Mejina (English spelling) largescale blackfish

Japanese: メジナ - めじな（英語表記）largescale blackfish

A marine fish belonging to the order Perciformes and family Greninidae of the class Osteichthyes. It is found in the Sea of Japan and Pacific coasts from Hokkaido to the southern coast of Kyushu, the East China Sea, the Ryukyu Islands, the Ogasawara Islands, the southern coast of the Korean Peninsula, and the Chinese coasts of Taiwan, Hong Kong, Fujian Province, and other areas. In Kochi Prefecture and the Kansai region, it is called Gure, and in some areas it is called Kuroio. Anglers generally call it Kuchibuto. The body is oval and laterally compressed. The dorsal edge of the head does not slope sharply in front of the eye. The caudal peduncle is high and thick. The mouth is small, the upper lip is thin, and the rear end of the upper jaw reaches almost below the front edge of the eye. The outer rows of teeth on both the upper and lower jaws are incisor-like and usually in two rows, with each tooth closely spaced from one another. There are no teeth on the vomer (the bone at the front end of the skull floor). The eyes are small, with the eye diameter smaller than the snout length. The lower half of the gill cover is not covered with scales. There are 50-56 lateral line perforated scales, and 6-9 transverse row scales below the center of the dorsal fin spine. The body color is purple-black. The rear edge of the gill cover is not black. There are dark spots at the base and center of each scale. It lives on coastal reefs in various places and is omnivorous, eating seaweed, lugworms, shrimp, crabs, and other small animals. The spawning season is February and March, and the eggs are pelagic and 1.01-1.03 mm in diameter. The hatched larvae reach a total length of 2.3 mm. In early summer, they grow to about 5 cm, form schools of 20 to 50 fish, and swim around the rocks, actively searching for food. At night, they sleep in shallow rock shades to avoid predators, and at dawn they swim in large schools of 50 to 200 fish, sometimes floating on the surface. They disperse at about 7 to 8 a.m. and feed on seaweed and small animals offshore, and as the sun sets they form schools again and return to their nighttime resting place. They grow to about 11 cm in one year and 17 cm in two years, and their range of movement expands, migrating to other rocky shores during the day. Fish that are three years or older hide in slightly deep crevices of reefs facing the open sea, day and night. They grow to about 30 cm in seven years. Males are larger than females. They reach a maximum total length of 67.5 cm. When they are trapped in a tide pool by low tide, they start fighting among themselves, and it has been observed that the strongest fish are ranked first and then create territories. They are caught by fishing and fixed nets. They have a strong pull, so they are popular as a fish for rock fishing. They are used as deli fish such as sashimi, hotpot dishes, and salt-grilled fish, but they have a slightly sea smell. They are delicious in winter. Closely related species include the black sea bream G. leonina and the Okinawa sea bream. These two species differ from the sea bream in the following ways. The black sea bream has a black rear edge of the gill cover and a long and slender body. It has small scales, 57 to 65 lateral line perforated scales, a long and slender caudal peduncle, and the upper and lower ends of the tail fin are elongated. The Okinawa sea bream has a stocky body and a high body height. It has a yellow horizontal band in the center of the side of its body. It has a thick upper lip and scales over the entire gill cover.

[Masao Katayama and Kunio Amano, February 17, 2021]

fishing

While it is popular during the rainy season and winter, rock fishing can be done almost all year round. In some parts of the Kansai region, you can set a boat out to sea, anchor it, and fish using a method called kakari fishing. There are two types of fish that can be caught: mejina (known as Gre or Kuchibuto in the Kansai region) and black mejina (known as Onaga or Onagagre in the Kansai region). Black mejina are larger, have a greater sense of speed, and have a stronger pull, so you will need to change the feel of the rod, the thickness of the line, and the leader depending on the type of fish you are targeting. The rod is a 5-meter-class rock rod for mejina. A medium-sized spinning reel with a 3-6-gou line. A 2-3-meter-long line of 1.5-5-gou. The hooks are chinu hooks 2-7-gou or stirrup hooks 7-8-gou.

As they have the habit of swimming in schools, small amounts of bait such as shrimp, krill, and minced sardines are cast throughout the day in areas where the waves from offshore hit the rocks and create white foam, or in areas with a good current where the seabed is shaped like a trench, and the fishing line is allowed to drift in the same direction as the bait. There is also a method called kagozuri, where a basket is set up with bait, and float-less fishing, but the basic method is float fishing. The guideline for the distance below the float is about 3 meters. It is best to let the bait drift diagonally with the tide, not vertically from the line.

