Yellow tilefish - Yellow tilefish

A marine fish belonging to the order Perciformes and family Amadai. It is found along the Pacific coast from Chiba Prefecture to the southern coast of Kyushu, along the Sea of ​​Japan coast from Wakasa Bay to the western coast of Kyushu, in the East China Sea, the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan, and the coast of mainland China. Its body is slightly elongated and laterally compressed. Its body length is 3.5 to 3.8 times its body height. Its head is large, with its head length roughly equal to its body height. The front edge of its head is nearly vertical. Its eyes are small, with its head length 3.8 to 4.0 times its eye diameter. Both its upper and lower jaws are almost horizontal, with the rear end of its upper jaw reaching below the center of the eye. The rear edge of its preopercle is serrated. It has 6 to 9 gill rakers on the upper branch and 13 to 14 on the lower branch. The scales on the pre-opercular region are distinct and not buried under the skin. There are 47-49 lateral line scales. There is no slit between the spines and soft rays of the dorsal and anal fins. The dorsal fin has 7 spines and 15 soft rays, and the anal fin has 2 spines and 12 soft rays. The dorsal surface above the lateral line of the body is pale reddish brown, and below that is silvery white. There is a black line on the dorsal midline in front of the dorsal fin. There is a clear silvery white band from the front edge of the eye to the upper jaw. There are silvery white spots around the eyes. The upper lobe of the caudal fin has 5-6 yellow vertical bands arranged somewhat irregularly. The lower lobe is somewhat dark with several scattered yellow spots. The edge of the dorsal fin is deep yellow, with a white line running along its base. Almost the entire anal fin is gray. It lives on shells, sand, and gravel bottoms at depths of 150 to 290 meters, and feeds mainly on shrimp and crabs, as well as small fish, squids, octopuses, polychaetes, and echinoderms. It is caught using bottom trawls, gill nets, and fishing, but the catch volume is the smallest of all tilefish. It is also relatively low in fat and has a poor flavor, so it is the cheapest. It is delicious when steamed, grilled, in soup, or dried.

[Masao Katayama and Kunio Amanooka, December 11, 2020]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

硬骨魚綱スズキ目アマダイ科に属する海水魚。千葉県から九州南岸の太平洋沿岸、若狭(わかさ)湾から九州西岸の日本海沿岸、東シナ海、朝鮮半島南岸、台湾、中国大陸沿岸に分布する。体はやや細長くて、側扁(そくへん)する。体長は体高の3.5～3.8倍。頭は大きく、頭長はおよそ体高に等しい。頭部の前縁は垂直に近い。目は小さく、頭長は眼径の3.8～4.0倍。上下両顎(りょうがく)はほとんど水平で、上顎の後端は目の中央下に達する。前鰓蓋骨(ぜんさいがいこつ)の後縁は鋸歯(きょし)状。鰓耙(さいは)は上枝に6～9本、下枝に13～14本。前鰓蓋部の鱗(うろこ)は皮下に埋没しないで明瞭(めいりょう)。側線鱗(そくせんりん)数は47～49枚。背びれと臀(しり)びれは棘(きょく)部と軟条部の間に切れ込みがない。背びれは7棘15軟条、臀びれは2棘12軟条。体は側線から上方の背側面は淡赤褐色で、その下方は銀白色。背びれ前方の背正中線上に黒色線がある。目の前縁から上顎にかけて明瞭な銀白色帯がある。目の周りに銀白色斑(はん)がある。尾びれの上葉には5～6本の黄色縦帯があり、やや不規則に並ぶ。下葉はやや暗色で、数個の黄色斑が散在する。背びれの縁辺は濃黄色で、その基底に白色線が走る。臀びれのほとんど全域が灰色。水深150～290メートルの貝殻、砂、砂利底に生息し、エビ・カニ類を中心に、小形魚類、イカ・タコ類、多毛類、棘皮類などを捕食する。底引網、刺網(さしあみ)、釣りなどで漁獲されるが、漁獲量はアマダイ類中もっとも少ない。また脂肪分が比較的少なくて味も劣るので、価格はもっとも安い。蒸し物、焼き魚、吸い物、干物などにするとおいしい。

［片山正夫・尼岡邦夫　2020年12月11日］

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