batfish

[ bat-fish ]

noun

, plural (especially collectively) bat·fish, (especially referring to two or more kinds or species) bat·fish·es.

1. any of the flat-bodied marine fishes of the family Ogcocephalidae found worldwide in tropical and subtropical oceans, including Ogcocephalus vespertilio Brazilian batfish of the coastal western Atlantic Ocean, especially along the coast of Brazil.
2. Also called bat ray. an eagle ray, Myliobatis californicus, found off the coast of California and southward to the Galapagos Islands.

batfish

/ ˈbætˌfɪʃ /

noun

1. any angler of the family Ogcocephalidae , having a flattened scaleless body and moving on the sea floor by means of fleshy pectoral and pelvic fins

Word History and Origins

Origin of batfish¹

First recorded in 1900–05; bat ² + fish