretched so that it is much thinner. Strength is retained but it is no longer as elastic. Used in Europe for catching small or very shy fish.

preacher = St. Anthony of Padua (1195-1231), a Franciscan monk, who preached to a school of fishes, which listened attentively.

preanal fin = fin in front of the anus in larval fishes.

preanal length = the distance from the anteriormost tip of the body to the anal fin origin or the centre of the anus.

preanal membrane = a membrane anterior to the anus in some larvae.

preanal myomeres = a count of the number of myomeres or muscle blocks before the anal fin in eel leptocephali. The count includes the myomere over the anus.

prearticular = 1) the paired dermal bone of the lower jaw covering the articular mesially, bearing teeth and having a well-developed coronoid process.

prearticular = 2) coronoid (a paired dermal bone bearing teeth located on the upper edge of Meckel's cartilage. One pair is found in Acipenseridae and two pairs in Amia and Lepisosteus. Also called presplenial, splenial and intradentary).

precatch loss = those fishes that die as a result of fishing, or through loss of gear, but are not caught.

precaudal photopbore = one of the light organs along the lower base of the caudal fin in Myctophidae. Abbreviated Prc.

precaudal pit = the notch on the caudal peduncle just before the caudal fin. Also called caudal pit.

precaudal vertebrae = the anterior vertebrae lacking haemal spines and mostly bearing ribs.

precautionary adjustment = precautionary approach.

precautionary approach = measures intended to reduce risk to the resource, its environment and the people involved in the fishery. The allowable catch biomass may be reduced or stock spawning biomass allowed to increase without scientific evidence of overfishing. See also F_pa, B_pa, F_lim and B_lim.

precautionary principle = precautionary approach.

precautionary reference points = estimated values derived via an agreed scientific procedure corresponding to the state of the fishery and used as a guide for fisheries management. There are two types, conservation or limit reference points and management or target reference points. The former constrain harvesting to produce maximum sustainable yield while the latter are intended to meet management objectives.

precautionary TAC = a TAC, q.v., set in the absence of scientific advice on stocks.

precedence = the order of seniority of available names or nomenclatural acts determined by application of the Principle of Priority or of simultaneously published names or acts as specified in the International Code of Zoological NomenclatureArticle, or by a ruling of the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature using its Plenary Power.

precentrum = the anterior portion of a vertebral centrum commonly bearing neural and haemal arches. In some fishes such centra alternate with centra having no arches.

prechordal cartilages = embryonic cranial elements medial to the optic capsules.

prechordal plate = axial hypoblast located anterior to the chorda mesoderm.

precipitation = discharge of water from the atmosphere onto land or water; also a measure of the quantity. A more general term than rainfall since it also includes snow, hail and sleet.

preclavus length = a measure of length in juvenile Molidae where a true caudal fin is absent, runs from tip of snout to base of pseudocaudal rays.

precocial = 1) young showing independent activity from birth. Opposite of altricial.

precocial = 2) a fish that has matured quickly, or faster than the remaining fish of its age-class. Usually exhibited by male fish.

precocious = 1) a fish that has matured quickly, or faster than the remaining fish of its age-class.

precocious = 2) any early formation of a structure during embryonic development compared to the typical timing.

precocious breeding = a female aquarium fish bred or breeding at too young an age. This may have an impact on growth and development as energy is directed towards egg production. Sexes may have to be separated to prevent this. See also overbreeding.

precocious parr = a male parr (Salmo salar) fully ripened or matured in fresh water (Allan and Ritter, 1977).

precoracoid = a portion of the coracoid bone (q.v.) more or less separate from the rest.

precoracoid arch = an arch in front of the coracoid (q.v.) bone.

precurrent = occurring beforehand.

predation = preying or feeding on other animals.

predatory = adjective for predation.

predentary = a neomorph bone found in Istiophoridae.

predominant = the fish species that is the most abundant in a catch, not always the target species.

predorsal = before the dorsal fin.

predorsal bones = median bones located between the head and the dorsal fin above the vertebral column which resemble the proximal radials of the dorsal fin with which they are serially homologous.

predorsal length = the distance from the dorsal origin to the anteriormost tip of the head (the lip, snout or lower jaw).

predorsal myomeres = a count of the number of myomeres or muscle blocks before the dorsal fin in eel leptocephali. The count includes the myomere under the dorsal fin origin.

predorsal ridge = a ridge of tissue on the nape in Monacanthidae, regarded as an adipose fin by some workers.

predorsal scales = the row of scales along the midline between the dorsal fin and the back of the skull. In counting, all scales crossing the midline are included.

predrying = removal of some moisture from a fish as a prelude to further processing such as smoking.

pree the nets = to make a test haul to see if an area is productive of fish, especially herring (Scottish dialect).

preen = to stop at any place and make a try for fish (Shetland and Orkneys dialect).

preen hook = a hook used in fishing (Shetland and Orkneys dialect).

preethmoid = pre-ethmoid.

prefilter = a small mechanical filter attached to the input of another filter, usually biological. It is there to make sure that the biofilter does not get clogged with gunk, decreasing its effectiveness.

preflexion = one of three substages in the larval stage of fishes (the others being flexion and postflexion, q.v.). The notochord is straight and caudal fin structures are beginning to form on the ventral side of the notochord.

prefrontal = a superficial, paired, dermal bone lying in front of the eye between the lacrymal and first supraorbital and covering and fusing with the parethmoid; a term often used for the lateral ethmoid or a portion of the lateral ethmoid of dermal origin.

pregnancy test = the bitterling (Rhodeus amarus, Cyprinidae) was used briefly for pregnancy tests on humans. A female bitterling would stretch her ovipositor if her fish bowl contained as little as one teaspoonful of urine from a pregnant woman, presumably occasioned by female sex hormones in the urine. It was later found that secretions from the adrenal glands of male and female humans also caused the same effect and the test was discontinued (Time, 12 October 1936).

prehaemal vertebrae = abdominal vertebrae.

prehensile = capable of grasping, e.g. the tail of a seahorse, Hippocampus.

prejuvenile = a developmental stage following acquisition of minimum fin ray complement of adult but before before assuming adult-like body form. Used for fish strikingly different from juvenile.

premaxilla (noun, plural premaxillae) = one of the paired, superficial, usually toothed, dermal bones of the upper jaw, proximal or anterior to the maxillaries; in primitive Teleostomi they comprise the middle, in more advanced forms they may comprise the whole, of the oral edge of the upper jaw. Teeth may be present. In Diodontidae, the premaxillae are ankylosed and form a single bone. Absent in Chondrostei. In Holostei (Lepisoteus and Amia) the bone has two ossification centres and therefore is a double bone. Holostei and Teleostei have an ascending process anteriorly but these may not be homologous. Posterior to the ascending process in Teleostei there may be an articular and a postmaxillary process, and a posterior extension, the caudal process. Also called premaxillary, surmaxillary, bimaxillary or intermaxillary.

premaxillae = plural of premaxilla.

premaxillary (adjective) = structures on or involving the premaxilla.

