Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
sergeant fish

sergeant fish

8.8
A large tropical fish with bold dark stripes that lives near coasts and reefs and is often caught for food
  • noun
  • /ˈsɑrdʒənt fɪʃ/
translation icon : pez sargento
  • At the southernmost end of this beach are rocks where snorkelers swim with schools of colorful rabbitfish, sergeant fish, and parrot fish.

Examples

  • The local fishermen often catch sergeant fish for their delicious taste and firm texture.

  • While diving near the coral reefs, we spotted a group of sergeant fish gliding gracefully through the water.

  • Children love to watch sergeant fish swim quickly around the shallows during summer vacations.

Synonyms

cobia
vssergeant fish
1 9.9

A large tropical fish with a dark stripe on each side, often eaten or fished for sport

is a less used regional name that highlights relation to remoras
Rachycentron canadum
vssergeant fish
  • Specialized
9.9

A large fish from warm water with dark stripes often eaten and caught for sport, also called cobia

is the common name used instead of the scientific form

Surface Forms

sergeant fish singular
sergeant fishes plural

Morphology

sergeant + fish

The noun 'fish' clearly signals that this is a type of fish, so a B1 learner who knows both words will infer the category. However, 'sergeant' as a modifier does not transparently convey the fish's specific traits (large, dark-striped, tropical, related to remoras); it at best hints at a name based on rank-like stripes, so the full meaning is not predictable without exposure.

Etymology

Sergeant fish got its name from the fish's bold dark stripes. One popular story says people thought the stripes looked like the rank marks of a sergeant, so the name helps you remember a striped tropical fish.