Why do seafood have so many different names for the same thing?

The Late Night Gourmet

The Late Night Gourmet

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I'm just exiting a lively discussion that was sparked over alternate names for Monk Fish. The post was mostly a recipe, but that part of the post is what ignited the sparks. But, that also made me realize how confusing the naming of food under the sea really is.

Here's what I found about probably the most-named fish, the aforementioned monk fish (<--source in the link):

Common Name(s):
English – Angler, Anglerfish, Angler fish, Monk, Monkfish
French – Baudroie, Baudroie Commune, Lotte, Marache
Spanish – Rape, Rape Blanco, Xuliana

And, that also prompted me to think of bass, which is where things get really weird, as shown in Chef's Resources at this link:
  • Black Sea Bass – a true Bass, it inhabits the Atlantic Coast of the US.
  • Blue Spotted Sea Bass – is a Grouper.
  • Chilean Sea Bass – is Patagonian Toothfish, not a Bass, and inhabits the waters around South America and the Antarctic.
  • European Sea Bass – is a Bass found (you guessed it) in European waters, the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
  • Giant Sea Bass – actually a Grouper, found on both sides of the Pacific from California to Mexico and around Japan.
  • Hapu, Hapu’upu’u (Hawaiian Sea Bass) – is a Grouper found only around the Hawaiian Islands.
  • Japan Sea Bass – is actually a Sea Perch found from Japan to the South China Sea.
  • Peruvian Sea Bass – is a Sea Perch found near Ecuador and Peru.
  • White Sea Bass – is actually a Croaker, not a Bass, and inhabits the Pacific Coast from California to South America.
I assume the European Sea Bass is what I call Branzino, which is also called spigola, loup de mer, róbalo, and lubina.

Is it just me, or does seafood naming seem to be especially convoluted beyond just language differences?
 
Wow .. Great Question !! @Late Night Gourmet,

There is also the Mediterranean Seabass .. and found in southern France waters ..

Fish migrate either in schools ( groups ) or by themselves ..

And people in each región, name their fish ..

There is a Ministry in each country as well, that documents all the information about a fish or shellfish species ..

There are nuances (differences ) in the species from different water bodies, as well as temperatures too.

Cod fish for example, detests warm ocean waters. They circle the Arctic Circle in northern Norway, Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland, Sweden and Finland .. Also, north of the Shetland Islands, Scotland area ..

Thank you for posting ..

Have a great weekend.
 
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I think the key on the fish is what did it look like to the people that found it in various regions.
 
Cinisajoy said:
I think the key on the fish is what did it look like to the people that found it in various regions.
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I think you're right. Someone catches a fish that they think is a bass, and people find out about the great place to catch what they think are bass. Restaurants put it on the menu. People on cooking websites post recipes and get into arguments about what type of bass it is, only to find out that it's really a Patagonian Toothfish (that's one I found out about a few weeks ago...I can understand why it doesn't go by that name!)
 
There is another level of confusion which arises from fishmongers in the past in the UK calling certain fish by other names in order to make them sound more desirable. These names have since become legally permitted.

For example 'rock salmon' which is actually a type of shark was and is sold in fish and chips shops (particularly in the south of England). Shark and chips or dogfish and chips would not have sounded quite so appealing to consumers as 'rock salmon'

Starry smooth hound (Mustelus asterias) is a shark species which is perfectly legal to sell in the UK using a range of common names such as dogfish, flake, huss, rock eel or rock salmon under the Commercial Designations of Fish legislation.
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Source: http://www.seafish.org
 
The naming for marketing and the migration factor have contributed to the reason so many species of fish, so many types of breads, salads, greens, veggies and fruits have so many names ..

Another point is, the various types of immigration and the expatriates who go to another country to live.

Also, key is the Ministry that documents the Latin name and the "call name" in different languages to a species of fish ..

Interesting post ..
 
morning glory said:
And then we have shrimp and prawns depending on which country you are in. Although, in the UK we have shrimps as well as prawns. I don't know what UK shrimps are called in the US. :scratchhead:
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@morning glory

The key difference between a Prawn ( Aristediae / Penaeidas / Paarpenaeus Longirostris / Palemón & the Crangonidae ) are all Mediterranean / Atlantic European Varieties of Prawns .. They are approx. 5 to 20 cm in longitude .. They have tons of whiskers & antenna, and come in a variety of colores: Tiger, White, Brown, Coral red and Deep Cherry Red ..

A shrimp, is primarily shaped in a " semi ciruclar form" with a bit of a " fan tail " and are North American Atlantic coasts the Pacific The Gulf of Mexico, Central and South America, and Hawaii .. They come in a wide variety of sizes, from the tiny Quisquillas or Camarones to the Jumbo or Butterfly Shrimp.

The taste profile is quite different too ..
 
These are large prawns called " Langostinos " in Spanish and not to be confused with The French Word, Langoustines, which are a Scampi in Italiano or a Cigala in Spanish and a Norway Bay Lobster in English ..

These large prawns are: Penabidas - Penaeus Kerathurus .. These are indigenious to the Southern Atlantic Coast of Sanulcar de Barremeda, Cadiz Andalusia ..

We call them "langostinos de sanlucar " ..

giantredprawns2013-02-10%2010.41.06.jpg
 
Francesca said:
These are large prawns called " Langostinos " in Spanish and not to be confused with The French Word, Langoustines, which are a Scampi in Italiano or a Cigala in Spanish and a Norway Bay Lobster in English ..

These large prawns are: Penabidas - Penaeus Kerathurus .. These are indigenious to the Southern Atlantic Coast of Sanulcar de Barremeda, Cadiz Andalusia ..

We call them "langostinos de sanlucar " ..

View attachment 9261
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Those look almost identical to some Gulf Coast shrimp.
 
Francesca said:
which are a Scampi in Italiano
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And, in the US, there's a popular Italian dish that's called Shrimp Scampi! This is shrimp with butter, garlic, white wine, and parsley. The best explanation for this seems to be that Italian-American chefs wanted the English-speaking customer to have an idea of what they were ordering when they ordered Scampi. That preparation became a common way to serve shrimp in Italian-American restaurants, and so that's the name to this day.

The evolution of language is something that greatly interests me, even though it's very confusing even for speakers of that language!
 
The Late Night Gourmet said:
And, in the US, there's a popular Italian dish that's called Shrimp Scampi! This is shrimp with butter, garlic, white wine, and parsley. The best explanation for this seems to be that Italian-American chefs wanted the English-speaking customer to have an idea of what they were ordering when they ordered Scampi. That preparation became a common way to serve shrimp in Italian-American restaurants, and so that's the name to this day.

The evolution of language is something that greatly interests me, even though it's very confusing even for speakers of that language!
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I didn't realize that was Italian, I just thought good.
 
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