batfish

noun (plural same or batfishes)

• 1a fish of tropical and temperate seas with a flattened body that is round or almost triangular when viewed from above. It typically has a hard or spiny covering.

  • Family Ogcocephalidae: several genera and species, including the southern African Halieuta fitzsimonsi

• 2a deep-bodied, laterally compressed marine fish of the Indo-Pacific region that resembles an angelfish.

  • Genus Platax, family Ephippidae: several species, including the large P. pinnatus (also called angelfish)