Fish & Seafood Glossary

Typically large, with an elongated, fragile shell, which can reach up to 12 inches, the pacific oyster is not eaten on the half shell. Because of its size and texture, it is almost always cut up for soups, stews and other dishes. It is found along the Pacific coast and is also known as the Japanese oyster.

Consisting of dozens of related species and sold under several market names, the Pacific rockfish family is the most important year-round source of groundfish on the West Coast. Marketed widely as Pacific snapper, these fish have fillets that are mild and slightly sweet-tasting. Versatile and affordable, rockfish are a seafood staple for supermarkets and restaurants from Seattle to San Diego.

The most abundant fish resource off the West Coast, Pacific whiting are also one of the best seafood values around. Their clean-tasting, white meat is easily adapted to a variety of applications, from fish and chips to pan frying or baking. Pacific whiting, or Pacific hake as it is sometimes called, is a member of the Merluccidae family, which includes more than a dozen species around the world that are marketed as either hake or whiting. Pacific whiting, Argentine hake and South African hake are the most abundant species in this family.

The periwinkle, also called bigaros, sea snails or winkles, is essentially a sea snail. While there are over 300 species of this spiral-shelled univalve mollusk, few are edible, and are rarely found in the U.S. Like barnacles, they are found attached to sunken objects like rocks, wharves, and pilings. The most common edible periwinkle is marine and found along the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North America. It only grows to about one inch. Popular in Europe, they’re cooked in their shells, then eaten like escargots.

The Pismo clam, named after Pismo Beach, is one of the largest types of clams found along the California Coast. The clams can grow up to seven inches; the minimum legal size for clamming is 4.5 inches. The adductor, the muscle which hinges the two shells, is served on the half shell; while the body meat is cooked or chopped up for chowder. The Pismo is considered the best of the Pacific hard-shell clams, but it is suffering from overfishing.

Pollock are a member of the cod family. The Theragra chalcogramma are also called Alaska pollock or Walleye pollock. They differ from other codfish because their lower jaw extends beyond the upper jaw. Pollock is a mild, delicately flavored fish, with a slightly coarse texture. Cooked pollock is lean, white and moist. The texture is firm with a nice flake.

A member of the jack family, this saltwater fish is found in waters off South Atlantic and Gulf states. Its succulent, fine-textured, moderately fat flesh has a mild, delicate flavor. It is considered by many to be America's finest fish, and it is priced accordingly. The most famous dish made from this fish is pompano en papillote, where it’s baked in parchment paper with mushrooms and a velouté sauce. The fish called Pacific pompano is a variety of butterfish.

See bream or daurade.

A term commonly used to refer to freshwater shrimp, larger sized shrimp, or a smaller variety of shellfish, that is a member of the lobster family. This term causes a lot of confusion because, in the U.S., it’s used to describe several different shellfish, all of which are “correct” usages.

• It can refer to part of the lobster family, such as spiny or rock Lobsters, or scampi. Other names in this group include Dublin Bay prawn, Italian scampi, langoustine (French), langostino (Spanish) and Florida lobsterette. They are shaped like small Maine lobsters, some with minuscule claws. They are usually 6 to 8 inches long.
• Prawn also can describe any large shrimp, usually those that weigh in at 15 (or fewer) shrimp to the pound. These are also called jumbo shrimp or colossal shrimp.

A term from the Narragansett Indians used loosely for all sizes of East Coast hard-shell clams, but especially the largest size, also known as the chowder (or large) clam.

The Alaskan rockfish is a lean, high-quality, ocean-fresh fish, characterized by a firm, meaty flesh that turns snow white when cooked. It has a delicate, nutty, sweet flavor. Rockfish belong to the family Scorpaenidae, or scorpionfishes. Common market names include Pacific red snapper, rock cod and Pacific ocean perch. Recognizable by the sharp spines on their dorsal fins, rockfish vary in length from 20" to 37" and may weigh up to 30 pounds. A versatile fish, the Alaska rockfish takes well to a wide range of cooking methods.

See spiny lobster.

The eggs of a fish.  The term “roe” encompasses everything from lobster coral to rare Caspian sturgeon caviars like beluga and osetra. While “caviar” formerly referred exclusively to sturgeon caviars, it has become interchangeable with “roe,” e.g., salmon caviar and whitefish caviar.  See our Caviar Glossary for more information.