# Spanish names for fish



## DunWorkin

Can anyone help with this. Even after 7 years I am still confused with the Spanish names for fish and the English equivalents 

Examples...

Pez Espada or Emperador. What is the difference? Is it Pez Espada as a live fish and Emperador in cooking?

Lubina. The English translation is Sea Bass but the Lubina we get here is nothing like the Sea Bass I knew in the UK. Sea Bass is a very large fish but Lubina is not that large (about the size of a trout)

Halibut or Fletan. I have seen it called both. Is Fletan the Valencian name?

Dorada. The English translation is Gilt Head but I have never heard of this in UK. It is more like a bream. Is this correct?

We love all these fish and buy them often but I am confused by the different names. Our Spanish friends here cannot help as they just say "it is a fish"


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## xabiaxica

DunWorkin said:


> Can anyone help with this. Even after 7 years I am still confused with the Spanish names for fish and the English equivalents
> 
> Examples...
> 
> Pez Espada or Emperador. What is the difference? Is it Pez Espada as a live fish and Emperador in cooking?
> 
> Lubina. The English translation is Sea Bass but the Lubina we get here is nothing like the Sea Bass I knew in the UK. Sea Bass is a very large fish but Lubina is not that large (about the size of a trout)
> 
> Halibut or Fletan. I have seen it called both. Is Fletan the Valencian name?
> 
> Dorada. The English translation is Gilt Head but I have never heard of this in UK. It is more like a bream. Is this correct?
> 
> We love all these fish and buy them often but I am confused by the different names. Our Spanish friends here cannot help as they just say "it is a fish"


I'm not very good with fish either - like you, I can often see little relationship between some translations & what I would call something in English - to the extent that I have all but given up, and just call things by the spanish name


I do the same with most food now in any case - cuts of meat are often different so it's easier to just give in

Dorada_ is _ bream though

to me swordfish is Emperador - but I only deal with the dead ones, so I have no idea what a live one is called:confused2:

I do, however, remember when I was first learning Spanish, telling my teacher that my kids swam 'como pescados'


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## Sonrisa

Actually... I have always wondered whats the difference between "Emperador" y " Pez Espada", Atun and Bonito? Gallo and merluza? Trucha and...what was the other name?


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## xabiaxica

Sonrisa said:


> Actually... I have always wondered whats the difference between "Emperador" y " Pez Espada", Atun and Bonito? Gallo and merluza? Trucha and...what was the other name?


well if _you_ don't know, what chance do us foreigners have


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## 90199

Gallo is John Dorey

Merluza is Hake

Bonito is one of to Tuna fish Species, so is Peto

Trucha is trout,

Dorada is Sea Bream

Lubina is Dicentrarchus labrax or a European sea bass

Lapas are Limpets

Hepa


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## baldilocks

dorada is dolphinfish
merluza is hake
emperador is the Cuban name for sword fish
lubina or robalo or sabalo is sea bass (smaller here)
fletán is halibut
bacalao is cod (often salted and or dried and very much in favour for soup at Easter time)
raya is skate
eglefino or merlango is haddock


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## Alcalaina

Swordfish meat is called _pez espada_ here, and _emperador_ is just another name for it. There are lots of regional variations for fish names around Spain, the same applies to vegetables.

_Atun_ is a generic name for tuna. You can get _atun rojo, atun claro, atun bonito_ ...

_Rosada _is a generic name for various kinds of small shark or dogfish (often known as rock salmon in England).

I got caught out with _gallo_ on a menu, which I assumed was chicken but turned out to be fish -John Dory I think.


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## Alcalaina

_Caballa_ is mackerel (not to be confused with _caballo_)

_Chocos_ are strips of squid or octopus, fried in batter or breadcrumbs - yummy.

_Dorada _is gilthead bream.


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## Alcalaina

Sea bass / _lubina_ are farmed in Spain, which may be why they are smaller than wild rod-caught ones.
European seabass - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Sancho Panther

Platija = plaice
Rape = monkfish
Turbot = rodaballo
Lenguado = sole

BTW has anybody had the bottle to try _japuta_, (it does have another - more polite - name but I forget it)?


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## Alcalaina

Sancho Panther said:


> Platija = plaice
> Rape = monkfish
> Turbot = rodaballo
> Lenguado = sole
> 
> BTW has anybody had the bottle to try _japuta_, (it does have another - more polite - name but I forget it)?


Palometa? Scrumptious!
Palometa o japuta - Recetas, curiosidades y cómo prepararlo | Guía de Pescados y Mariscos | CONSUMER EROSKI


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## littleredrooster

Bacalao is generally translated as Cod.
Yet I and many others I know consider it to be nothing like cod, or even half as nice. :confused2:

I wonder what is Spanish for Dab,which has recently become popular in the UK ?


