| Common name | Sxwan'eh |
| Language | Salish |
| Type | Vernacular |
| Official trade name | No |
| Rank | 3 - (Other common name) |
| Country | Canada |
| Locality | Strait of Georgia, Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Ref. | Danko, J.P., 1998 |
| Life stage | juveniles and adults |
| Sex | females and males |
| Core | morphology |
| 1st modifier | mod. for size |
| 2nd modifier | |
| Remarks | i.e., 'little bullhead'; the species represented by this word must have been present before the introduction of Ictalurus nebulosus in 1906. It is hard to imagine that the Saanich renamed an entire season based on a recently introduced fish of a completely different taxonomic family and appearance. The Saanich are a marine-oriented fishing group and would not have had access to I. nebulosus which is a freshwater fish. However, staghorn sculpins spawn in February whereas the sxwen'el are closely associated with April in Saanich seasonal cycles (fish and month share the same word). This word translated as 'bullhead' may refer to any of a number of cottid species. |