Found 2 items, similar to capelan.
English → English (WordNet)
Definition: capelan
capelan
n : very small northern fish; forage for sea birds and marine
mammals and other fishes [syn:
capelin,
caplin]
English → English (gcide)
Definition: capelan
Capelin
\Cape"lin\, n. [Cf. F. capelan, caplan.] (Zo["o]l.)
Either of two small marine fishes formerly classified in the
family
Salmonid[ae], now within the smelt family
Osmeridae:
Mallotus villosus, very abundant on the coasts
of Greenland, Iceland, Newfoundland, and Alaska; or
Mallotus catervarius
, found in the North Pacific. The Atlantic
variety has been used as a bait for the cod. [Written also
capelan and
caplin.]
[1913 Webster + PJC]
Note: This fish, which is like a smelt, is called by the
Spaniards anchova, and by the Portuguese capelina.
However the
anchovy used as a food is a different
fish. --Fisheries of U. S. (1884).
[1913 Webster + PJC] ||