premaxillo-ethmo-vomer = a clumsy name for the fused premaxilla, vomer, ethmoid and lateral ethmoid in Anguilliformes.

premaxillo-nasal = the antorbital in Lepisosteus which has three nasal bones, prenasal or rostral, adnasal or nasal and premaxillo-nasal or antorbital.

premises = the waterfront property, including the stores, wharf, flakes and other facilities, of a merchant, planter or fisherman (Newfoundland).

premium species = those fish of particular commercial value such as sturgeons and salmonids.

premix = in aquaculture, a combination of dietary items mixed and blended before being added to the main part of the ration.

prenasal = an anterior dermal bone near the snout tip, bearing a sensory canal. Also called rostral.

preoccupied name = one that is a junior homonym, a name with the same spelling that is erected anew for another taxon.

preocular = before the eye.

preocular head spine = a spine on the head of Scorpaenidae members. They are, from anterior to posterior over the top of the head on each side, the nasal, preocular, supraocular, postocular, tympanic, coronal (medial to the tympanic and postocular spines), parietal, and nuchal. Opercular spines are at the postero-dorsal corner of the operculum, preopercular spines line the posterior margin of the preoperculum, and the cleithral and postcleithral spines are just above the opercular spines on the side of the head.

preopercle = the L-shaped dermal bone which lies in front of the gill cover and which bears the upper part of the preoperculo-mandibular lateral line canal. It may bear spines or fine teeth. It belongs to the suspensorium rather than the opercular series and acts to prevent the suspensorium from moving laterally. Also called preoperculum.

preopercular bone = preopercle.

preopercular head spine = a spine on the head of Scorpaenidae members. They are, from anterior to posterior over the top of the head on each side, the nasal, preocular, supraocular, postocular, tympanic, coronal (medial to the tympanic and postocular spines), parietal, and nuchal. Opercular spines are at the postero-dorsal corner of the operculum, preopercular spines line the posterior margin of the preoperculum, and the cleithral and postcleithral spines are just above the opercular spines on the side of the head.

preoperculo-mandibular canal = the cephalic lateral line canal extending along the preoperculum and lower jaw. The preopercular and mandibular parts of the canal may be disconnected. Abbreviated as PM.

preoperculum = preopercle.

preorbital = 1) the usually large bone lying anterior and slightly ventral to the eye. Also known as the lachrymal or first suborbital. The preorbital is the first of the circumorbital series. In Lepisosteus comprises 6-8 ossicles, joined by teeth and forming the border of the upper jaw.

preorbital = 2) the area anterior to or below the eye.

prepacked = fish which has been made up in a container ready for the customer to buy.

preparation = a specimen or part thereof preserved apart from or in a different way to the original specimen, e.g. scales on a microscope slide.

prepectoral pores = a count of pores before the pectoral fin used in identification of members of the Anguilliformes.

prepelvic tenaculum = clasper, q.v. (a supplemental clasper in Holocephali, in front of the pelvic fin).

preprint = an article printed especially for private distribution in advance of the publication that is to contain it. It carries a date in advance of a later reissue as part of a collective or cumulative work. Preprints may be published works for the purposes of zoological nomenclature.

present = the process of presentation (verb).

presentation (noun) = 1) placing the right bait, lure or fly in the right place in the right way in order to catch a fish.

presentation = 2) a payment for fishing rights (12th century England).

preservation = 1) the process of storing organisms in a museum indefinitely by some process that halts decay. Fishes are preserved by immersion in formalin (an aqueous solution of formaldehyde) at concentrations depending on the size (thickness) of the specimen (usually in the 5-10% range). Large specimens may require injection to ensure that the formalin reaches internal tissues. Formalin fixes the proteins, stops enzymatic decay and kills bacteria. Specimens are later transferred to an ethanol solution (70-80%) which is non-carcinogenic and easier to work with.

preservation = 2) use of additives to extend shelf life of fish products. They serve to inhibit bacterial growth and chemical changes in the product. Preservatives are not usually permitted for chilled or frozen raw fish but are used in marinades and in dried fish.

preservation = 3) the maintenance of individual organisms, populations or species by planned management and breeding programmes.

presmolt = a juvenile salmon with parr marks.

presorting = removal of material from a catch before the point where a sample is taken.

prespenial = coronoid (a paired dermal bone bearing teeth located on the upper edge of Meckel's cartilage. One pair is found in Acipenseridae and two pairs in Amia and Lepisosteus. Also called splenial, prearticular and intradentary).

press = placing split and salted cod in a pile at various stages of the curing and drying process.

press cake = residue left over from the pressing stage in making fish meal and oil from fatty fish. It comprises 55-60% water and 4-5% oil. Usually dried and ground to make meal. The watery liquid from the pressing stage is called press liquor.

press liquor = watery liquid pressed out from cooked fish comprising dissolved solids, solids in suspension, oil and water. The oil is separated with a centrifuge, the solid matter is press cake and the watery part remaining is called stick water.

pressed caviar = originally the only way to preserve caviar, this type is now made from sevruga or oscietre eggs that have been damaged in processing, or from immature or overripe eggs. It has a very salty, fishy taste and 6 kg of eggs make 1 kg of pressed caviar.

pressed fish = whole salted fish packed in barrels and pressed to about one-third their original bulk.

pressed pilchards = whole pilchards, dry salted packed in barrels and pressed to about one-third of the original bulk; further fish are added to the barrel and the pressing continued until the barrel is full.

pressure = 1) quantity of fish caught per hectare (fishing pressure).

pressure = 2) a measure of resource use by anglers, e.g. number of angler hours, party hours, boat hours, trips on the water. Also called fishing effort.

prestige bias = exaggeration of size of number of fish caught as reported by anglers in an angler survey; bragging.

preterminal = slightly anterior to the posterior point, e.g. a barbel attached slightly anterior to the end of the upper lip (subterminal).

pretrematic filament = one of the posterior set of gill filaments extending into the gill slit behind each gill arch at the anterior border of the gill slit.

pretty kettle of fish = a bad state of affairs; a very difficult and annoying situation; something to be considered or reckoned with. From kiddle, a basket set in the opening of a weir for catching fish. Also called a nice kettle of fish.

preural vertebra = one of a series of vertebrae preceding the ural vertebrae and distinguished by lacking hypurals. They precede the bifurcation of the caudal artery. Called PU₁, PU₂, etc, counted anteriorly from the first ural vertebra.

prevailing usage = that usage of the name which is adopted by at least a substantial majority of the most recent authors concerned with the relevant taxon, irrespective of how long ago their work was published.

prevomer = a frequently toothed median or paired dermal bone in the middle of the roof of the mouth covering the ethmoid ventrally and in front of the parasphenoid. Often incorrectly called vomer, but this bone in mammals is not homologous with the bone in fishes.

prezygapophyses = plural of prezygapophysis.

prezygapophysis (plural prezygapophyses) = an anterior process of a vertebra which articulates with the postzygapophysis of the vertebra anterior to it. There may be paired dorsal prezygapophyses and paired ventral prezygapophyses. The articular facet is on the dorsal surface of the prezygapophysis.

priapia = plural of priapium.

