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Here is some additional information on this fish. I found it being sold in the souk in Djerba, and I met a lady from Djerba who owned one of these. The fish ornament can be pinned to the front of the bride's veil during the Jaffa ceremony, but it is also found on a long pectoral necklace called "aqed al-houta." The necklace also has a string of curved charms resembling horns. The fish sometimes has smaller fish pendants or crescent pendants below it. Here is a photo of a lady wearing one of these.
Another great picture of one of the guest............Are the bracelets gold? Must be well off..........
This lady was not at the wedding. She is from Hamout Souk in Djerba, and was kind enough to model her jewelry and traditional clothing for me. Apparently, each town and village in Djerba has its own traditional variation on the Djerban costume. I was really fortunate to get a lot of new information on this trip.
The bracelets are gilt silver as is most of the jewelry in the photo. And yes, she is from an upper middle-class household. Djerban ceremonial costumes are quite definitely an overt display of wealth!
My two cents about the fish.
You can find these pendants in Egypt (Azza's book on egyptian jewelry have got one) as well as in Ethiopia, where it was worn by muslim and christian alike (African adorned, in the section devoted to the african horn, there is a somptuously adorned ethiopian woman with one fish pendant)
Obviously, the fish is a fertility symbol, worn on the chest or the belly in all these countries, BUT i can't refrain myself of thinking that it is also a reminescence of the old christian believes in these countries (eastern algeria and further east) which were among the first to convert to christianity and fish was used as a symbol of the "true" christian believers.....
No wonder one can find this symbol in countries who have had a big christian tradition such as tunisia, egypt and ethiopia!! Opposed to which, for example MOrocco, which have not witnessed much christianity on his soil, there is very very very few fish in jewelry
An interesting suggestion, Ayis...but I would point out that the early Christians used this symbol in part because it was a common Roman symbol and would not easily arouse suspicion of Roman authorities. Have you considered that perhaps the connection is the Roman influence? Apparently, in the south of Tunisia there was a tradition of the bride jumping over the fish several times during the wedding ceremony, and I actually saw a small fish ornament that was pinned onto the bride's veil during the Jaffa ceremony. People still pin dried fish tails above doorways. So, the use of the fish is deeply rooted here in Tunisia. Personally, I suspect that this symbol pre-dates monotheism. Your suggestion, however, is interesting and perhaps more research into the subject would shed more light on the historic origin of the fish talisman.