U.S. [f. the name of the French general Lafayette.]
1. A sciænoid fish of the Northern United States (Liostomus xanthurus).
1844. The Sun (Baltimore), 5 Jan., 1/4. In speaking of the crocus fish, Mr. D[ucatel] remarked that it is called in New York the ‘Lafayette fish.’
1859. Bartlett, Dict. Amer., Lafayette fish (Leiostomus obliquus), a delicious sea-fish, which appears in the summer in great abundance at Cape Island on the Jersey coast…. The name Lafayette … was given it on account of its appearance one summer coinciding with the last visit of General Lafayette to America.
2. A stromateoid fish (Stromateus triacanthus).
1884–5. Stand. Nat. Hist. (1888), III. 215. A much smaller species … otherwise known as ‘Lafayette’ or ‘Cape May goodie.’