priapium (plural priapia) = a complex muscular and bony clasping and copulatory organ derived mainly from the pelvic fins, found under the head of male Phallostethoidea with the anus opening on one side and the genital pore on the other. The structure varies among family members. Hook-like ctenactia articulate basally with the aproctal axial which is movably articulated with the proctal axial bone itself, suspended anteriorly by the outer (and sometimes inner) pulvinular bone from the cleithrum and perhaps the urohyal. Other elements are the priapal ribs, the anteplural cartilage (supporting elements along with the cleithrum and the pulvinar), the toxactinium, the infrasulcar and the uncus (forming the claspers along with the ctenactinium), the penial, basipenial, papillary, prepapillary and cristate bones (forming the papillary unit).

prick butts = to stalk flatfish at the ebb tide (Norfolk dialect).

pricking = the process of piercing the swimbladders of deep water fish, especially cod, before placing the fish in the well.

prickle = a small sharp spine, modified from a scale, e.g. in Liparidae, Cottus.

priest = a short club used by anglers to stun or kill fish.

primary bone = bony tissue deposited where bone did not exist before.

primary collection = specimens in a museum collection meant to held in perpetuity.

primary consumer = a fish that feeds on the lowest level of a community's food web, namely plants. Also called first-level consumer.

primary female = a female genetically determined at birth or hatching and not the result of a sex change. See primary male.

primary food = the most important food in the diet of a fish.

primary freshwater fishes = those strictly intolerant of salt water, e.g. Dipnoi, Polypteridae, Osteoglossidae, most Cyprinidae, Characidae, most families of Siluroidei, Centrarchidae, Percidae, Percopsidae, Dalliidae.

primary homonym = the two or more identical species-group names applied to different taxa in the same nominal genus when first published.

primary host = definitive host (the fish in which a parasite passes it adult or reproductive phase. Also called final host).

primary male = a male with a normal and permanent testicular component in contrast to a secondary male which develops testicular tissues as ovarian tissue regresses, e.g. the usual state in fishes but very rare in many populations of Rivulus marmoratus (Cyprinodontidae). See hermaphrodism and primary female.

primary mandible = Meckel's cartilage (the functional lower jaw of Elasmobranchii and Holocephali, the embryonic lower jaw of other gnathostomous vertebrates which ossifies at least in part as the mentomeckelian, mediomeckelian, coronomeckelian, articular and retroarticular. It remains in some adult fishes as a pointed rod embedded in the dentary and angular. Also called mandibular cartilage and ceratomandibular cartilage. See also Bridge's ossicles).

primary motoneuron = spinal motoneurons innervating body wall muscles. These are large, develop early and are present in 3-4 pairs per spinal segment.

primary osteon = a vascular canal surrounded by concentric bone lamellae, nor depending on previous resorption.

primary phase = the first adult colour phase of a sexually dichromatic fish. Also called initial phase.

primary product = a fish product with the highest recovery rate, e.g. fillets.

primary radius = a radius on a fish scale extending from the focus to the scale margin. Secondary radii do not extend the full distance.

primary sex characteristic = the ovaries and testes, determining the sex of a fish.

primary type = an obsolete term in nomenclature for the specimen on which a new species-group name is based. Also called proterotype.

prime = 1) the more expensive kinds of fish.

prime = 2) the verb for priming behaviour.

prime = 3) a quality or cure of dried and salted cod.

prime = 4) inshore waters rich in cod (Newfoundland).

priming behaviour = fish breaking the water surface, gulping air. Often seen prior to feeding behaviour at dusk. See also porpoising.

priming of tide = the periodic acceleration in the time of occurrence of high and low waters due to changes in the relative positions of the Sun and Moon.

primitive character = a character or character state possessed by an ancestral species; a plesiomorphy.

primogyne = the primary type female of a species.

primordia = plural of primordium.

primordial granule = the initial component of the otolith primordium. Several primordial granules may occur in each primordium composed of vaterite in sagittae with the rest of the primordium aragonite.

primordium (plural primordia) = granular or fibrillar material surrounding a dense nucleus in the otolith, 0.5-1.0 μm in diameter. One to several primordia may fuse to form the otolith core.

primordium of the lateral line = a placoidally-derived rudiment of the posterior lateral line. Used to define stages during the pharyngula period as it migrates posteriorly through the skin overlying the horizontal myosepta, depositing neuromast primordia along its route.

principal caudal ray = see principal ray.

Principal Components Analysis = a method of transforming the axes of multidimensional space in which data occur so that the first axis explains the maximum amount of variance, the second axis, which is orthogonal to the first, explains the maximum of the remaining variance, and so on. The first 2 or 3 principal components explain most of the variance.

principal man = the man in charge of a fishing boat or with special skills and experience (Newfoundland).

principal ray = a large ray, branched or unbranched, larger than the minor or rudimentary rays. In the caudal fin the principal rays are usually attached to the hypural plates, are larger than the rudimentary rays; and usually include, in adults, the branched rays + 2. See also main rays.

principal species = species important to the viability of the fishery, both target and non-target.

Principle of Binomial Nomenclature = the principle that the scientific name of a species, and not a taxon at any other rank, is a combination of two names (a binomen, q.v.); the Principle also applies to the trinomen (q.v.) and uninominal names for taxa above the species group.

Principle of Continuity = uniformitarianism (the present is the key to the past. The physical and biological factors which link today's variations must have been in operation in the past).

Principle of Coordination = the principle that within the family group, genus group or species group a name established for a taxon at any rank in the group is deemed to be simultaneously established with the same author and date for taxa based on the same name-bearing type at other ranks in the group.

Principle of First Reviser = see first revisor.

Principle of Homonymy = see homonymy.

Principle of Priority = the valid name of a taxon, with certain exceptions and limitations, is the oldest name applied to it (provided that the name is not invalidated by any provision of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature or by any ruling by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature).

Principle of Typification = the principle that each nominal taxon in the family group, genus group or species group has, actually or potentially, a name-bearing type fixed to provide the objective standard of reference by which the application of the name is determined.

printed matter = a phrase describing text and/or illustrations printed in quantity and permanent form. Each letter of text and each illustration is formed from a fabricated master.

printed on paper = a phrase describing text and/or illustrations printed on paper using wet ink from a prepared surface, e.g. typeface, lithographic stone, woodblocks. Photography using light-sensitive paper is not included in this definition.

printer's error = an incorrect spelling made in type-setting (often called typographical error). Such errors may have significance in nomenclature.

priorable name = a name that is established and is to be taken into account for purposes of determining the accepted name of a taxon.

priority = the valid name of a taxon is usually the oldest name applied to it; seniority fixed by date of publication (avialability).

prismatic calcified cartilage = a special type of hard tissue lining the cartilages of the chondrichthyan endoskeleton.

pristane = a hydrocarbon in the liver oil of sharks used in manufacturing machine lubricants and skin softeners.

pristine = an unaltered and undisturbed fish habitat.

pristine population = virgin population (utilised stock (the part, by number, of the fish alive at a given time, which will be caught in the future)).

pristis = pistris.

