True story: the bluefish

Say this ten times fast: pomatomus. That's the genus name of the bluefish. This fella is found in many parts of the world, and as often as he's caught he has just as many names. When he's in Australia he's known as a "tailor", "shad" on the east coast of South Africa and "elf" on the west coast. Downtown he's "blue", midtown he's "chopper", and in Queens "anchoa".

So what is he and why is he so etymologically cute? Well, we're not exactly sure why he has so many names other than he gets around.

When you think of the noun "fish", the bluefish is what generally comes to mind. Long enough body, spiny dorsal fins, and that shiny bluish-silver hue. Uniquely not cuddly about the bluefish is its razor sharp teeth. It is prolific in its existence but also very delicately cyclical. Many a fishing season can go by without a bluefish capture, conversely that's all you may get the following year.

Since its a marine fish, not much is known about its breeding/spawning behavior. In addition, how creepy is this, the bluefish is so aggressive its one of the few recorded species of fish to kill for fun. For fun! Sure, there are many species of carnivorous, mean fish. But not many are known to murder other fish. If they keep it up, they'll drive fisherman out of business.

But we digress. The bluefish is a prized game fish, not necessarily because of its flesh. It tends to be quite theatrical when being caught, voraciously fighting, catapulting itself out of the water, and continuing its struggle once captured and on board. Things get crazier when there's a feeding frenzy involved, they will go after anything that remotely resembles other small shiny fish (like coins).

Did we mention it's not a very good eat? The flesh is dense, oily, and...fishy. If it's not eaten immediately decomposition will take care of your catch for you. We just think it might be better if you left those unedible thugs of the ocean alone.