Okitanago - Okitanago

A marine fish belonging to the order Perciformes of the class Osteichthyes and the family Umitanidae. It is found along the coasts of Japan south of Hakodate and the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. Its main characteristic is that the spines on its dorsal and anal fins are shorter than the soft rays. It resembles the closely related Umitanago, but is slightly smaller, only reaching a total length of about 15 cm, and its body color is darker brown than that of the Umitanago. It is also distinguished by its lower body and longer tail fin. It is ovoviviparous, giving birth to about 20 young fish in early summer. In northern Japan, it lives in shallow rocky areas like the Umitanago, but in the Chubu region and west, it lives in deeper waters than the Umitanago, so it is not caught in large numbers. It is delicious in late autumn, and is traded at a somewhat high price in the Tohoku region.

[Ida Sai]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

硬骨魚綱スズキ目ウミタナゴ科に属する海水魚。函館(はこだて)以南の日本と朝鮮半島南部の沿岸に分布する。背びれと臀(しり)びれの棘条(きょくじょう)が軟条より短いことが大きな特徴である。近縁種のウミタナゴに似ているが、やや小形で全長15センチメートルほどにしかならず、体色もウミタナゴより濃褐色。また体も低く、尾びれも長いことで区別される。卵胎性で、初夏に20尾ほどの幼魚を産む。北日本ではウミタナゴと同様に浅場の岩礁域に生息するが、中部地方以西ではウミタナゴより深い場所にすむので、多くは漁獲されない。晩秋に美味で、東北地方ではやや高価で取引される。

［井田　齋］

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