pristrix = pistris.

pro = short for professional as in professional fisherman who sport fishes for a living.

pro- (prefix) = before, in front of, forward.

pro minore parte = for the smaller part. Abbreviated as min. parte.

pro parte = in part, used in author citations to show that only part of a taxon, as defined by a previous author, is being referred to by the writer. Abbreviated as p. p.

pro sp. = abbreviation for pro specie.

pro specie = as a species. Used in citations to indicate either that a binary name regarded as that of a hybrid was originally published as that of a species, or as a synonym of another. Abbreviated as pro sp.

proadge = to move the end of a fishing rod up and down gently in the water (sic) to lure the fish to the fly (Scottish dialect). Also spelled prodg, progj and prooge.

proatlas = the vertebral face on the posterior end of the basioccipital where the skull articulates with the first vertebra.

proboscis = elongated, flexible extension of the snout, e.g. in some Chondrichthyes.

procælian = concave in front.

process = any projection from a body such as a bone. Apophysis, condyle, head, tuberosity, etc. are all processes.

processed fishery product = any fish product that has undergone some process, chemical or physical, to further prepare it, e.g. salting, smoking, drying, marinating, freezing, etc.

processing = the receiving and preparation of fish, including cleaning, cooking, canning, smoking, salting, drying, or freezing.

processus articulares = plural of processus articularis.

processus articularis (plural processus articulares) = articular process (a projection of the upper border of the premaxilla acting as a fulcrum for the protrusion of the maxilla).

processus ascendens (plural processus ascendentes) = ascending process (a vertical process on the anterior part of the premaxillary bone in most teleosts. Not homologous with a similar structure in Holostei (Amia and Lepisosteus), called the nasal process).

processus ascendentes = plural of processus ascendens.

processus coronoidei = plural of processus coronoideus.

processus coronoideus (plural processus coronoidei) = coronoid process (a dorsal hump on the dorsal wing of the dentary, or on the angular or on the posterior end of Meckel's cartilage).

processus dentiformis= a tooth-like projection at the symphysis of the upper jaw in Balitoridae. It may fit into a notch in the lower jaw. Also called dentiform process.

processus nasales = plural of processus nasalis.

processus nasalis (plural processus nasales) = nasal process (a vertical process on the anterior maxillary bone in Holostei (Amia and Lepisosteus), not homologous with a similar structure in most teleosts called the ascending process).

processus postmaxillares = plural of processus postmaxillaris.

processus postmaxillaris (plural processus postmaxillares) = postmaxillary process.

processus quadratojugales = plural of processus quadratojugalis.

processus quadratojugalis (plural processus quadratojugales) = quadrotojugal process (a process on the quadrate formed by the fusion of the quadratojugal to the quadrate after its initial independent ossification, e.g. in Salmo and Syngnathus).

processus spinosi dorsales = plural of processus spinosus dorsalis.

processus spinosus dorsalis (plural processus spinosi dorsales) = neural spine (the dorsal spine on top of the neural arch, directed backwards. These spines are bifid posteriorly in Diodontidae. Also called neuracanth and neurapophysis).

processus spinosus inferior (plural processus spinosi inferiores) = haemal spine (a spine extending downwards from the lower end of the haemal arch in posterior or caudal vertebrae. Also called haemacanth and haemapophysis).

processus spinosi inferiores = plural of processus spinosus inferior.

processus spinosi ventrales = plural of processus spinosus ventralis.

processus spinosus ventralis (plural processus spinosi ventrales) = haemal spine (a spine extending downwards from the lower end of the haemal arch in posterior or caudal vertebrae. Also called haemacanth and haemapophysis).

proctal fin = anal fin (the median ventral fin or fins behind the anus. Abbreviated as A, or A1 and A2 if there are two. Also called proctopterygium, it functions to maintain equilibrium against rolling).

proctal axial or pelvic = the basal bone of the priapium, q.v., a copulatory organ in the Phallostethidae.

proctopterygia = plural of proctopterygium.

proctopterygium (plural proctopterygia) = anal fin (the median ventral fin or fins behind the anus. Abbreviated as A, or A1 and A2 if there are two. It functions to maintain equilibrium against rolling).

procumbent = leaning forward.

procurrent = inclined forward.

procurrent ray = one of a series of small, unsegmented rays on the dorsal and ventral edges of the caudal fin.

procurrent spur = a ventrally projecting spur on the posteriormost ventral procurrent caudal ray overlapping ventrally the preceding ray in various percomorphs (Johnson, 1975).

prodg = proadge.

produce = fish resulting from the use of natural resources.

produced = elongate, projecting, extended.

product recovery rate = the ratio expressed as a percentage of the weight of processed product divided by the round weight of fish used to produce that amount of product.

product risk group = in fish inspection, fish products which share common risks related to processing, packaging, storage conditions, shelf life and intended consumption.

production = 1) the total elaboration of new body substance in a stock in a unit if time, irrespective of whether or not it survives to the end of that time. Also called net production, total production.

production = 2) yield (Ricker, 1975).

production = 3) total annual catch in weight.

production capacity = the capacity of a water body or production facility to produce fish.

production expansion factor = the total number of fish released from a hatchery divided by the number of tagged fish released. Used to estimate hatchery contribution to a stock and fish survival rate.

production model = a population model that describes how biomass changes from year to year or how biomass changes in equilibrium as a function of fishing mortality. Three or four simple parameters are used in a deterministic model. Production models are used primarily in simple data situations where total catch and effort data are available but age-structured data is unavailable or less reliable.

production pond = a large pond where fingerlings are raised to marketable size.

productivity = a measure of the capacity of a biological system, the amount of fish supported or produced by a given area in a given time. Also used as a measure of the efficiency with which a biological system converts energy into growth and production. A highly productive stock of fishes has high birth, growth and mortality rates resulting in high turnover and production to biomass ratios. Such a stock can be exploited fully and can recover more easily if depleted.

proethmoid = one of the paired dermal bones resting behind on the frontals and in front on the cartilage above the prevomer, e.g. in Esocoidei.

profanotype = a joke term in nomenclature for a type with an offensive or obscene name.

professional breeder = brood fish spawning several times in a year.

professional overrun = a tangle of line from a reel's overrun. Also called backlash or professional spaghetti.

professional spaghetti = a tangle of line from a reel's overrun. Also called backlash or professional overrun.

profile = 1) the outline of the head from the snout to the occiput or to the front of the dorsal fin, as viewed from the side.

profile = 2) the outline of a fish in silhouette, often characteristic of a taxon.

profile = 3) the outline an artificial fly presents to a fish, ideally duplicating a natural food item.

profundal zone = the zone in lakes including all of the basin floor in contact with the hypolimnion, below the depth of effective light penetration.

prog = oil from rendered fish livers poured over fish at a meal, or into which fish are dipped. Also refers to fish and potatoes eaten with liver oil.

progenic = a type of serial tooth replacement where the teeth develop on the anterior edge of the jaw, then move posteriorly into functional position, e.g. Girella nigricans (Girellidae)(opposite to the condition in Elasmobranchii).

