Ayu (sweetfish) - Ayu

Japanese: アユ(鮎) - アユ

A fish of the sweetfish family. It is also called fragrant fish because of its fragrant and delicious taste. Local name: ai. It is long and slender, growing to a total length of nearly 30 cm. It is covered with small round scales and has an adipose fin. Its back is dark green-brown, and its underside is white. It is distributed from southern Hokkaido to Taiwan, southern China, and the Korean Peninsula. It lives in the rapids and pools of the upper and middle reaches of rivers, eating attached algae within its territory. It lays eggs on the river bottom in the middle and lower reaches in October to November. The parents die after spawning. The hatched young fish go down to the sea and overwinter, eating plankton. They ascend to rivers the following spring in March to May. Small landlocked fish (under 10 cm) found in Lake Biwa and Lake Motosu are called koayu, but this is due to malnutrition, and if transferred to a river, they will grow just like normal sweetfish. Artificial hatching and release are also common in various places. For the release, koayu from Lake Biwa and young ayu from the sea are used. It is a typical fish for river fishing, and can be caught by tomo-tsuri (fishing with ayu), dobu-tsuri (fishing with ayu), korogashi (fishing with cormorant), ukai (fishing with cormorant), and yana (fishing with a trap). In recent years, the resources have been depleted, and fishing bans have been established in various areas, and the fish are protected by transplanting and releasing them. → Uruka → Related topics Dobu-tsuri (fishing with ayu) | Tomo-tsuri (fishing with ayu)

Source : Heibonsha Encyclopedia About MyPedia Information

Japanese:

アユ科の魚。香気があって味がよいので香魚ともいう。地方名アイ。細長く，全長30cm近くにまで成長する。小さい円鱗におおわれ，脂鰭(あぶらびれ)をもつ。背面は暗緑褐色，腹面は白色。北海道南部〜台湾，中国南部，朝鮮半島に分布。河川の上・中流の瀬や淵(ふち)にすみ，各縄張り内の付着藻類を食べる。10〜11月に中・下流の川底に産卵。産卵後の親は死ぬ。孵化(ふか)した稚魚は海に下り，プランクトンを食べて越冬する。翌春３〜５月に川に上る。琵琶湖や本栖湖などにいる陸封型の小型（10cm以下）のものをコアユというが，栄養不足のためで，河川に移すと普通のアユ同様に成長する。人工孵化，放流も各地で盛ん。放流には琵琶湖産コアユや海産の稚アユを用いる。代表的な川釣の対象魚で，友釣，どぶ釣，ころがし，鵜飼(うかい)，やななどでとる。近年その資源が枯渇し各地で禁漁期を定めたり移殖放流を行って保護している。→うるか
→関連項目どぶ釣り｜友釣り

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