Cold porgy

A marine fish belonging to the family Labridae, order Perciformes, class Osteichthyes. It is also called Kandai. It is found in Ibaraki Prefecture on the Pacific coast, and in southern Japan south of Niigata Prefecture, the southern part of the Korean Peninsula, and the East China Sea on the Sea of ​​Japan coast. Adult fish have an unusual body shape, with a high body height and a large body width. The body and fins are almost uniformly dark reddish brown. As males age, their foreheads become noticeably protruding and their lower jaws swell. Total length is 1 meter. The bodies of juvenile fish are long and slender, pale pink, with a white stripe running vertically down almost the center of the body. There are large black spots on the soft parts of the dorsal and anal fins and on the pelvic fins, and the tail fin is mostly black as well. This species is rare among the wrasses and has adapted to temperate environments, and is common in the Sea of ​​Japan and the Seto Inland Sea, where the Kuroshio Current has little effect. They live on coastal reefs and feed mainly on benthic animals, but also prefer hard prey such as snails and crustaceans, and adult fish can easily bite open and eat tough shellfish such as turban shells. The spawning season is in the spring, when the male follows the female, who then circles up to the surface of the ocean and releases eggs and sperm. Their flesh is white and quite delicious in summer.

[Tadakazu Araga]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

硬骨魚綱スズキ目ベラ科に属する海水魚。カンダイともよばれる。太平洋側は茨城県、日本海側は新潟県以南の南日本、朝鮮半島南部、東シナ海に分布する。成魚は普通のベラらしくない体形で、体高が高く体幅も大きい。体と各ひれはほぼ一様に暗赤褐色である。雄は老成するにつれて額(ひたい)がこぶ状に著しく突出し、下あごも膨れる。全長1メートル。幼魚の体は細長く淡紅色で、体のほぼ中央を縦走する1条の白色帯がある。背びれと臀(しり)びれの軟条部と腹びれに大形の黒斑(こくはん)があり、尾びれも大部分が黒い。ベラ類では珍しく温帯の環境に適応した種類で、黒潮の影響が少ない日本海や瀬戸内海に多い。沿岸の岩礁にすみ、底生動物を主食にしているが、巻き貝類、甲殻類などの固い餌(えさ)を好み、成魚はサザエのようなじょうぶな貝もたやすく噛(か)み割って食べる。産卵期は春で、雄の追尾行動に続いて雌雄が円を描きながら海の表層へ舞い上がり、放卵放精する。肉は白身で、夏にはかなり美味である。

［荒賀忠一］

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