Noun

Singular eulachon

Plural eulachons

eulachon (plural eulachons)

1. A small edible fish of North America, Thaleichthys pacificus.

The eulachon, also hooligan, ooligan, or candlefish, is a small anadromous ocean fish, Thaleichthys pacificus, a smelt found along the Pacific coast of North America from northern California to Alaska.

The common names of this fish have a somewhat confusing relationship. The name "candlefish" derives from the fact that it is so fat during spawning, with up to 15% of total body weight in fat, that if caught, dried, and strung on a wick, it can be burned as a candle. This is the name most often used by early explorers. The name "eulachon" (occ. "oolichan", "oulachon", "uthlecan", etc.) is from the Chinookan language and the Chinook jargon based on that language. The name "hooligan" appears to have been derived from "eulachon" by similarity with the English slang term for a ruffian or scoundrel which gained currency in the late 19th century.

The unrelated sablefish Anoplopoma fimbria is also called "candlefish" in the United Kingdom.

Species description

Eulachon are distinguished by the large canine teeth on the vomer bone and 18 to 23 rays in the anal fin. Like Pacific salmon they have an "adipose fin"; it is sickle-shaped. The paired fins are longer in males than in females. All fins have well-developed breeding tubercles (raised tissue "bumps") in ripe males, but these are poorly developed or absent in females. Adult coloration is brown to blue on the back and top of the head, lighter to silvery white on the sides, and white on the ventral surface; speckling is fine, sparse, and restricted to the back. They feed on plankton but only while at sea.