opaleye

English

An opaleye (Girella nigricans)

Etymology

From opal +‎ eye.

Noun

opaleye (plural opaleye or opaleyes)

1. A fish, Girella nigricans, a species of sea chub found in the Eastern Pacific.

   Hypernyms: kyphosid, rudderfish

   • 1966, D. W. Kelley (editor), Fish Bulletin 133: Ecological Studies of the Sacramento–San Joaquin Estuary, Part 1, California Department of Fish and Game, page 147,

     Usually, adult opaleye are abundant about inshore rocky areas (from the surf zone to depths of 80 feet) and nearly every individual examined has its digestive tract packed with algae.

   • 1989, Elizabeth G. Stevens, William Watson, H. Geoffrey Moser, “Development and Distribution of Larvae and Pelagic Juveniles of Three Kyphosid Fishes (Girella nigricans, Medialuna californiensis, and Hermosilla azurea) off California and Baja California”, in Fishery Bulletin, Volume 87, Issue 3, U.S. Department of Commerce, page 745:

     Opaleye and halfmoon are part of the incidental catch of the coastal purse seine fleet and are sold as "perch" in the fresh fish market (Fitch and Lavenberg 1971). Annual landings of opaleye average about 2½ tons with a maximum of 12 tons in 1973, […] .

   • 2010, Kenneth Stafford Norris, Mountain Time, Lulu.com, page 128:

     Young opaleyes, however, always lived in tidepools.

Derived terms

• gulf opaleye (Girella simplicidens)