What the hell is a "silverside"??

[Anonymous]

Having anemone (or larger fish eatting fish) you've probably come accustomed to buying these pretty expensive "bait fish" in various frozen forms. Perhaps you're like me in that you have seen multiple fish being sold as "silversides" (each from the same company too! Just different batches from month to month).

The other day when I was in a local oriental market.. you know the ones, where all the fish is out for you to touch/smell etc.. I see these fish which look identical to silversides, they are called "smelt" (google has shown me many variants of this fish as well). The upside is these things cost about $1.29 a pound, as opposed to the 8 bucks for a 8 ounce frozen pallet.

My question is whether or not this would be good anemone chow. If these "silversides" are just like the "seaweed" that's sold for tangs and such (at $5 a serving) which can be gotten for WAY less in any asian market under the guise of nori.

 

[Anonymous]

Absolutely just as good IMO. Mix in a little variety too, like shrimp, scallops, lobster bisque...

 

[Anonymous]

Good question.

I feed silversides and/or lancefish to my fish and they love them. I'd rather pay a dollar per pound than the $10 per box I pay now.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

Looks like the term covers a fair variety of fish (165 species!)

I'm guessing you'll be alright with anything of similar size and marine origin...

Silverside (fish)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
iSilverside

Labidesthes sicculus
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Actinopterygii

Order: Atheriniformes

Family: Atherinidae


Genera
See text

The silversides are a family, Atherinidae, of fish in the order Atheriniformes. It consists of about 165 species in 25 genera, occurring worldwide in tropical and temperate waters. About 2/3 of the species are marine, and the remainder live in fresh water.

Silversides are relatively small, some species reaching 60 cm, but most are under 20 cm, and several are not recorded at more than 5 cm. The body is generally elongate. Distinctive characters include two dorsal fins widely separated, with the first consisting of flexible spines and the second having one spine followed by soft rays, while the anal fin has one spine on the leading edge followed by soft rays. The pectoral fins tend to be high, and there is no lateral line. On the flanks there is a broad silvery band. The scales are relatively large.

They feed on zooplankton. Some species, such as the hardhead silverside, Atherinomorus lacunosus, are commercially fished.

The family Atherinopsidae (neotropical silversides) is closely related.

 

[Anonymous]

It's fish so it's good.

 

[Anonymous]

You mean that we Chinese eat fish baits and tang feed? That's is a big insult! :wink:

 

[Anonymous]

Well seeing the stuff in that MOM (Manilla Oriental Market) You also each conch snails too and big penis like things (Geoducks)... but then again, that might be the fllipino side of things

 

[Anonymous]

Geoduck is a oriental delicacy, particularly in the Southern region of china and SE asia.

It is one of the main dish during my wedding banquet.

 

[Anonymous]

Geoduck is a oriental delicacy, particularly in the Southern region of china and SE asia.

It is one of the main dish during my wedding banquet.

Great symbolism. :wink:

Hang on. :?

*switch off Sump mode*

That's better...

 

[Anonymous]

Silversides aren't always marine sourced. The term also applies to minnows

As for Geoducks, they're a delicacy no matter what region your from, or reside

Most in the US come from Taylor Shellfish in WA. They've been featured on a few "Dirty Job" episodes

 

[Anonymous]

Yup Gresh, that's where I originally saw them, they look nasty as hell, but I'm not a seafood eatter anyways so maybe that's why

 

[Anonymous]

Very very nice people at Taylor Shellfish FWIW, they do sell retail on their website.

Mmmmmm so tasty....gotta love Geoducks, if not for the name alone!

 

[Anonymous]

And they still didn't answer why a "Gooey" Duck is spelled Geoduck

 

[Anonymous]

Because thats wrong!

The proper way to pronounce the word is "gooey-duck", not "gee-oh-duck". Unlike learning the proper way to pronounce words such as "Cthulhu" and "YHWH", this admittedly does not entail risk to your mortal soul. Nevertheless, if you one day happen to fall into a conversation with a group of geoduck aficionados, you don't want to instantly reveal yourself to be a clueless newbie outsider, now do you?

http://www.olywa.net/cook/faq.htm

 

[Anonymous]

Actually, you all speel it wrong. It should be gweduc.

 

[trwells]

I work part-time in a seafood market. We sell lake smelts. They are freshwater not marine source. I am not sure if they would contain the same nutritional value as a marine source. I believe freshwater is dirtier than salt as more bacteria can survive. I am curious if marine fishes immune systems would tolerate this.

 

[Anonymous]

Freshwater animals don't have the HUFA's marine animals need really.

 

[danmhippo]

Ditto. The problem is with nutritional value of FW fish quite different from marine fish. Bacteria is less of the problem as many FW bacteria and parasite would not survive in SW environment.

There are a number of suitable substitutes for silverside. Cut mackerl, raw squid, octopus, oyster, clam, even cut cod steak. Most of these are available in frozen section of supermarket or bait and tackle shop.

 

[Anonymous]

Freshwater animals don't have the HUFA's marine animals need really.

I want to post some articles here, not to refute your post but just to clarify and expound.

Great reading!
http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen6.html
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/ ... invert.htm

 

[Anonymous]

the next question is how does one tell the difference between a freshwater and saltwater fish..