Definition of shellfish Shellfish

/ʃɛˈlfɪˌʃ/ - [shelfish] - shell•fish

We found 7 definitions of shellfish from 6 different sources.

What does shellfish mean?

WordNet

Noun Plural: shellfishes
shellfish - meat of edible aquatic invertebrate with a shell (especially a mollusk or crustacean)
		seafood edible fish (broadly including freshwater fish) or shellfish or roe etc
		mollusc, mollusk, shellfish invertebrate having a soft unsegmented body usually enclosed in a shell
		mussel marine or freshwater bivalve mollusk that lives attached to rocks etc.
		huitre, oyster edible body of any of numerous oysters
		clam burrowing marine mollusk living on sand or mud; the shell closes with viselike firmness
		cockle common edible, burrowing European bivalve mollusk that has a strong, rounded shell with radiating ribs
		crabmeat, crab a stroke of the oar that either misses the water or digs too deeply; "he caught a crab and lost the race"
		crawdad, ecrevisse, crawfish, crayfish small freshwater decapod crustacean that resembles a lobster
		limpet any of various usually marine gastropods with low conical shells; found clinging to rocks in littoral areas
		lobster any of several edible marine crustaceans of the families Homaridae and Nephropsidae and Palinuridae
		langouste, rock lobster, spiny lobster, crayfish large edible marine crustacean having a spiny carapace but lacking the large pincers of true lobsters
shellfish - invertebrate having a soft unsegmented body usually enclosed in a shell
		mollusk, mollusc
		invertebrate any animal lacking a backbone or notochord; the term is not used as a scientific classification
		mollusca, phylum mollusca gastropods; bivalves; cephalopods; chitons
		carapace, cuticle, shield, shell hard outer covering or case of certain organisms such as arthropods and turtles
		scaphopod burrowing marine mollusk
		gastropod, univalve a class of mollusks typically having a one-piece coiled shell and flattened muscular foot with a head bearing stalked eyes
		coat-of-mail shell, polyplacophore, sea cradle, chiton primitive elongated bilaterally symmetrical marine mollusk having a mantle covered with eight calcareous plates
		bivalve, lamellibranch, pelecypod marine or freshwater mollusks having a soft body with platelike gills enclosed within two shells hinged together
		cephalopod, cephalopod mollusk marine mollusk characterized by well-developed head and eyes and sucker-bearing tentacles

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Wiktionary

shellfish (Noun)
An aquatic invertebrate, such as a mollusc or crustacean, that has a shell.

Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘

shellfish (n.)
Any aquatic animal whose external covering consists of a shell, either testaceous, as in oysters, clams, and other mollusks, or crustaceous, as in lobsters and crabs.

OmegaWiki DictionaryOmegaWiki Dictionary Ω

shellfish
An aquatic invertebrate, such as a mollusc or crustacean, that has a shell.

Wikipedia

Shellfish is a culinary term for aquatic invertebrates used as food: molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Both saltwater and freshwater invertebrates are considered shellfish.

See The Maryland Department of the Environment's page for a discussion on why shrimp, crab, and lobster are not categorized as "shellfish."

Molluscs commonly used as food include the clam, mussel, oyster, winkle, and scallop.

Some crustaceans commonly eaten are the shrimp, prawn, lobster, crayfish, and crab.

Echinoderms are not eaten as commonly as mollusks and crustaceans. In Asia, sea cucumber and sea urchins are eaten.

Edible cephalopods such as squid, octopus, and cuttlefish and terrestrial snails, though all molluscs, are sometimes considered to be shellfish and sometimes not.

The term "finfish" is sometimes used to distinguish ordinary (vertebrate) fish from shellfish.

Jewish and Islamic dietary laws forbid the eating of some shellfish (Those that live on the land, and in the water).

In Japanese cuisine, chefs often use shellfish and their roe. Sushi and sashimi feature both raw and cooked shellfish.