monkfishes

Noun

monkfish (countable and uncountable, plural monkfish or monkfishes)

1. Any large bottom-dwelling anglerfish of the genus Lophius, such as Lophius piscatorius, of the Atlantic, having a large head and mouth.
   • I’ve had the good luck to cook monkfish on both sides of the Atlantic. The European monkfish is Lophius piscatorius, while our western Atlantic brand is Lophius americanus.2008 October 9, Mark Bittman, “Roasting Monkfish”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 08 Dec 2022

   Synonyms:

   fishing frog, frogfish, sea devil, sea frog, toadfish

2. An angel shark, of the genus Squatina.
3. A sea monk (“folkloric creature”).
   • [The] monkfish is preceded by the “monstre Leonin” and followed by the “monstre marinen habit d'Evesque” (de Monstro Leonino and de pisce Episcopi habitu respectively). The creature represented in these works is a hybrid: his round and tonsured ...2017, Itineraries in French Renaissance Literature: Essays (Jeff Persels, Kendall Tarte, George Hoffmann), page 382