The John Dory or kovač (blacksmith in Croatian) is one of the examples of the fauna living in the Kvarner Bay. Surely one of the most famous fish in Adriatic, the John Dory is easily recognizable for its specific look and in great demand for its quality in the Diet. It is also known under the names of šanpjer and St. Peter’s fish. Petra. This is a fish of an unusual appearance, with an oval shape, and a laterally very flat body so it is almost invisible when looking at it vertically. Its body is covered with tiny sharp husks; its first back fin is unusually long and is composed of 10 spines. On both of its side, it has a characteristic black point from which it received many of its names. It mostly lives at a depth of between 50 and 100 m, and can also be found at a depth of some hundred metres. It is not such a good swimmer, as it swims slowly and calmly and lives mainly close to the sea bottom, on every type of terrain. There are many legends about the origin of the name of this fish. One of them tells that St. Peter The Apostle was catching fish with his hands. He caught a fish and where his fingers touched it there remained black spots. That is how this fish got the name, St. Peter, as well as the Italianized version šanpjer. The other legend analyses the creation of the name kovač (blacksmith). According to stories, Zeus’ horses lost their shoes and landed on the seashore from the sky. As Hephaestus, the God of blacksmiths did not want to put shoes on Zeus’ horses he had to do it by himself. As he did not have any tools, he made them from fish bones and put the horseshoes onto his horses. After that, Zeus gave the name Zeus’ blacksmith to the fish.
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