bowfin

American  

[boh-fin] / ˈboʊˌfɪn /

noun

1. a carnivorous ganoid fish, Amia calva, found in sluggish fresh waters of eastern North America.

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bowfin British  

/ ˈbəʊˌfɪn /

noun

1. a primitive North American freshwater bony fish, Amia calva , with an elongated body and a very long dorsal fin: family Amiidae

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Etymology

Origin of bowfin

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45; bow ² + fin ¹

Example Sentences

The researchers also sequenced the bichir, an elongated, air-breathing, ray-finned fish that lives in the shallows of tropical African rivers, as well as the American paddlefish, the bowfin, and the alligator gar.

From Science Magazine • Feb. 10, 2021

Dickie Brennan’s Steakhouse has had bowfin caviar on its menu since the early 1990s.

From New York Times • Jun. 9, 2012

And its lowly native bowfin, often derided as a throwaway fish, is no prized sturgeon.

From New York Times • Jun. 9, 2012

“I haven’t sampled bowfin myself, and quite frankly wouldn’t want to,” said Ryan Sutton, the food critic at Bloomberg News, who has lived and studied in Russia.

From New York Times • Jun. 9, 2012

To him is welcome everything that comes from the waters, be it trout, bass, perch, bullhead, or sunfish, and he hath pride even in the abominable but toothsome eel and the uneatable bowfin.

From In New England Fields and Woods by Robinson, Rowland E. (Evans)