Fish & Seafood Glossary

A type of mollusk, the shell of gastropods is of one piece and usually coiled or spiraled, or completely absent, hence why they are also known as univalves. Periwinkles, conches, whelks, limpets and abalones are examples of the former, sea slugs (knows as sea cucumbers) an example of the latter. They are generally not as important culinarily as bivalve mollusks.

Pronounced gooey-duck, this is an enormous Pacific soft-shell clams. It is mostly found in the northwest Pacific, and can weigh up to 12 pounds—though they average 3 pounds. It is the largest intertidal, burrowing bivalve in the world, with a shell of 6 inches and a neck that can extend up to a foot and a half. Difficult to obtain, geoducks are rarely marketed. When found, the neck can be cut or ground for chowders, and the body meat can be prepared like abalone, which it resembles. Clam Trivia: Based on fossil records, geoducks are among the oldest living animals in the world.

This, the largest of the sea bass family, is usually found in the tropical and subtropical waters of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico. There are more than 100 species, from the quite small coney (9 inches) to the 9 foot, 600 pound spotted jewfish. All are important food fish. Typically, it grows to 5 to 15 pounds  and can be found whole as well as in fillets and steaks. Grouper has a lean and firm meat that is suitable for most dry heat methods of cooking. It should be skinned before cooking, as the skin has a strong flavor.

One of the members of the cod family, the haddock is the most important food fish in the Atlantic waters. It is small, rarely growing to larger than 30 pounds, and more typically between two and six pounds. Like all cod, its meat is low-fat, with firm texture and mild flavor. Most haddock is frozen in fillets and steaks. It can be prepared in any manner. Smoked haddock is called Finnan Haddie.

Another member of the cod family, hake is found in the Atlantic and northern Pacific Oceans. Like all cod, its meat is low in fat, white and delicately flavored. A predator, it is one of the smaller cod, only growing to 8 pounds. Fresh hake is sold whole, in fillets or steaks, as well as sold frozen, smoked and salted.

One of the larger flatfish, and in fact a species of flounder, halibut is abundant in the northern Pacific and Atlantic. Pacific halibut are the largest flatfish as well as one of the largest fish species in the sea. Their Latin name is Hippoglossus, or “hippos of the sea” (80 percent come from Alaska). While 1000-pound halibuts are caught, most are only 20 to 100 pounds. Like all flounders, halibut is low-fat, white, firm and mild with a big flake. Occasionally, halibut cheeks, a delicacy served in fine restaurants, are available in specialty markets.

A huge, and hugely popular, family of salt- and freshwater fish with over a hundred varieties. Most herring swim in enormous schools and can be found in the cold waters of the North Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the Mississippi River, the Finger Lakes of New York and other places. Herring are small, maturing between 1/4 and 1 pound, and silvery. Young herring are frequently packaged as sardines, though the only true sardine comes from the Mediterranean. In the U.S., two of the most popular herring are the anadromous shad and the alewife, both of which live in saltwater, then migrate to freshwater to spawn. The shad is also a rule breaker in that it grow to 3 to 5 pounds, and in the spring, its eggs—shad roe, a delicacy—cause a stir.

As a high-fat fish, the fresh meat has a soft, fine-grain texture best suited for dry heat cooking. Most often, it’s encountered in one of its many cured forms: