- Any of various fishes having silvery scales, such as a tarpon or silverside.
- A small silvery or gray bristletail (Lepisma saccharina) that feeds on the starchy material in bookbindings, wallpaper, clothing, and food, often causing extensive damage.
silverfish
Dictionary:
sil·ver·fish (sĭl'vər-fĭsh')  |
n., pl., silverfish, or -fish·es.
| 5min Related Video: silverfish |
| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: silverfish |
For more information on silverfish, visit Britannica.com.
| Animal Encyclopedia: Silverfish |
Lepisma saccharina
FAMILY
Lepismatidae
TAXONOMY
Lepisma saccharina Linnaeus, 1758, America, Europe, Sweden.
OTHER COMMON NAMES
English: Bristletail, common silverfish, fishmoth, fringetail, furniture bug, paper moth, shiner, silver witch, slicker, sugar fish, sugarlouse, tasseltail, wood fish; French: Poisson d'argent; German: Gemeines Silberfischchen; Spanish: Pescadito de plata.
PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
Length 0.4 in (10 mm); body covered with silver scales (modified setae).
DISTRIBUTION
Probably native to tropical Asia; has been spread by humans around the world.
HABITAT
Domestic, found in warm, damp places, such as basements, closets, bookcases, shelves, and baseboards.
BEHAVIOR
Nocturnal.
FEEDING ECOLOGY AND DIET
Immature and adult stages are fond of flour and starch and are sometimes found in cereal; they can also feed on muslin, starched collars and cuffs, lace, carpets, fur, and leather. They are also cannibalistic, feeding on molted skins and dead and injured individuals.
REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY
Male spins a silk thread and deposits a spermatophore (packet of sperm) underneath; female picks it up and introduces it in her genital chamber. Eggs are laid singly or in batches of two to three, and are deposited in crevices or under objects. Under optimum conditions, an adult female lays an average of 100 eggs during her life span. Larvae have no scales up to their third molt. After 10 molts they reach sexual maturity, and the adults, with a life span of two through eight years, keep molting about four times per year.
CONSERVATION STATUS
Not threatened.
SIGNIFICANCE TO HUMANS
Household pest; does not transmit any disease.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: silverfish |
silverfish, common name for primitive, wingless insects of the family Lepismatidae. The silverfish, which has two long antennae and three long tail bristles, is named for its covering of tiny, silvery scales. It develops directly in six or more molts into an adult about 1/2 in. (1.27 cm) long. It has chewing mouthparts set in a head cavity and eats starch from book bindings, wallpaper, and clothing. The silverfish is common indoors in cool, damp places such as basements. The firebrat, in the same taxonomic family, is found in warm places, e.g., near steampipes and boilers. Silverfish are classified in the phylum Arthropoda, class Insecta, order Thysanura, family Lepismatidae.
| Artist: Silverfish |
Group Members:
Similar Artists:
Formal Connection With:
- Genres: Rock
- Representative Albums: "Organ Fan," "Fat Axl," "Cockeye"
Biography
One of the U.K.'s most iconoclastic bands of the late '80s and early '90s, Silverfish featured singer Lesley Rankine, guitarist Andrew "Fuzz" Duprey, bassist Chris Powforth, and drummer Stuart Watson. Before joining the group, Rankine sang with the Grizzelders, a '60s-style punk band; Duprey, Powforth and Watson caught one of the group's performances and persuaded her to join Silverfish. Rankine's fierce, commanding vocals and aggressively feminist outlook -- the chorus of "Big Bad Baby Pig Squeal" and "Hips Tits Lips Power," became a mantra of sorts for angry young women -- foreshadowed and echoed the sentiments of the burgeoning riot grrrl movement, but musically the group was more indebted to metal and industrial influences. Silverfish released several EPs in the late '80s which were collected into the 1990 compilation Cockeye; the following year they released their debut album, Fat Axl, and toured with Pigface. 1992 saw the group earn more widespread acclaim thanks to a second full-length, Organ Fan, and tour dates supporting the like-minded 7 Year Bitch. Soon after, however, Silverfish disbanded; Rankine went on to collaborate with Mark Walk as Ruby. ~ Heather Phares, All Music Guide| Discography: Silverfish |
| Wikipedia: Silverfish (band) |
For the insect, see Silverfish.
For the Girl Scout award, see Silver Fish.
