Fish heads, either separated or still attached to the rest of the fish, are sometimes used in culinary dishes, or boiled forfish stock.

The head of a fish includes the snout, from the eye to the forward most point of theupper jaw, theoperculum orgill cover (absent in sharks andjawless fish), and thecheek, which extends from eye to preopercle. The operculum and preopercle may or may not have spines. In sharks and some primitivebony fish, aspiracle, a small extra gill opening, is found behind each eye.^[1]

Theskull in fishes is formed from a series of only loosely connected bones. Jawless fish and sharks possess only a cartilaginousendocranium, with both the upper and lower jaws being separate elements.Bony fishes have an additionaldermal bone, forming a more or less coherentskull roof inlungfish andholost fish. Thelower jaw defines achin.^[1]

In some Jewish communities, it is traditional to eat a fish head forRosh Hashana (literally "head of the year").^[2][3]

In Chinese dining culture, the fish head is usually given to and eaten by the most senior person at the table.

In Sicilian witchcraft, it is customary to leave a fish head on the doorstep of one's enemy to ward off malicious intention. It is also performed by the eldest grandma when a mafia fishing family has been wronged by a business partner. The practice dates back to at least 1308, when Dante referenced it in his epic, theDivine Comedy.

In a more serious feud, escalation of hostilities can be signaled by the appearance of a goat head or horse head.

Fish heads are the subject of the 1978 novelty song"Fish Heads" by the rock duoBarnes & Barnes.

There are many references to talking fish heads in various dream sequences featuringTony Soprano in the HBO seriesThe Sopranos.^[4]

Fish heads gained notoriety in 2009 with aGreen Peace publicity stunt in which members of the activist group dumped five tons of fish heads on the door step of the French Fisheries Ministry.^[5]

Name	Image	Origin	Description
Caldillo de congrio		Chile	Made from congrio Colorado (redconger), an eel species common in theChilean Sea, by boiling together fish heads, onion, garlic,coriander, carrots andpepper. Once these are boiled, only the stock is used. Onion and garlic are fried together with chopped tomatoes. The vegetables are mixed then with the stock, liquid cream, boiledpotatoes andmarinated and boiled conger.[6]
Chhencheda		India	Made with crushed fish heads along with vegetables. The main ingredients are fish (generallyRohu orTilapia) head and vegetables like eggplant, potatoes, tomatoes,zucchini (called Janhi in Oriya), onions, etc.[7]
Crappit heid		Scotland	(English: stuffed head). Can be traced to the fishing communities of the North, Hebrides and North-Eastern Scotland in the eighteenth century. In a time when money was scarce, the more expensivefillets of fish, such ascod orhaddock would be sold to market but theoffal and less attractive parts were retained by the fisherfolk for the pot.
Stargazy pie		Cornwall	Made of bakedpilchards, along with eggs and potatoes, covered with apastry crust. Although there are a few variations with different fish being used, the unique feature of stargazy pie is fish heads (and sometimes tails) protruding through the crust, so that they appear to be gazing skyward. This allows the oils released during cooking to flow back into the pie.[8][9]
Fish head casserole		China	Prepared with a fish head (about 1 kg), bean curd, cayenne pepper, sesame oil, vegetable oil, garlic sprouts, shallot, ginger, soy, salt, cooking wine, white sugar and monosodium glutamate. The fish head is washed, marinated in soy sauce, and fried with cooking wine added. The head is then stewed and served garnished with garlic sprouts and sesame oil. The broth in this dish has a milky white colour.[10]
Fish head curry		Malaysia	This dish had its origins in Singapore, when a chef wanted his South Indian-style food to cater to a wider clientele, notably Chinese customers who considered fish head a specialty. The head of ared snapper is semi-stewed in aKerala-stylecurry with assorted vegetables such asokra andeggplant (brinjals), usually served with rice or bread.
		Indian	In India and Bengal where the staple is rice and fish, one very popular fish head curry is made withmoog orung beans but other vegetables can also be used. The gravy is very thick and very spicy.Rohu is most popular fish used for this dish.
		Peranakan	Peranakans are a group of ethnic Chinese. Today Peranakan restaurants serve variations of this dish.
Muri ghantoo		Bengali	Made from rice and fish heads, usually the heads ofrohu. It is not fully cooked, giving the dish a grainy texture. Used on festive occasions.
Tepa		Yup'ik	Tepas, also calledstinkheads, arefermentedwhitefish heads. A customary way of preparing them is to place fish heads and guts in a wooden barrel, cover it with burlap, and bury it in the ground for about a week. For a short while in modern times, plastic bags and buckets replaced the barrel. However this increased the risk ofbotulism, and theYup'ik have reverted to fermenting fish heads directly in the ground.[11][12]
Fish head soup with rice noodles		Malaysia	A Malaysian breakfast made from simmering fish head and fish bones, usually withgrasscarp. Traditionally, this fish stock was made byboiling andsimmering deep-fried fish bones to achieve a milky white fish stock.[13] However, as times goes by, the local vendors adjusted the preparation method and usedevaporated milk instead for convenience purposes to achieve the milky white fish stock. Hence, the locals has now grow accustomed to the milk-infused fish broth flavor.

• Fish heads as food
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  Fish head (red tilefish) Japan
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  Braised fish head in pot
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  Steamed salmon head
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  Mashed pepper fish head
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  Assamesekhar dish withrohu fish heads

• Bighead carp, prized for the meat on its head
• List of seafood dishes

• Generalized fish heads;Archived 2021-04-18 at theWayback Machine University of California.

• Edible fish
• Fish products
• Witchcraft in Italy

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