a.k.a.: Awabi (Japan), muttonfish (Australia), ormer (English Channel), paua (New Zealand)

Waters:Pacific coasts (California to Chile), Indo-Pacific coasts (Asia, Japan, Africa), English Channel, Mediterranean Sea

Description (in water): A large, ear-shaped univalve mollusk with iridescent shell protecting body and foothlike adductor muscle with which it moves and cling to rocks. Abalone ranges from 6 inches to 1 foot in length and weighs from 4 to 8 lbs.

Description (in market): Only the adductor muscle is edible. The mild, sweet-flavored white meat must be tenderized to soften the naturally tough, rubbery texture.

Sold as: Fresh steaks; frozen steaks (from Mexico); canned, either minced or cubed (from Japan); dried; salted; dried and shredded (called kaiho; from Japan); dried and powdered (called meiho; from Japan)

Best cooking: It is essential to gently tenderize the meat by with a rolling pin or mallet. Abalone can be eaten raw, cubed or cut into strips and prepared as a salad. It is often briefly sautéed in butter (20 to 30 seconds per side), or seasoned and lightly coated with flour and egg and pan-fried. Try to avoid overcooking, which toughens the meat.

Buying tips: Abalone is best purchased alive, with an adductor muscle that moves when touched. Choose small specimens that smell sweet rather than fishy. Refrigerate as soon as possible after purchase; cook within 24 hours.

Notes: California law prohibits canning and out-of-state shipping of fresh or frozen abalone. Preyed upon by sea otters, large Pacific abalone are becoming scarce.
The iridescent shell of the abalone is a source of mother-of-pearl. The meat is very popular in Chinese and Japanese cooking. It is often prepared raw as sushi or sashimi.

a.k.a.: California or Pacific barracuda (most common in markets), Atlantic or great barracuda, sea pike, scoots

Waters:Warm regions of Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico

Description (in water): Large, dark gray (?) warmwater fish; Pacific barracuda rarely exceed 12 lbs, while the Atlantic variety can weigh over 100 pounds.

Description (in market): Only smaller Pacific-harvested fish (4 to 8 lbs.) appear in the market, as some of the larger barracuda (especially the Atlantic or great barracuda) have been associated with ciguatera poisoning. Pacific (or California) barracuda are considered safe and delicious, with firm-textured, full-flavored meat of moderate fat content.

Sold as: Fresh and whole (beheaded and dressed) in California markets; fillets and steaks. It is also sold smoked or canned. Barracuda is popular main ingredient in fish cakes.

Best cooking: Fillets and steaks grill and oven-broil nicely, and they hold their shape well. Barbecuing (basting with a full flavored sauce) is also popular.

Buying/storing tips: Make sure the meat is well iced and smells sweet and fresh. Since it spoils quickly; keep barracuda iced until cooking.
Be aware that flesh of the Atlantic or great barracuda may be toxic; in the U.S., avoid eating barracuda that is not caught, sold and prepared on the West Coast.

Substitutes: Bluefish, mackerel, mahi mahi, wahoo

Notes: On the U.S. West Coast, barracuda is in season from the beginning of April until late September, at peak in the summer months.

a.k.a.: Snapper, chopper, tailor

Waters:U.S. Atlantic and Gulf coastal waters from Florida to Cape Cod; Atlantic coast of South America, Portugal, and Africa; coast of Australia

Description (in water): This silver-skinned school fish can weigh from 3 to 10 lbs.

Description (in market): The edible skin is usually left on the flesh, which ranges in color from white to silver-gray. The meat is rich and fatty with a fine, soft texture and long flake. The flavor is mild on the day of the catch yet gains in strength a day or two later.

Sold as: Whole, fillets, steaks.

Best cooking: First, remove the dark, oily strip of flesh that runs down the center of the fish, which can infuse the meat with a powerfully fishy flavor when it's cooked (you can ask your fishmonger to do this for you). Bluefish is excellent baked or broiled, or wrapped in foil and grilled over an open fire. (If preparing whole fish, it's a good idea to marinate it). It's also well suited for roasting and pan-frying, and for stir-frying in flour-dredged chunks. Its rich meat smokes well. Bluefish is not recommended for stews, soups, or chowders, since the meat falls apart easily.

Buying/storing tips: Whole fish should look alive, smell fresh and clean, and be displayed over ice. Fillets should glisten. Keep the fish well iced until cooking (natural oils in the flesh turn rancid when the internal temperature of the fish rises). Bluefish does not freeze or travel well, and is best purchased locally when in season.

Substitutes: Striped bass, mackerel, mahi-mahi, Atlantic pollock

Notes: Nicknamed "bulldog of the ocean," the bluefish is fiercely voracious and a popular quarry for sport fishermen. In the U.S., the season stretches from May to October along the northeast coast, and from December to April off the Florida coast.
Bluefish, especially larger specimens (over 6 lbs.), have been associated with high levels of PCBs. Most are considered safe, although as a precaution it's a good idea to discard the skin and to remove the strip of dark meat that runs down the center of the fillet.

a.k.a.: Dollarfish, shiner, pumpkin-seed, starfish, pomfret, harvestfish, Pacific pompano

Waters:Atlantic and Gulf coasts (most species); there is one Pacific species.

