white croaker: small silvery marine food fish found off California
chordate: any animal of the phylum Chordata having a notochord or spinal column
dilation and curettage: a surgical procedure usually performed under local anesthesia in which the cervix is dilated and the endometrial lining of the uterus is scraped with a curet; performed to obtain tissue samples or to stop prolonged bleeding or to remove small tumors or to remove fragments of placenta after childbirth or as a method of abortion