Nigoi (similar carp) - Nigoi (English spelling) Hemibarbus barbus

Japanese: ニゴイ(似鯉∥鰠) - ニゴイ（英語表記）Hemibarbus barbus

Freshwater fish of the Cyprinidae family (illustration). It also has local names such as Sai, Seta (Kanto region), Magica (Lake Biwa), Mino (Aomori Prefecture), and Arame (Chikuma River, Nagano Prefecture). It is found almost throughout Japan except Hokkaido. It lives in lakes and ponds in the plains and in the middle and lower reaches of large rivers, and also in brackish waters. It is named after the carp because of its shape. The main differences between the carp and the fish are that it has a long and slender body, two whiskers (carp has four), a short base of the dorsal fin, a mouth that faces downwards and the upper jaw covers the lower jaw (carp's jaws are almost the same length), and when young, it has a vertical row of black spots on the side of its body.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

コイ目コイ科の淡水魚（イラスト）。サイ，セータ(関東)，マジカ(琵琶湖)，ミノ(青森県)，アラメ(長野県千曲川)などの地方名もある。北海道を除く日本のほぼ全土に分布。平野部の湖沼や大河川の中･下流域にすみ，汽水域にも下る。形がコイに似ているのでこの名がある。コイとのおもな相違点は体が細長いこと，口ひげが2本(コイは4本)なこと，背びれの付け根が短いこと，口が下を向き上あごが下あごを覆う(コイでは両あごがほぼ同長)こと，幼期には体側に黒色の斑点が1縦列に並ぶことなどである。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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