The Reids > wrote:

> Following up to Ian Northeast
>
> >I don't think a Chilean Sea Bass/Icefish/Patagonian Toothfish/Mero has
> >jewelled scales either. It's a cod like thing (but even more endangered).
>
> The Spanish Mero I have seen does not have bright scales. The
> fish I bought as Icefish in Waitrose had bright scales and my
> Mexican cookbook shows a fish with bright large golden scales
> which it calls a Bass, alongside a recipe for "lobina".
> Basically, fish names are confusing!
>
> >One of these perhaps:
> >
> >Beyond the shadow of the ship,
> >I watched the water-snakes :
> >They moved in tracks of shining white,
> >And when they reared, the elfish light
> >Fell off in hoary flakes.
> >
> >Within the shadow of the ship
> >I watched their rich attire :
> >Blue, glossy green, and velvet black,
> >They coiled and swam ; and every track
> >Was a flash of golden fire.
> >
> >(from the Ancient Mariner, just before the Albatross falls off)
>
> Now thats a very good parallel, isnt it. I wonder what species
> the Ancient Mariner was talking about?

I recommend Redmond O'Hanlon's _Trawler_. Not as blatantly funny as some
of his other travel books, but there are several passages featuring the
complicated names of fish :-)

regards
sarah


--
Think of it as evolution in action.