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2009) |
Silverfish were a UK-based indie rock band, which formed in the late 1980s, and first performed in Camden in 1988. The band split up in 1993.
Their female lead singer was Scottish-born Lesley Rankine. The band had a high octane, indie punk metal sound that was set alight by Rankine's distinctive vocals and strongly feminist views.[citation needed] Famous lyrics "Hips, Tits, Lips, Power" adorned a popular T-shirt of the time.
The other members of the band were; guitarist Andrew "Fuzz" Duprey; bassist Chris P Mowforth; and drummer Stuart Watson. Founding member Fuzz was a regular "face" at London indie gigs of the time, and is now a regular DJ at the Dublin Castle pub in Camden Town, London. The band stood out from many of their scene-contemporaries with a lineup that was mixed in terms of both gender and ethnicity and a setlist that was more liberally strewn with expletives than that of anyone else.[citation needed] Silverfish were the main focus of the so-called Camden lurch scene, a term invented by the music press to describe the fact that many of the prominent indie bands (outside of the dominant indie dance and shoegazing scenes) of the time resided in Camden.
The band's 1980s EPs were collected in a 1990 compilation album called Cockeye. The following year, they released their debut album, Fat Axl, and toured with the band Pigface. In 1992, the group gained wider acclaim with their second album, Organ Fan and supported the band 7 Year Bitch. During the broadcast of a Peel session, BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel summed up their level of success: "If they were from New York, we'd be mad for them of course."
When the band split up in 1993, Rankine moved to Seattle and formed the band Ruby with Mark Walk.
Contents |
Notable live show
Discography
Albums
EPs
- Dolly Parton (1989)
- T.F.A. (1990)
- Fuckin' Driving or What? (1991)
- Silverfish With Scrambled Eggs (1992)
- Crazy (1993)
- Damn Fine (1993)
References
- ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 498. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
| Translations: Silverfish |
Français (French)
n. - poisson d'argent, lépisme
Deutsch (German)
n. - Silberfisch, Silberfischchen
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (εντομ.) λέπισμα, "ψαλίδα"
Italiano (Italian)
lepisma, tarpone
Português (Portuguese)
n. - peixe-rei (m) (Zool.), traça (f) de livros
Русский (Russian)
тарпон, чешуйница обыкновенная
Español (Spanish)
n. - pez plateado, lepisma
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - silverfisk, nattsmyg
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
银色的鱼, 蠹鱼
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 銀色的魚, 蠹魚
한국어 (Korean)
n. - 은백 물고기의 총칭, 반대좀
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) ألسمكه ألفضيه, حشرة منزليه تقرض ألورق و تؤذي ألملابس
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - דג-כסף, מין חרק מזיק
If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.
To select your translation preferences click here.
Learn More
 | bristletail |
| Lepismatidae (invertebrate zoology) |
| Thysanura (invertebrate zoology) |
 | What do silverfish eat? Read answer... |
| How do you eradicate silverfish? Read answer... |
| How do silverfish breath? Read answer... |
Help us answer these
 | Is silverfish a fish? |
| Where do silverfish live? |
| How does Silverfish reproduce? |
Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:
Copyrights:
 |
 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Animal Encyclopedia. Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Copyright © 2005 by The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/. Read more |
 |
| Artist. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. Content provided by All Music Guide ®, a trademark of All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved. Read more |
 |
| Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Silverfish (band)". Read more |
 |
| Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved. Read more |
Related answers
- What are silverfish?
- How do you get silverfish bugs?
- Do silverfish bite?
- Do silverfish harm you?
- Do silverfish have wings?
ADVERTISEMENT
Answer these
- Does a silverfish fly?
- Where do silverfish come from?
- Where is a silverfish's habitat?
- Can silverfish fly?
- How does silverfish move?
Mentioned in
- bristletail
- Lepismatidae (invertebrate zoology)
- Thysanura (invertebrate zoology)
- firebrat
- bookworm
- tarpum
- Salt Peter (1995 Album by Ruby)
- Grant Showbiz (Rock Artist)
- Silverfish Trivia (2007 Album by Robert Pollard)
- White Horse (1974 Album by Michael Omartian)
- Brad Michell's Golden Hit Parade (1997 Album by Brad Michell's Golden Hit Parade)
- How to Be a Perfect Person in Just Three Days (1984 Children's/Family Film)
- lepisma
- Organ Fan (1992 Album by Silverfish)