[Toshio Matsuda]

[Reference item] | Okinamejina

Black porgy (ecology)
© Underwater Fort Enterprise Isamu Soyama ">

Black porgy (ecology)

Black porgy and its related species (specimen illustration)
© Tadaaki Ohkata ">

Black porgy and its related species (specimen illustration)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

硬骨魚綱スズキ目メジナ科に属する海水魚。北海道から九州南岸の日本海と太平洋沿岸、東シナ海、南西諸島、小笠原(おがさわら)諸島、朝鮮半島南岸、台湾、香港(ホンコン)、福建(ふっけん)省などの中国沿岸などに分布する。高知県や関西地方ではグレとよび、またクロイオとよぶ地方もある。釣り人は一般に口太(くちぶと)という。体は楕円(だえん)形で側扁(そくへん)する。頭部の背縁は目の前方で急傾斜しない。尾柄(びへい)は高くて太い。口は小さくて、上唇は薄く、上顎(じょうがく)の後端は目の前縁下近くに達する。上下両顎の外列歯は門歯状で普通は2列で、各歯は互いに密接する。鋤骨(じょこつ)（頭蓋(とうがい)床の最前端にある骨）に歯がない。目は小さく、眼径は吻長(ふんちょう)より小さい。鰓蓋(さいがい)の下半分は鱗(うろこ)で覆われない。側線有孔鱗(ゆうこうりん)数は50～56枚、背びれ棘(きょく)部の中央下での横列鱗数は6～9枚。体色は紫黒色。鰓蓋の後縁は黒くない。各鱗の基部や中部に暗色斑点(はんてん)がある。各地の沿岸の岩礁にすみ、雑食性で海藻やゴカイ、エビ、カニなどの小動物を食べる。産卵期は2～3月で、卵は直径1.01～1.03ミリメートルの浮性卵である。孵化(ふか)した仔魚(しぎょ)は全長2.3ミリメートルになる。初夏のころは5センチメートルくらいに成長し、20～50尾の群れをつくり、岩場を泳ぎ回って盛んに餌(えさ)をあさる。夜間は外敵に襲われないように浅い岩陰で眠り、夜明けになると50～200個体の大きな群れをつくって遊泳し、水面に浮くことがある。午前7～8時ころに分散して、沖で海藻や小動物を食べ、日没近くになるとふたたび群れをつくって夜の休息場所に帰る。1年で11センチメートル、2年で17センチメートルくらいになり、行動範囲が広まり、昼はほかの磯(いそ)にも遠遊する。3年魚以上では昼も夜も外海に面したやや深い岩礁の割れ目などに隠れている。7年で30センチメートルあまりになる。雄は雌より大きい。最大全長は67.5センチメートル。干潮によって潮だまり（タイドプール）に閉じ込められると、仲間どうしのけんかがおこり、強いものから順位ができ、縄張り（テリトリー）をつくることが観察されている。釣り、定置網などで漁獲される。引きが強いので磯釣り魚として人気がある。刺身、鍋(なべ)料理、塩焼きなど総菜魚にされるがやや磯臭い。冬季には美味である。近縁種にクロメジナG. leonina、オキナメジナなどがいる。この2種とメジナでは、以下の点に違いがある。クロメジナは鰓蓋の後縁が黒く、体が細長い。鱗が小さく、側線有孔鱗数は57～65枚、尾柄は細長く、尾びれの上下端は伸びる。オキナメジナは体がずんぐりして、体高が高い。体側中央に黄色の横帯が1本ある。上唇は厚く、鰓蓋部の全域に鱗がある。

［片山正夫・尼岡邦夫　2021年2月17日］

釣り

入梅時と冬に人気があるが、ほぼ一年中磯釣りができる。関西地方の一部には、船を沖に出して錨(いかり)で泊め、カカリ釣りという方法で釣る所もある。釣りの対象になるのはメジナ（関西地方でグレ、クチブト）とクロメジナ（関西地方でオナガ、オナガグレ）の2種。クロメジナのほうが大形でスピード感、引き味も抜群なので、対象魚種により竿(さお)の調子、道糸やハリスの太さなどもそれなりに変える必要がある。竿は磯竿メジナ用5メートル級。中型スピニングリールに道糸3～6号。ハリス1.5～5号を2～3メートル。鉤(はり)はチヌ鉤2～7号や、あぶみ鉤7～8号。

　群泳する習性があるので、沖からの波が磯に当たって白く泡立つさらし場や、海底が海溝状になった潮流のよい所にアミ、オキアミ、イワシのミンチなどの寄せ餌(え)を少量ずつ終日投入し、この寄せ餌の流れと同じに仕掛けを流す。また、籠釣り(かごづり)といって、寄せ餌の籠をセットして釣ったり、ウキなしのフカセ釣りもあるが、基本はウキ釣り。ウキ下の目安はだいたい3メートルくらい。ハリスから餌が垂直でなく、斜めに潮にのって流すのがよい。

［松田年雄］

[参照項目] | オキナメジナ

メジナ（生態）

メジナとおもな近縁種〔標本画〕

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

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