The American butterfish, Peprilus triacanthus, is a butterfish of the family Stromateidae. It is also known as a dollarfish, shiner, skipjack, sheepshead, or harvestfish. It is closely related to a number of fish, including black cod, sablefish and Chilean sea bass.  Fish of this species are usually deep-bodied, flattened sideways and somewhat circular or rounded, with blunt noses and small mouths with weak teeth. Some other characteristics of this fish are the absence of ventral fins, one long continuous dorsal fin, long pectoral fins, and tiny cycloid scales. The tail fin is nearly as long as the dorsal fin and deeply forked. The American Butterfish is similar in appearance to its close relative, the harvestfish (Peprilus alepidotus), but can be distinguished by its much lower dorsal and tail fin.  This fish is a lead blue color above with pale sides and a silvery belly. It often has dark, irregular spots.  It is generally six to nine inches long, though some individuals have been as long as 12 inches. They can weigh anywhere from 1¾ ounces (50 g) to 1¼ pounds (570 g) if particularly fat.  Atlantic coast of North America from the offing of South Carolina and from coastal North Carolina waters to the outer coast of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton; northward as a stray to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and to the south and east coasts of Newfoundland; southward to Florida in deep water.  Relatively little is known about the American butterfish considering that it is an important food source and a common species. It travels in small bands or loosely organized schools, preferring sandy-bottomed areas to muddy ones, and often coming close to shore. During summer months, it does not swim deeper than ten to fifteen fathoms (20 to 30 m), but in the winter and early spring it may be found 100 to 115 fathoms (200 to 230 m) below the surface.%0d%0aIt feeds on small fish, crustaceans, and annelids.

Sherman Foote Denton (1856-1937) was born in Wellesley, Massachusetts , S.F. Denton was a multi-talented artist, scientist and skilled entrepreneur in business. His interest in natural history encompassed not only fish, but butterflies and moths, insects, birds, fossils, freshwater pearls and gems. During the 1880s, he and his brothers went on trips to the Western U.S. and accompanied their father, a geologist, on an expedition to Australia, New Zealand and New Guinea, where collected natural history specimens. Returning to the U.S., Denton worked as an artist for the United States Fish Commission at the Smithsonian Institute between 1896 and 1890, where he illustrated their reports with chromolithograph prints and also developed and patented a method for mounting fish without losing the natural colors. He became the leading maker of fish models for collectors and museums such as the Smithsonian, the Field Museum in Chicago and the Agassiz Museum at Harvard. He also invented a method for mounting butterflies, and amassed the most important collection of freshwater pearls in the U.S.  Sherman, along with his brothers William, Winsford and Shelley (a noted naturalist in his time) became famous at the 1900 Paris Exposition for their award-winning moth and butterfly collections. Sherman Denton was also renowned among the leading naturalists of his day for developing and patenting methods to preserve fish, butterflies and moths in a much more life-like state.