sheepshead Meaning, Definition & Usage

noun large (up to 20 lbs) food fish of the eastern coast of the United States and Mexico
Archosargus probatocephalus.

So called because of the fancied resemblance of its head and front teeth to those of a sheep.

(Zoöl.) A large and valuable sparoid food fish (Archosargus, ∨ Diplodus, probatocephalus) found on the Atlantic coast of the United States. It often weighs from ten to twelve pounds. ✍ The name is also locally, in a loose way, applied to various other fishes, as the butterfish, the fresh-water drumfish, the parrot fish, the porgy, and the moonfish.