Essential Fish & Seafood French Vocabulary: An A-Z List

Seafood is extremely popular in French cuisine and whether you are shopping at the supermarket, browsing a local market or fishmonger, or trying to navigate your way around a restaurant menu, you may sometimes struggle to identify your favourite seafood dishes by name. We’ve assembled a list of the most popular fish, with their names in French and English. You’ll be confident picking out your poisson préféré in no time!

A-Z Dictionary of French Fish and Seafood: Essential Vocabulary

Abadèche rouge – type of sea bass
Abusseau – type of sea smelt
Aigle de mer – skate
Aiglefin/ Lieu – Haddock (if smoked) – Haddock
Ailes de Raie – Skate wings
Amandes de Mer – Dog Cockle (type of Clam)
Anchois – Anchovies
Anguille – Eel
Araignee de mer – Spider crab
Baleine – Whale
Bar or Loup de mer – Bass / Sea Bass
Barbue – Brill
Brochet – Pike
Brochet de la Mer – Barracuda
Brocheton – Young Pike
Bulots – Whelks
Cabillaud – Cod
Calamars – Squid
Carrelet or Plie – Plaice
Couteaux – Razor fish
Coquilles St. Jacques – Scallops
Congre – Conger
Crevette grises – small Shrimp (brown)
Grosses Crevette / Crevettes Royale – large Prawns
Crevettes (roses) – Shrimps – common prawn
Crustacés – Shellfish
Darnes de poisson- Fish steak
Daurade – Sea Bream
Dorade commune – Red Bream
Dorade grise – Black Bream
écrevisse – crayfish
Espadon – Sword Fish
Esturgeon – Sturgeon
Etrilles (small crabs with flat legs) – Velvet swimming crab
Friture – Whitebait
Gambas – King Prawn
Homard – Lobster
Huître – Oyster
Julienne – Ling (type of Cod)
Langoustine – Langoustine (Dublin’s Bay Prawns)
Lieu Jaune – Pollack
Lieu Noir – Pollock
Limande – Dab – member of the plaice family
Limande sole – Lemon sole
Lotte – Monkfish
Merlan – Whiting
Merlu/Colin (various names used for the same fish) – Hake
Morue – Salted Cod (fish when fresh is Cabillaud )
Palourdes – Clams
Perche – Perch
Requin – Shark
Roussette – Dog Fish
Sandre – Zander
Saumon – Salmon
Seiche – Cuttlefish
Thon – Tuna
Tombe – Gunarde (fish)
Tourteaux or Dormeur – Brown Crab
Truite – Trout (as a general term)
Truite Arc-en-Ciel – Rainbow trout
Truite Fario – Brown trout

We hope this comprehensive A-Z Guide to French fish names will help you next time you visit a French restaurant. Next, find out how to order a steak in France and how to order a coffee in France! To get confident speaking French, you might also want to check out our pick of French learning apps and YouTube channels.