Description (in water): A small fish (average 8 oz.; max. 10 inches long) with a round, flat body and forked tail. The deep blue back fades into a steely, silvery belly. Its scales are fine, almost nonexistent.

Description (in market): Butterfish have dark, sweet, richly flavorful meat that's high in fat and tender in texture.

Sold as: Whole (most common); smoked

Best cooking: An excellent pan fish--it's usually gutted with the head and skin left on. Small fish can be dipped whole in flour and deep fried. Larger specimens can be split, then broiled, baked, grilled, or sautéed. The flesh turns white and opaque when cooked.

Buying tips: Look for whole fish that smell fresh and have shiny, silvery, unmarred skin. Butterfish are often gutted before they're sold--if not, ask your fishmonger to do this for you.

Substitutes: Pompano, spot

Notes: Sablefish fillets are sometimes sold under the name "butterfish."

a.k.a.: Channel cat or channel catfish, bullhead

Waters:Rivers, lakes, estuaries. Catfish are popularly farm-raised in Mississippi. There is a saltwater variety called the Alantic Wolffish.

Description (in water): Scaleless dark-gray fish with long whiskerlike barbels (feelers) around mouth. They range in size from 5 to 10 lbs.

Description (in market): White flesh of medium-firm texture and low fat content. Cultured catfish are mildly flavorful; wild catfish can have a "muddy," though not necessarily unpleasant, taste reminiscent of the river.

Sold as: Whole; fresh or frozen fillets

Best cooking: Catfish skin is not edible and is usually removed before cooking. Suited to almost any style of cooking, including pan-frying, baking, oven-frying, roasting, poaching, steaming, grilling. In Mississippi kitchens, fresh whole fish are often dipped in cornmeal and deep-fried. Firm-textured meat stands up well to soups and stews.

Buying tips: In the U.S., most store-bought catfish is farm-raised and sold in frozen fillets of excellent quality. Look for pure white fillets and avoid those with a gray tinge or with browning.

Substitutes: Blackfish, carp, cod, dogfish, flatfish, grouper, haddock, ocean perch, pollock, rockfish, red snapper, weakfish, whiting, wolffish

Notes: Catfish are farmed and harvested in 34 American states; in Mississippi, catfish farming is the state's largest commercial industry.

a.k.a.: hard-shell clam, quahog, littleneck clams, cherrystone clam, chowder clam, Pacific littleneck clam, pismo, butter clams, soft-shell clam, steamer clam, razor clam, geoduck clam, cockles

Waters:A variety of edible clams can be found in the deep waters and along the shorelines of both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts.

In the Atlantic, mahogany clams, with their shells of an appropriate dark brown hue, are harvested from boats in the deeper waters, while the hard-shell clams of all sizes are generally found closer to shore. If you've ever taken a beach walk after an Atlantic storm, you might have noticed surf or bar clams washed along the shore, large and white-shelled. Razor clams, named after the long, straight razors used in barber shops, are found buried deep in the sand along the Atlantic shoreline.

The Pacific Coast offers the smallish littleneck and Manila clams, and the most eccentric of all sea creatures -- geoducks (pronounced "gooey-ducks"), whose neck-like siphons can protrude up to three feet out of their oval shells. Similar in appearance to the Atlantic razor clam, the Western Jackknife clam also resembles an antiquated straight razor.

One of the most attractive of the clam relatives, cockles, found on the frigid North Atlantic Coast and off of New Zealand, look like small sea snails, delicately ridged on one side, and tinted a soft green on the other.

Description (in market): Of the many sorts of clams found in nature, usually only a few types will be available at any given time in the market, so it's a good idea to be aware of which clams make the tastiest, most tender additions to a raw bar, and which steam or stew best.

Sold in their shells still alive, clams in the market bear scant difference to clams in the sea. Both Atlantic and Pacific hard shell clams are generally sold according to the size of their shells, with the smallest (littlenecks) measuring about 1 1/2 to 2 1/4 inches across the shell, and the largest (chowder clams) measuring over 3 inches in width.

Most clam meat is pale gray, except the cantaloupe colored flesh of the Atlantic mahogany clam. In the market, soft shell clams are distinguishable not for their shells which, albeit appearing thin, still resemble hard shelled clams, but by the small tentacle-like siphon poking from their necks. Similarly, geoducks are sold in the market with their enormous necks intact, since some people like to eat the siphons.

Sold as: Whole live raw clams, in the shell, frozen or fresh shucked, canned

Best cooking: The larger the clam, the less it costs per pound, and the tough meat lends itself well to fried strips or chowders. Smaller clams like the Atlantic littlenecks are tender enough to be eaten raw on the half shell, steamed with butter and lemon, or cooked into savory soups. Cherrystone and butter clams are just the right size for stuffing. Razor clams can sometimes be found in Chinese cooking, while the siphon of the geoduck can be sliced and blanched for an excellent sushi filling.