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## gus-lopez

littleredrooster said:


> I wonder what is Spanish for Dab,which has recently become popular in the UK ?


dab=Acedia
I saw tinned Grasa de Ballena ( Orca) in Aldis recently. Didn't appear to be selling much. 
Yes the Lubina is farmed here. There are quite a few enclosures not too far offshore.
One restaurant that specialises in fish has there own farms .


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## Alcalaina

littleredrooster said:


> Bacalao is generally translated as Cod.
> Yet I and many others I know consider it to be nothing like cod, or even half as nice. :confused2:


_Bacalao _ dishes are quite often made using reconstituted dried, salted cod. This is the traditional way of keeping it before people had freezers. It has a completely different texture from fresh fish, and is very good in stews.

If you try it, you have to soak it overnight, pour away the salty water, then soak it again in fresh water for a couple more hours.


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## Guest

hahaha, be careful, these names are/can be regional things!


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## Pesky Wesky

halydia said:


> hahaha, be careful, these names are/can be regional things!


Example 
Ración de calamares in Madrid
Ración de rabas in Bilbao

Also names of meat can be different, but not only that. The animal is actually cut up in different way, so the cut of meat you want doesn't exist in the other place


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## Brangus

FishOnline has a chart that shows names of fish in English, Spanish, Dutch, French and German: translations
Who knows how accurate it is.

Could someone point me to information about PCB and heavy-metal content of fish and seafood on this side of the Atlantic? The Environmental Defense Fund has an excellent website, but mostly it is geared toward the American market: List of Seafood Health Alerts - Seafood Selector - Environmental Defense Fund

Sadly, some fish aren't safe to eat these days.





littleredrooster said:


> Bacalao is generally translated as Cod.
> Yet I and many others I know consider it to be nothing like cod, or even half as nice. :confused2:
> 
> I wonder what is Spanish for Dab,which has recently become popular in the UK ?


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## xicoalc

i think Nemo is still Nemo in spain?


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## xabiaxica

steve_in_spain said:


> i think Nemo is still Nemo in spain?




have you noticed though, that you can find him in English, but you have to keep looking for him in Spanish?


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## xicoalc

xabiachica said:


> have you noticed though, that you can find him in English, but you have to keep looking for him in Spanish?


jejejeje :clap2::clap2:


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## DunWorkin

Brangus said:


> FishOnline has a chart that shows names of fish in English, Spanish, Dutch, French and German: translations
> Who knows how accurate it is..



Thanks for this link


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## Alcalaina

Brangus said:


> Could someone point me to information about PCB and heavy-metal content of fish and seafood on this side of the Atlantic? The Environmental Defense Fund has an excellent website, but mostly it is geared toward the American market: List of Seafood Health Alerts - Seafood Selector - Environmental Defense Fund
> 
> Sadly, some fish aren't safe to eat these days.


I believe the EFSA (European Food Safety Agency) use the same EDF data. 

Mercury & dioxins in fish

They advise not eating fish which are high up the food chain (marlin, shark, swordfish, tuna) more than once a week, and avoiding them altogether if you are pregnant or breastfeeding. 

But the general feeling is that the health benefits of eating fish a couple of times a week outweigh any possible harm from contaminants.

As you know, the Spanish eat fish whenever they can and there is no recorded evidence of systematic mercury accumulation in the human population, as far as I can find.

There are a few areas of high contamination around the Spanish coast, like Huelva, where fishing is banned.
http://www.thefishsite.com/fishnews/10114/heavy-metals-in-huelva-estuary-jeopardise-fish


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## baldilocks

Don't forget if you are eating oily fish or fish oil capsules to get Omega 3 benefits, that you can take flaxseed oil capsules and get Omega 3, 6 and 9 without the fishy burps afterwards


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## SenoraMe

Hello, I am a new member here and find it very helpful with the Spanish translation for food items. There is one item seen on a menu but cannot find out what it is: Letones... If anyone has any idea I would appreciate it, thank you.


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## xabiaxica

SenoraMe said:


> Hello, I am a new member here and find it very helpful with the Spanish translation for food items. There is one item seen on a menu but cannot find out what it is: Letones... If anyone has any idea I would appreciate it, thank you.


:welcome:

my first thought was that someone was dishing up Latvians 

then I did a search on Huevas y letones de caballa fritas - COCINERO - WordReference Forums & it seems that it's fish semen



uke:


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## SenoraMe

xabiachica said:


> :welcome:
> 
> my first thought was that someone was dishing up Latvians
> 
> then I did a search on Huevas y letones de caballa fritas - COCINERO - WordReference Forums & it seems that it's fish semen
> 
> uke:


Good grief  Fancy having that on a menu!!! The Spanish just say that it is "white fish".


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## spinfastr

Nice Complete list with genus and species, scroll to information by country
Search FishBase
use this for my fish tank identification


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## steve01

Last time i was in Spain whatever we asked the waiter just called every variety - *FEEESH* easy


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## Guest

I have bought in Mercadona a fish called marrajo. That is mako shark. It's a wonderful meaty fish. Marrajo translates to dangerous, which I guess is a good name for shark!


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