Dictionary:

weakfish

  (wēk'fĭsh')

A marine food and game fish (Cynoscion regalis) of North American Atlantic waters. Also called squeteague.

[Obsolete Dutch weekvis : week, soft (from Middle Dutch weec) + Dutch vis, fish (from Middle Dutch).]

A member of the drum fish family but different from the croaker and black and red drums. Its name comes from the weak flesh around the mouth that tears easily when hooked. It has white, lean, finely textured flesh and is considered an excellent food fish. This species, which is found in the Atlantic and parts of the Pacific along both North and South America, is also called seatrout, spotted sea trout, squeteague, gray trout and corvina (or corbina). See also fish.

For more information on weakfish, visit Britannica.com.

The noun has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: lean flesh of food and game fishes of United States Atlantic coast

Meaning #2: food and game fish of North American coastal waters with a mouth from which hooks easily tear out
  Synonym: Cynoscion regalis

Weakfish
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Perciformes Family: Sciaenidae Genus: Cynoscion Species: C. regalis
Binomial name
Cynoscion regalis (Bloch & Schneider, 1801)

The weakfish, Cynoscion regalis, is a marine fish of the drum family Sciaenidae.

The head and back of this fish is dark brown in color with a greenish tinge. The sides have a faint silvery hue with dusky specks, and the belly is white. The origin of its name is based on the weakness of the mouth muscles, which often cause a hook to tear free, allowing the fish to escape. The weakfish grows to 3 feet (1 m) in length and 19 pounds, 2 ounces (8.67 kg) in weight. It is found along the eastern coast of North America from Nova Scotia, Canada to northern Florida, where it is fished both commercially and recreationally.

The weakfish is the state fish of Delaware.

References

• Cynoscion regalis (TSN 169241). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 24 January 2006.
• "Cynoscion regalis". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. January 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.

weakmouth

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