Jewfish

Jewfish is a term formerly applied to a number of species of marine fish, including:

• In family Glaucosomatidae (Perciformes):
  • Glaucosoma hebraicum
• In family Megalopidae (Elopiformes):
  • The tarpon (Megalops atlanticus)
• In family Paralichthyidae (Pleuronectiformes):
  • The summer flounder (Paralichthys dentatus)
• In family Polyprionidae (Perciformes):
  • The giant sea bass (Stereolepis gigas)
  • The wreckfish (Polyprion americanus)
• In family Sciaenidae (Perciformes):
  • The Japanese meagre (Argyrosomus japonicus)
• In family Serranidae (Perciformes):
  • The Warsaw grouper (Epinephelus nigritus)

It was also sometimes loosely applied to various other groupers of family Serranidae.

The term red jew could refer to either of two lutjanids (Perciformes), the crimson snapper (Lutjanus erythropterus) or the Malabar blood snapper (Lutjanus malabaricus).

On May 16, 2001 the American Fisheries Society, North America's fish-naming authority, officially renamed the jewfish the goliath grouper. The term "jewfish" is offensive to many and is no longer used in polite speech.

References

• Oxford English Dictionary. On-line ed. S.vv. "Jew-fish".
• Recommended Change in the Common Name for a Marine Fish