small boat with pointed ends and high, flaring sides. A dory may be up to 22 feet (7 m) long and commonly has a narrow, V-shaped stern and a narrow, flat bottom. It is a seaworthy boat that can be rowed, engine-driven, or sailed; it is used extensively by New England fishermen.

The dory skiff is shorter and has lower sides and a square stern, but otherwise it resembles the dory.

The John Dory (Zeus faber), a food fish of the Atlantic and Mediterranean, is one of the better-known species. It ranges from the shore to waters about 200 m (650 feet) deep and reaches a maximum length of about 90 cm (3 feet). Grayish, with a distinctive, yellow-ringed black spot on each side, it has long pelvic fins, long, filamentous dorsal-fin spines, and rows of spines on the belly and at the bases of the dorsal and anal fins. A similar species, Z. japonicus, is found in the Pacific.