progging = fishing for eels hidden in holes with a stocking needle fastened by the eye to the end of a willow wand, and to the middle of it is tied a long string. The free end is baited with a worm. This is then pushed into the hole. As soon as the eel has taken the bait, the fisherman pulls the string, reversing the needle and so capturing the eel (Northumberland dialect).

progj = proadge.

proglacial = features of glacial origin beyond the limits of the glacier, e.g. a meltwater stream.

prognathous = 1) having jaws that project forward markedly.

prognathous = 2) having a projecting lower jaw. See also hypognathous.

progressive count = a count of anglers or boats as a recorder moves through a fishery.

progressotype = a joke term in nomenclature for a type whose habitat has been overtaken by urbanisation so that the species is probably extinct.

prohibited species = any species of fish that a vessel is not specifically allocated or authorized to retain, including fish caught or received in excess of any allocation or authorization.

projection = a measure of how the stock and fishery will behave in the future. Used to support decisions in respect of quotas over the short term of 1-4 years. Longer term projections are not as accurate.

prolarva = larva still bearing yolk (Hubbs, 1943).

proliferative gill disease = a disease of farmed freshwater fish, mostly in new ponds, caused by a myxosporidean parasite (Henneguya exilis, or possibly the myxozoan Sphaerospora ictaluri or Aurantiactinomyxo). Cysts develop on the gills causing respiratory distress as well as various internal organs. Also called hamburger gill disease.

proliferative kidney disease = a temperature-dependent disease of salmonids from a myxosporean protozoan causing gross changes in the kidney. Fish become dark in colour, anaemic and show abdominal swelling. Growth is slowed and loss of stock is catastrophic once another stressor is introduced. Abbreviated as PKD.

prolonged speed = sustained speed (the swimming speed that a fish can maintain for prolonged periods but ultimately tires and shows some degree of stress).

promiscuous = free spawning and not restricted to a single sexual partner, e.g. livebearers.

promontory = a high point of land extending into water; a headland.

pronephros = the type of kidney found in the anterior part of the body cavity with only one pair of tubules per somite; found in adult Myxini, a few adult Teleostomi, and embryos of other fishes and tetrapods; the fore-kidney or head kidney.

prong (noun) = 1) a long-handled fork with one or two sharp tines used to transfer fish from one place to another (Newfoundland).

prong (verb) = 2) the process of using a prong (Newfoundland).

prood = proud (Scottish dialect).

prooge = proadge.

prootic = the anterior, deep dermal bone of the otic capsule. In Amia it is the only bone of the otic capsule.

prop bait = in angling, a topwater plug that has one or more propellor-like spinning blades at either end or in the middle of its body. The rotation of these props splash the water surface on retrieval.

propagation = to increase the number of fish by various methods from a parent stock.

proportional quota = a fishing quota made proportional to the total allowable catch instead of an exact amount. As the TAC varies so does the amount of fish that can be caught by a quota holder.

proposal = 1) an action, whether successful or unsuccessful, to establish a nominal taxon or name or to carry out a nomenclatural act. Also called propositus. Abbreviated as prop.

proposal = 2) an application to the International Commission of Zoological Nomenclature for the adoption of a part of the List of Available Names in Zoology. Also called propositus. Abbreviated as prop.

propositus = proposal.

propterygia = plural of propterygium.

propterygium (plural propterygia) = the anterior basal cartilage of the paired fins of Elasmobranchii, Holocephali and primitive Teleostomi. It is often the shortest of the three basal cartilage. In skates and rays the pectoral propterygium is elongated anteriorly to support the numerous radial cartilages of these greatly expanded fins.

proscapula = cleithrum.

prosecute = to engage in fishing.

prosencephalon = the forebrain, one of three regions in the developing brain. Details of the brain structure of a fish (Danio rero) may be found in Wullimann et al. (1996). See also brain.

prospecting = the search for fish stocks in areas thought to be suitable for the species sought and the estimate of the abundance and distribution of that stock.

prostitutotype = a joke term in nomenclature for a type specimen sold to the highest bidder.

protandrous = adjective for protandry.

protandry (adj. protandrous) = sequential hermaphroditism where the fish functions first as a male and then as a female.

protected area = a geographically defined area where conservation is carried out.

protected fish zone = that part of a water body where fish catches are prohibited.

Protected Geographical Indication = a food name in the European Union that has a protected status and can only be used for a product or traditional recipe from a particular area, e.g. Cornish sardine, q.v., Arbroath smokie, q.v., Scottish Farmed Salmon, Grimsby Smoked Fish, q.v. Abbreviated as PGI.

protected name = nomen protectum (a protected name applied to a name which has been given precedence over its unused senior synonym or a senior homonym relegated to the status of nomen oblitum).

protection piece = chafing gear (any materials attached to wear points on nets).

protective food = in aquaculture, food which contains the essential requirements for growth and maintenance.

protein concentrate = a flour comprised of dried and powdered fish used as a food supplement. It is odourless, tasteless and has more protein than in the original fish flesh. Abbreviated as FPC.

protein efficiency ratio = the ratio between the amount of proteins consumed and production, production per unit of protein fed.

protein skimmer = an aquarium chemical filtration system which removes dissolved organic compounds and microscopic particles. Many small bubbles are sent through a column of water, forming a foam, to separate dissolved organic compounds from the water. The compounds and particles stick to the bubbles and are carried to the top of the unit where they are collected in a removable cup. They come in four varieties, downflow, venturi, counter-current, and co-current and are only really effective in salt water. They may be placed in the tank, hung on the side, or placed in a sump. Also called a foam fractionator.

protein-depleted diet = in aquaculture, a feed with insufficient content of proteins; also a protein-free diet.

protein-free diet = in aquaculture, a feed not containing protein.

proterocercal = the type of tail fin primitively symmetrical, both internally and externally, and hence one which has not undergone reduction or modification of the original form, e.g. in Petromyzontiformes. Also called protocercal.

proterocercy = condition in a proterocercal tail.

proterogynous hermaphrodite = organism first female, later changing to male, e.g. Epinephelus guttatus (Serranidae).

proterotype = 1) an obsolete term for a primary type (q.v.).

proterotype = 2) all the original specimens collected at one time from which the type(s) were selected.

proto- (prefix) = first, original, earliest.

proto-larva = a larval phase in which distinct median fin elements are not yet apparent.

protocercal = proterocercal.

protograph = 1) the original illustrations of a holotype.

protograph = 2) the single illustration of a primary type made by the author of the name at the time of its original description.

protogynous = adjective for protogyny or a proterogynous hermaphrodite.

protogyny (adj. protogynous) = organism first female, later changing to male, e.g. Epinephelus guttatus (Serranidae). Divided into two types functionally, monandry where all males develop from functional females by sex change and diandry where there are two possible pathways. The two pathways of diandry are adult sex change as in monandry and also by direct male development from the juvenile phase with no adult sex change.

protologue = everything associated with a scientific name when it was made available, i.e. the text and illustrations with all the included data involved in a scientific description.

protonym = in taxonomy, a name that is not validly published but is re-used and validly published.

