grunion

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grun·ion

 (grŭn′yən)
n.
A small fish (Leuresthes tenuis) of coastal waters of California and Mexico that spawns at night along beaches during the high tides of spring and summer.

[Perhaps from Spanish gruñón, grumbler, from gruñir, to grumble, grunt, from Latin grunnīre, grundīre, to grunt.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

grunion

(ˈɡrʌnjən)
n
(Animals) a Californian marine teleost fish, Leuresthes tenuis, that spawns on beaches: family Atherinidae (silversides)
[C20: probably from Spanish gruñón a grunter]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

grun•ion

(ˈgrʌn yən)

n.
a small silversides, Leuresthes tenuis, that lays its eggs on S California beaches.
[1915–20; probably < Sp gruñon grunter, derivative of gruñir to grunt < Latin grunnīre]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
Translations
grunion
References in periodicals archive ?
Like Tuffy, Joe Lon and Willard are bred for the pit, for domination, for the moment of victory, and this distorts their character, the ego rampant, unrestrained: "You been running over too many grunions and reading about it in the Wire Grass Farmer", Buddy tells Willard (Feast, 25), his sense of perspective deriving not just from the larger world of college ball, but his tour in Vietnam and subsequent Purple Heart.
"Though whether the males do so simultaneously or sequentially, I cannot remember, not being an authority on the perverse mating habits of grunions. Oh my goodness, is that the time?
"This year, grunions have been staying around in the shallows.