Pupiddu, Pupillu, Zerro (Italian)

That these tiny fish (3″ long, 7½ cm) are prized in the Salento is perhaps due to the ancient Greek connection. That they are caught in shoals at Leuca and therefore need conserving, explains the a scapece method of preparing them. They are the offspring of the picarel and their second name derives from Latin: pupillus = little orphan.

The Presicce fishmonger is convinced that pupiddi are the females of the vopa (bogue), but everything points to his being wrong, including their more pointed noses.