protopterygio-larva = a larva in the interval between the transition of exogenous feeding and the commencement of differentiation of embryonic median finfold (the first appearance of mesenchymatic buds of lepidotrichia and dorsal and anal fin outlines within the finfold).

protopterygium = one of the three basal cartilages of the pectoral fin in the the sharks and rays along with the protopterygium and mesopterygium, both q.v.

prototype = 1) a primary type.

prototype = 2) the most primitive representative of a group; the hypothetical ancestor.

prototypus = prototype (1).

protractile = capable of being retracted, as of the upper jaw.

protractor post-temporalis mechanism = a sound-producing mechanism in certain catfishes, e.g. Bagridae. A muscle runs from the neurocranium to the anterior margin of the post-temporo-supracleithrum which is directly associated with the anterior process of the 4th parapophysis which in turn is closely associated with the gas bladder wall. Movement of this muscle would vibrate the gas bladder and produce sound. See also drumming muscles and elastic spring mechanism.

protrusible = capable of being protruded, extended or thrust out, e.g. the upper jaw or both jaws project forward to form a tube or scoop-like cutting surface.

protype = an unofficial term in nomenclature for a good specimen which supplants a fragmentary holotype. Also called proxy type. See also epitype.

protypus = protype.

proud = said of fish slow to take the bait, difficult to catch or elusive (Scottish dialect).

prove = 1) to stop at any place at sea in order to make a trial for fish.

prove = 2) to sample a net; rather than pull up a long train of nets, a sample of nets nearest the boat is pulled up to see if there are any fish present.

proverbs = see under Quotations as the the letter Q lacks piscine entries.

provision = in nomenclature, a term equivalent to a rule.

provisional quota = a temporary allocation of catch to fishermen in proportion to their fishing history. Instigated when a new system is being introduced and may require the government to buy up some provisional quotas so that the total quota issued equals the desired total allowable catch.

proximal = situated towards the base or toward the body; inner, nearest, basal. Opposite of distal.

proxy type = protype.

pruive = prove (1) and (2) (Scottish dialect).

psammic = adjective for psammon.

psammon = organisms growing on, in or moving through sand.

psammonic = adjective for psammon.

psammophil = 1) a reproductive guild (q.v.) of a sand spawner characterised by adhesive eggs scattered in running water on sand or fine roots over sand, having free embryos without cement glands, being phototropic, having feebly developed respiratory structures, large pectoral fins and large cupulae, e.g. Percina caprodes (Percidae).

psammophil = 2) a reproductive guild (q.v.) of a sand nester having a thick adhesive chorion with sand grains gradually washed off or bouncing buoyant eggs. Free embryos lean on large pectoral fins and embryonic respiratory structures are feebly developed, e.g. Pseudogobio rivularis.

psammophilic = sand-loving.

psammophilous = sand-loving.

pseudacanth = a false fin spine; a hard-ray; a spine-like ray which develops from a soft ray and acquires a stiff and pointed character. Pseudacanths are found in certain groups of fishes amongst the Malacopterygii which lack the spinous rays found in many Acanthopterygii, e.g. Notacanthidae, Cyprinus (Cyprinidae), Ictalurus (Ictaluridae).

pseudo-albinism = hypomelanosis (lack of pigmentation, e.g. on the eyed side of some individual flatfishes, cf. hypermelanosis).

pseudo-apron = apron-like vertical ridges on lateral and posterior teeth in some Chondrichthyes (Herman et al., 1994).

pseudo-osteodont = the former pulp cavity of an originally orthodont histotype (q.v.) of chondrichthyan tooth being filled secondarily with osteodontine (Herman et al., 1994).

pseudobathyal zone = Antarctic trenches with a depth of 1000-1600 m separated by sills from the true bathyal zone. Areas of isolation and evolution for notothenioids.

pseudobranch = pseudobranchia.

pseudobranchia (plural pseudobranchiae) = a small gill (a hemibranch) found on the inside of the gill cover near the base. Despite the prefix pseudo it appears to be serially homologous with the other gills. Also called the hyoidean hemibranch or opercular gill. A spiracular pseudobranch may be found in the spiracle. The pseudobranch may be involved in hormonal activations or carbonaceous secretions.

pseudobranchiae = plural of pseudobranchia.

pseudocartilage = tissue found in mental and mandibulary barbels of catfishes and in strips attached to the associated intermandibularis posterior muscles. It is composed of large oval cells lying close together with an homogenous interstitial matrix.

pseudocaudal fin = gephyrocercal fin (a secondary condition of symmetry in the caudal fin where the original caudal fin has been lost and the interval is bridged by caudal elements. Symmetrical internally and externally, e.g. Mola, Fierasfer, Carapus. Sometimes applied to any secondary internal symmetry).

pseudoceanic = fish that are members of an oceanic group found over the continental slope and shelf and near islands and are associated with land-orientated food chains.

pseudoclasper = one or more pairs of stiff ossified lobes or prongs found in the tip of the intromittent organ of Bythitoidei.

pseudocleaner = a mimic of a cleaner fish that attacks fish attracted to a cleaner station, taking scales and fin pieces, and then hiding in a shelter.

pseudocompound = a name or epithet combining elements form two or more Greek or Latin words.

pseudoextinction = the apparent disappearance of a taxon, not due to the death of all members, but to the evolution of novel features in one or more lineages. As a result, new clades are not recognized as belonging to the paraphyletic ancestral group, whose members have ceased to exist.

pseudofin = one of the small fin-like horizontal flaps, folding toward the midline on the side of the caudal peduncle of some juvenile scombrids between about 32-200 mm. The flaps are supported by flexible rays and are later replaced by ridges, e.g. Auxis.

pseudofulcrum = a forked dermal ray formed of scales which lie at the front of fins of teleosts such as Doras and Synodontis (Siluriformes) and which are not homologous with the fulcra of Acipenseriformes.

pseudogenotype = any species absent from an originally described genus, which was later designated as the type species of that genus.

pseudogenus = an artificial assemblage of species for the temporary convenience of treating a particular character or set of characters, e.g. pseudogenera based on the morphology of male claspers in sharks and rays. Pseudogenera have been named but as a means of temporary reference they are not for formal taxonomic use as scientific names.

pseudohyal = coalesced hyoid rays in Rajidae as the ventral elements of the hyoid arch are reduced or absent.

pseudomonadal septicaemia = a haemorrhagic systemic bacterial disease of fishes caused by Pseudomonas spp. that can occur at any time but particularly in spring.

pseudonym = use of a false or assumed name, formerly ruled as unacceptable in taxonomy and nomenclature.

pseudosymphysial = a parasymphysial tooth row placed in the position of the symphysial tooth row in Chondrichthyes (Herman et al., 1994).

pseudotaxa = plural of pseudotaxon.

pseudotaxon (plural pseudotaxa) = apparently subordinate taxa which cannot be so subdivided and so cannot be classified.

pseudotissue = a gelatinous layer found between the body proper and the skin. Most often found in bathypelagic fishes; may represent a flotational mechanism, e.g. in Careproctus (Liparidae), Melanostigma (Zoarcidae).

pseudotympanum = a translucent, triangular area in the humeral region on the side behind the gill cover where the muscles are missing and the anterior part of the gas bladder is directly in contact with the skin, which is hypothesised to improve the hearing in many very young characoids and persists in some adults, notably the Cheirodontidae.

pseudotype = 1) any duplicate of a type specimen not studied by the describer of a new taxon for the taxon description.

pseudotype = 2) the type of a genus-group name which has been erroneously designated.

