dogfish

Etymology

dog + fish. Compare Greek σκυλόψαρο (skylópsaro, “dogfish”), Latin canicula (“dogfish”, literally “little dog”), Italian pescecane (“dogfish”), French chien de mer (literally “dog of the sea”), German Meerhund (literally “seadog”) and Hundfisch (“dogfish”), and English seadog. For non-Indo-European cognates, see Maltese kelb il-baħar (literally “dog of the sea”) and Turkish köpek balığı (“shark”), likely calques from Indo-European languages.

noun

1. Any of various small sharks
   1. especially those from the family Squalidae
   2. a catshark, any shark from family Scyliorhinidae
   3. a kitefin shark, any shark from family Dalatiidae
   4. (UK) Scyliorhinus canicula or Scyliorhinus stellaris
   5. (Azores Is.) Scyliorhinus canicula
   6. (Canada) Squalus suckleyi
   7. (Bermuda) Mustelus canis
   8. (Barbados) Bodianus rufus
   9. (Guyana) Ginglymostoma cirratum or Mustelus canis
   10. (Trinidad and Tobago) Ginglymostoma cirratum
   11. (Namibia) Squalus acanthias, Squalus blainville, Squalus megalops, or Squalus mitsukurii
2. (US) The bowfin, Amia calva.
   Bowfins, sometimes called Dog-fish, live in sluggish waters throughout eastern N.A. 1967, George K. Reid, edited by Herbert S. Zim and George S. Fichter, Pond Life, New York: Golden Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 128