The common name

Common name

A common name of a taxon or organism is a name in general use within a community; it is often contrasted with the scientific name for the same organism...

 dory (from the Middle English

Middle English

Middle English is the stage in the history of the English language during the High and Late Middle Ages, or roughly during the four centuries between the late 11th and the late 15th century....

 dorre, from the Middle French

Middle French

Middle French is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from 1340 to 1611. It is a period of transition during which:...

 doree, lit. "gilded one") is shared (officially and colloquially) by members of several different families

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 of large-eyed, silvery, deep-bodied, laterally compressed, and roughly discoid marine fish

Fish

Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

. As well as resembling each other, dories are also similar in habit: most are deep-sea and demersal. Additionally, many species support commercial fisheries

Fishery

Generally, a fishery is an entity engaged in raising or harvesting fish which is determined by some authority to be a fishery. According to the FAO, a fishery is typically defined in terms of the "people involved, species or type of fish, area of water or seabed, method of fishing, class of boats,...

 and are considered excellent food fish. Most dory families belong to the order

Order (biology)

In scientific classification used in biology, the order is# a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, family, genus, and species, with order fitting in between class and family...

 Zeiformes

Zeiformes

The Zeiformes are a small order of marine ray-finned fishes most notable for the dories, a group of common food fish. The order consists of about 40 species in seven families, mostly deep-sea types....

, suborder Zeioidei:

• The "true dories", family Zeidae
  Zeidae
  The Zeidae are a family of large, showy, deep-bodied zeiform marine fish—the "true dories". Found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean, the family contains just six species in two genera...
  
   (five species, including the well-known John Dory
  John Dory
  John Dory, also known as St Pierre or Peter's Fish, refers to fish of the genus Zeus, especially Zeus faber, of widespread distribution. It is an edible benthic coastal marine fish with a laterally compressed olive-yellow body which has a large dark spot, and long spines on the dorsal fin...
  
  )
• The zeniontids, family Zenionidae
  Zenionidae
  The Zenionidae are a family of large, showy, deep-bodied zeiform marine fish. Found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean, the family contains just seven species in three genera.The family was formerly known as Macrurocyttidae.- Species :...
  
   or Zeniontidae (seven species)
• The "Australian dories", family Cyttidae (three species all within the genus
  Genus
  In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
  
   Cyttus
  Cyttus
  Cyttidae is a family of large, showy, deep-bodied zeiform marine fish. Found in the Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific Ocean, the family contains just three species in the single genus Cyttus.- Species :...
  
  )
• The oreos, family Oreosomatidae
  Oreosomatidae
  The Oreos are a family, the Oreosomatidae, of marine fish. Most species are found in the southern hemisphere, inhabiting continental slopes down to about depth.- Species :The family is relatively small, containing nine species in four genera:...
  
   (ten species)
• The parazen family, Parazenidae (four species, including the rosy dory)

Additionally, several species of spinyfin

Spinyfin

Spinyfins are a family, Diretmidae, of beryciform fishes. The name is from Greek, di meaning "two" and eretmos meaning "oar". They are found worldwide in deep waters, down to as much as ....

 (family Diretmidae, order Beryciformes

Beryciformes

Beryciformes is an order of ray-finned fishes. This is a very poorly understood group of 16 families, 57 genera, and about 219 species. Some people believe that it is probably an artificial assemblage of unrelated taxa that are thrown together for convenience only; there are no convincing...

) have been given the name dory by fishmonger

Fishmonger

A fishmonger is someone who sells fish and seafood...

s, presumably to make the fish more marketable.

In parts of Southeast Asia, fillets of Pangasius

Pangasius

Pangasius is a genus of catfishes of the shark catfish family .-Taxonomy:In 1993, Pangasius was one of two extant genera in the family Pangasiidae. At this point, it was separated into four subgenera. Pangasius included P. gigas and P...

 sp. catfishes are referred to as cream dory.

See also

• List of fish common names
• Dory (disambiguation)
  Dory (disambiguation)
  Dory is a small, shallow-draft boat.Dory may also refer to:* Dory , several fish species with the common name Dory* Dory , ancient armament of the hoplites in Ancient Greece* Dory, a character in the film Finding Nemo...
  
  
  • Dory (Finding Nemo)