Buying tips: There's no need to buy the small, costly clams if you intend to fry them or use them for chowder. For steamed or raw clams, however, it will be worth the extra expense to purchase the smaller, more tender varieties. When buying live hard shell clams in the market, choose those with tightly closed shells; should you find a clam attempting to peek out, give the shells a squeeze and if the creature doesn't reseal, discard it. Soft shell clams are prohibited from ever fully closing by the neck-like siphons protruding from their shells. To test and see if a soft shell clam is still alive, just give it a poke and see if it reacts.

a.k.a.: Conch queen conch

Waters:Conches are found in the more southern waters off the coast of Florida and in the Caribbean.

Description (in water): Conches are snails, and have one muscular foot with which they drag themselves around. They have brightly colored spiral shells, a pinkish body, and have spikes protruding from their shells.

Description (in market): Most conches are purchased in their shells so they should look much as they do in water. If they're already out of their shells, then the edible part is the small muscular foot, which is pale gray or tan in color.

Sold as: In addition to being sold fresh, conch meat is also sold canned and frozen.

Best cooking: Conch meat is most easily cooked by simmering in salted water or vegetable stock. It can also be cooked just slightly, removed from the shell, and then cooked in a sauce or stew. The rather tough meat is also frequently chopped and added to soups. One must also be very careful to cook it adequately as undercooked conch has been known to cause illness.

Buying tips: Buy them fresh still in their shells. Conch shells should be shiny and the meat firm and clean looking. It should smell fresh and of the sea.

Notes: Summer is the peak season and the freshest conches will be found in specialty shops or Italian markets, since Italians have always considered these snails a delicacy.

a.k.a.: Crawdads, crawfish; there are over 400 varieties of crayfish including Red Swamp Crayfish, White River Crayfish, Pacific Crayfish. Crayfish should not be confused with spiny lobsters or saltwater crayfish which are of a different species.

Waters:Crayfish are found only in fresh waters, usually in streams, creeks and lakes. Crayfish can be found around the world; many American crayfish are fished for in Louisiana ("crawfish capital of the world"), California, and Oregon.

Description (in water): Crayfish look like miniature lobsters, complete with claws and antennae. They range in size from 3 to 6 inches in length and weigh between 2 and 8 ounces.

Description (in market): Crayfish should always be bought live and should look exactly as they do in water. However, one can also buy soft-shell crayfish (similar to soft-shell lobsters which have shed their shell and have yet to grow a replacement) which are sold in vacuum packed containers.

Sold as: Live, frozen, or vacuum-packed soft-shell variety.

Best cooking: Crayfish are most often cooked by throwing them (live) in a pot of boiling water and simmering for 5 to 8 minutes. All kinds of spices and herbs can be added to the water; Scandinavian traditions favor bunches of dill; the French like vegetables (e.g.. carrots, onions, celery) and herbs (such as tarragon and parsley) and perhaps a little wine; Creole spices are preferred in Louisiana. The crayfish are served either hot or cold, still in the liquid which was used to cook them. Crayfish, like lobster, are eaten with the hands; a juicy, messy treat best savored by sucking the meat out of the tail. The soft-shell variety can be eaten whole, but for the two calcium stones (called gastroliths) used to create a new shell. To remove them, snip off the eyes and mouth and squeeze out the two stones.

Buying tips: Buy them live. Ask to see them before your fishmonger picks them out for you. Dead crayfish will not be fresh. It's possible to buy whole crayfish frozen but you're best off with the live version.

Substitutes: Shrimp or lobster meat.

a.k.a.: Spiny dogfish, lesser-spotted dogfish, spur dog, smooth hound, rough hound, nursehound, sand shark, nurse shark, grayfish, rock salmon, rock cod, huss, tope

Waters:Pacific, Atlantic, and Mediterranean coasts

Description (in water): There are many varieties of this small species of shark. The average dogfish is long and thin and weighs about 25 lbs. The lesser-spotted dogfish is light brown with darker spots on the back and sides. The smooth hound has a gray back and pale, pearly sides.

Description (in market): The lean, firm-textured white meat of dogfish is mild to moderate in flavor. Although this fish is a species of shark, you'll find it has little in common with mako; rather, fillets look and taste similar to cod (hence the name "rock cod"), though they are rather more firm in texture.

Sold as: Skinless fillets, up to 1 lb.; smoked

Best cooking: Dogfish is perhaps most often associated with the British favorite known as "fish and chips," in which it is flour-dredged and fried. Fillets are also delicious baked, poached, sautéed, or broiled. They can also be cut into cubes for stews or chowders (the firm meat does not easily flake and disintegrate).

Buying tips: Smell fillets for freshness--avoid those that give off a whiff of ammonia. Fillets should be well iced, pure white in color and free of browning and signs of dryness.

Substitutes: Blackfish, catfish, cod, ocean perch, pollock, sea bass, red snapper, tilefish, turbot

Notes: Dogfish is gaining in popularity in the U.S. as a tasty, all-purpose white fish. In the past, American sport fishermen were apt to throw it back into the sea. In Europe, it has always been enjoyed.