Sea fish.
Name - Origin
It is a sea fish, which resembles picarel (Maena smaris). It is 15-20 cm long, has an elongated cylindrical body, a pointed snout, a small head, small teeth and relatively large eyes. The dorsal fin begins with pointed spines and ends in soft rays. The tail is forked. The upper part of its body is greyish brown and the abdomen is white and silvery. Its wings and lips are pinkish in colour. It lives in deep water (Great Encyclopedia of Cyprus, vol. 2, entry αμερικάνα,η, 23).
Scientific name: Cetracanthus cirrus, of the family Emmelichthyidae (Great Encyclopedia of Cyprus, vol. 2, entry αμερικάνα,η, 23).
It was named amerikana because it is blonder than the common picarel. (Great Encyclopedia Cyprus, vol. 2, entry αμερικάνα,η, 23).
Caught with trawls and nets (Great Encyclopedia of Cyprus, vol. 2, entry αμερικάνα,η, 23).
Additional information and bibliography
Pavlides A. (ed.) (1984), Great Encyclopedia of Cyprus, vol. 1, Filokypros, Nicosia.
Kyriaki Panteli, Argyro Xenophontos
Foods
Fishing and fish dishes
In recent years, in Cyprus, fish was served as follows: oftá (chargrilled), fried, hoglastá (boiled), savóro (marinated), plakí (in the oven) and yahní (in tomato sauce).