A large saltwater fish found in Pacific coastal waters, related to the rockfish family.
From Italian 'bocca' (mouth), referring to the fish's large mouth; the term entered English from Spanish and Italian trade in the Pacific, particularly in California.
The bocaccio got its name for its big mouth—'bocca' means mouth in Italian and Spanish—and fishermen across the Pacific recognized this distinctive feature as the name caught on, showing how appearance-based naming travels across languages!
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