PSU = psu.

psu = practical salinity unit.

psychric = referring to low temperatures or cold habitats.

psychro- (prefix) = cold.

psychrophilic = cold-loving. Opposite of thermophilic.

psychrotolerant = organisms best suited to higher temperatures (20-40ºC) but able to tolerate cold conditions.

pt = abbreviation for pint (473.17 cm³, U.S. liquid).

pt(_BI) = abbreviation for pint (568.26 cm³, Imperial).

pt, dry = abbreviation for pint (550.6 cm³, U.S. dry).

pterosphenoid = the paired, deep, endochondral bone roofing the skull lying under the frontal, and posterior to the orbitosphenoid. Miscalled alisphenoid and pleurosphenoid but these bones in mammals and reptiles respectively are not homologous.

pterotic = the paired, deep, endochondral bone and the superficial dermal bone covering it in Actinopterygii forming the lateral roof of the skull between the parietal and the hyomandibular, covering the ampulla of the horizontal semicircular canal. Also called autopterotic, which is strictly used for the endochondral element. In Amia it is a paired dermal bone carrying a sensory canal and occupying the dorsal side of the otic capsule. Also called squamosal or squamous but this tetrapod bone is not homologous (but see squamosal).

pterotic spine = a pointed process of the pterotic bone.

pterygial = a bony rod supporting the rays of the paired fins.

pterygio-larva = a larva from the beginning of differentiation of unpaired fins until the embryonic median finfold is entirely differentiated or no longer apparent.

pterygiophore = the cartilage or bone on the outer end of which sit the median fin rays or spines and to which are attached erector and depressor fin muscles. There may be three cartilages that ossify into proximal, median and distal pterygiophores (or axonost, mesonost and baseost or epibaseost). The distal pterygiophore is the one next to the fin. When there are only two pterygiophores these are termed proximal and distal. In some fishes the proximal pterygiophore is very elongate and is known as a basal. Basals may be elongate enough to reach and fuse with the vertebrae, e.g. in Hippocampus. Proximal pterygiophores of the dorsal fin are also called interneurals and of the anal fin interhaemals. The last dorsal fin pterygiophore is named a stay. Vestigial pterygiophores anterior to the dorsal fin are called predorsals (or supraneurals although these are derived from neural spines).

pterygiophori = plural of pterygiophorus.

pterygiophorus (plural pterygiophori) = pterygiophore.

pterygoid = a paired dermal bone between the autopalatine and the endopterygoid in the roof of the mouth (of the palatoquadrate). See also ectopterygoid.

pterygopodial gland = a gland of uncertain function at the base of the clasper in skates and rays, occupying the position of the siphon of other Elasmobranchii.

pterygoquadrate = the pterygoid and quadrate bones or cartilages (both q.v.).

pterygoquadrate bar = palatoquadrate.

ptychopterygium = the low adherent type of paired fin connected with a broad base to the body as in Cladoselache.

pubic bone = innominate bone (the pelvic fin bone in Gasterosteidae, sometimes a misnomer for the ectocoracoid. Also called pelvic bone, pelvic plate, posterior process and medial plate).

publication (noun) = 1) any published work.

publication (verb) = 2) distribution of printed matter through sale, exchange or gift such that it enters the public domain.

publication = 3) according to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature a work is published when first issued when it is reproduced in ink on paper by a method assuring numerous identical copies, is issued for the purpose of scientific public permanent record, is obtainable by purchase or free distribution and is not reproduced or distributed by a method forbidden by the Code (micro-films, microcards or similar methods; distribution to colleagues or students of a note, even printed, in explanation of an accompanying illustration; proof sheets, mention at a meeting; labeling specimen in a collection; deposit of a document in a library; after 1950, anonymous publication).

publication date = in nomenclature the date of publication follows the author name and a comma (,).

publish = see publication.

published name = any name which is printed and circulated, i.e. meets the criteria of publication as stated by the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature; may be available, unavailable, valid or invalid.

publishotype = a joke name in nomenclature for a holotype described after rumours of staff cuts.

puboischiadic bar = both halves of the pelvic girdle in Elasmobranchii fused into a single ventral bar.

puboisquiadic bar = misspelling of puboischiadic bar.

puddick = the intestines of a fish, especially the stomach (Newfoundland). Also called puttick or puttock.

pudding = fish ball (fish don't have balls but are sometimes made into them. A ball of shredded white fish or cod and mashed potatoes, flour or other binding material, usually fried. Also called fish dumpling. See also catfish ball and ball).

puddle cast = in fly fishing, a cast that leaves slack line on the surface allowing the fly to float without drag.

Puerto Rico = a grade of dried and salted cod prepared for the market in Puerto Rico (newfouindland).

PUFA = abbreviation for polyunsaturated fatty acids.

puffer poison = combined with extracts of the plant Datura, used to produce zombies in the Caribbean.

puffer poisoning = tetrodotoxication, q.v., poisoning caused by eating tetrodotoxic fishes.

pugheadedness = an anomaly of fishes in which the snout is shortened and rounded.

pull bait = in angling, a type of jerk bait designed to be fished with steady pulls.

pull guts = removing the head and entrails of a fish (Newfoundland).

pull net = any net where fish are caught by horizontal dragging, e.g. seine, trawl, scoop net.

pull-line = a rope used to raise a line or net to the surface.

pull-rope = length of line forming part of a castnet and used to draw the tucks together, thus closing the net.

pulp cavity = a cavity inside a tooth from which vascularisation is spread via canaliculi (Herman et al., 1994).

pulpit = a railed in portion on the bowsprit of a ship, used as a standing-place for harpooning swordfish.

pulse fishing = harvesting a stock of fish, then moving on to other stocks or waiting until the original stock recovers.

pulvinular bones = the outer and inner bones which suspend proctal pelvic bone from the cleithrum in the priapium of Phallostethidae. The inner pulvinular is absent in some genera.

pulvinulus = an elongate mass of fibrous tissue at the base of the toxactinium in the priapium (q.v.) of Phallostethidae.

pumie = the remains after pressing herring for oil; used as a fertiliser. Also called rack

pump = a fish pump is a mechanism for transferring large volumes of relatively small fish in water from a net into a ship by means of a pump and associated flexible pipes while a fishing pump is used to catch fish attracted by lights, but not to transfer fish already caught.

pump fishing vessel = a vessel with a pump that is lowered under the surface of the water. Small fish, attracted by light from a lamp situated above the suction side of the pump, are sucked and pumped with water on board where a fish separator is installed.

pumping = in angling, the process of raising and lowering a rod; it allows slack line to develop and be reeled in as the rod is lowered.

punchcard = a card used by anglers to record catch information; it is returned to the management agency after the fishing season.

puncheon = a large watertight barrel or cask used for storing various items including pickled fish. Ninety gallons was the average size in Newfoundland but could be 44-140 gallons. They were often sawn in half to make two puncheon tubs which were used for washing fish in and sometimes for pickling fish, etc. A butt in some places was a puncheon sawn off at the three-quarter mark and used to salt fish as well.

punctate = dotted, with colour or structure, usually with a distinct margin; stippled.

punctuated equilibrium = evolution in rapid bursts followed by long periods without change as opposed to gradualism, q.v.

punctuation = having dots or tiny spots of colour.

punctulate = dotted, with colour or structure.

punctule = a small or fine dot.

pungent = sharp but not pointed.

punt = 1) a narrow, long, flat-bottomed boat propelled by a pole (which, when stuck in bottom mud, should not be held on to).

punt = 2) a small, wooden, round-bottomed and open boat used in the inshore fishery of Maritime Canada. Smaller than a skiff at less than 25 feet, may be powered by oars, sails or an engine.

punt (verb) = 3) propelling by a pole.

punting = 1) thrust and glide locomotion, e.g. in Rajiidae using the crura of the pelvic fins.

punting = 2) losing a fish while fly fishing.

pup = an embryonic or young shark or coelacanth.

pupa = the stage between larva and adult in insects and also the artificial fly made to imitate them.

pupil = the large opening in the centre of the iris of the eyeball.

pupillary opercula = the irregular lobe(s) of the upper iris which permit it to decrease the size of the pupil by extending the lobes, giving the pupil an irregular shape. May shade or camouflage the eye, e.g. Ogcocephalus, Halieutichthys (Ogcocephalidae); Raja clavata (Rajidae); Uranoscopus scaber (Uranoscopidae).

pupping ground = the area where live-bearing sharks give birth to pups, often a shallow marine bay protected from predators. See also birthing ground.

purachina = ornamental carp or koi (q.v.), being a metallic white or platinum fish.

pure line = a genetically uniform strain in which all members have descended by self fertilisation or close inbreeding.

purge = shrink (loss of weight in fish due to fluids draining from the food product. Also called drip).

purified diet = a fish diet of carefully comprised components used only in research.

purified ration = purified diet.

purl = to flow with a rippling sound.

purse cable = purse line.

purse hoop net = a lift net operated by hand and having a line that can be pulled to close the opening of the hoop.

purse line = a line at the bottom of a purse seine which allows it to be closed like a purse.

purse seine = a seine used to encircle a school of fish in open water (contact with the bottom is avoided as the small mesh is easily damaged). It is set at speed from a large, powered vessel and the other end is anchored by a small boat. A purse line at the bottom (bag or bunt) of the net allows it to be closed like a purse. A purse seine can be 1 km long and 200 m deep.

pursing = drawing a purse line closed on a purse seine.

pursing string = purse line.

pursing wire = a wire purse line.

pursuing predator = a fish that actively searches for and pursues prey. See also ambush predator and tracking predator.

push = a school of fish pursuing their course (Yorkshire dialect).

push net = a form of scoop or skimming net (q.v.) pushed along the seabed by a fisherman. The ends of the poles on the seabed may have special runners. Some push nets are operated from boats.

push pole = a long pole used for pushing a boat silently through the water, to reach casting range for such as bonefish.

pustule = a pimple, blister-like or wart-like projection.

pustulose = having small pimples, blister-like or wart-like structures.

put = 1) the quantity of fish taken at one setting of a net or trap; and this amount brought ashore (Newfoundland).

put = 2) putt.

put away = to process cod by unloading, splitting and salting the catch (Newfoundland).

put down = in fly fishing, an error in presentation of the fly or any other action that scares the fish so that it swims away or into deeper water.

put-and-take fishery = the placing of hatchery-raised fish of a specific size in waters to be caught by fishermen for a payment. Mostly in fresh waters, rare in the sea.

put-in = 1) the launch area for a boat.

put-in = 2) to turn over a catch of cod to one's supplying merchant for credit (Newfoundland).

put-in = 3) fish appearing in inshore waters (Newfoundland).

put-in pole = a fishing pole made of sections, the base of which fits over the top of the next. Not as strong as put-in poles but lighter and easier to dismantle.

put-over pole = a fishing pole made of sections, the base of which fits into the top of the next. Stronger than put-over poles.

put-up = 1) to spread split cod between layers of salt (Newfoundland).

put-up = 2) to process frozen cod fillets (Newfoundland).

putchen = a wicker eel basket or trap (English dialect). Also spelled putcheon, putchin and putchun.

putcheon = putchen.

putchin = putchen.

putchun = putchen.

putt = 1) a salmon trap (English dialect).

putt = 2) a tapering basket used in making fish weirs on the Wye and Severn rivers of England. Putts are placed in groups of six or nine between pairs of stakes, each group between two stakes is called a puttcher. Also called butt or kype.

puttcher = a group of putts or section of a weir.

puttick = puddick (Newfoundland).

puttock = puddick (Newfoundland).

putty fish = thicker, less salted parts of white fish that have become soft because of bacterial spoilage when temperatures are high and salt penetration low.

PVA = 1) population viability analysis (a quantitative analysis which estimates the extinction probability of a species or population based on the known life history and specified management or non-management options).

PVA = 2) polyvinyl alcohol, a water soluble plastic used by anglers in Europe as bags to hold ground bait or as string for tying on boilies, q.v., or pellets. The bags or strings dissolve gradually in water and release the baits to attract fish. See PVA bag and PVA tape.

PVA bag = a small bag made of polyvinyl alcohol, q.v. used to hold bait in angling. The PVA dissolves and releases the bait.

PVA tape = a tape made of polyvinyl alcohol used to tie rig sections together when casting in angling. The PVA dissolves and allows the rig sections to unfold and function.

PVO = photophores below the pectoral fin and above the PO row in Myctophidae.

pyaelick = pelek.

pyalick = 1) the milt bag of a fish (testes) (Shetland Isles dialect).

pyalick = 2) immature fish row (Shetland Isles dialect).

pyalick = 3) pelek.

pycnocline = a layer in a water body where the density increases significantly compared to layers above and below. Includes air-water interface.

pyddle = paidle.

pydle = 1) a cone made of rushes used in catching fish coming down a stream (Scottish dialect).

pydle = paidle.

pyloric appendage = pyloric caecum.

pyloric caeca = plural of pyloric caecum.

pyloric caecum (plural pyloric caeca) = a finger-like out-pocketing of the intestine where it meets the end of the stomach (pylorus). Also spelled cecum (ceca). Serves to aid digestion.

pyloric region = that portion of the stomach next to the intestine.

pyloric sphincter = the valve-like constriction of the intestine immediately behind the stomach, controlling the flow of food from the stomach. Also called pyloric valve.

pyloric valve = pyloric sphincter.

pylorus = the passage from the stomach to the intestine.

pyne = pine.

pyriform = pear-shaped.

© Brian W. Coad (www.briancoad.com)

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