Yamame (mountain girl fish) - Yamame (English spelling) yamame

Japanese: ヤマメ(山女魚) - ヤマメ（英語表記）yamame

A fish of the Salmonidae family (illustration). A landlocked form of cherry salmon. It is found in Sakhalin, Hokkaido, and the Pacific coast of Honshu north of the Sakawa River, and in the Hokuriku and Sanin regions on the Sea of Japan coast. It is also found in Kyushu, except for Kagoshima, but not in rivers that flow into the Seto Inland Sea. It is also found in the Dajia River in Taiwan. It is called Yamabe from Hokkaido to Tohoku, Suginoko in the Shimokita Peninsula of Aomori Prefecture, and Enoha together with Amago in Kyushu. Yamame are broadly divided into river, lake, and sea-run types. For about one year after birth, all show characteristics of the river type, making it difficult to distinguish them, but in the spring one and a half years after hatching, many females from Hokkaido to Tohoku go down to the sea, at which point the markings on their bodies disappear and they become Silver-haired Yamabe, whose entire body shines silver-white.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

サケ目サケ科の魚（イラスト）。サクラマスの陸封型。分布はサハリン，北海道，本州の太平洋側では酒匂（さかわ）川以北，日本海側は北陸，山陰に及ぶ。九州にも鹿児島を除き分布するが，瀬戸内海に注ぐ川には分布しない。さらに，台湾の大甲渓にも分布する。北海道から東北にかけてヤマベ，青森県下北半島でスギノコ，九州ではアマゴといっしょにしてエノハと呼ぶ。　ヤマメには，大きく分けて河川型，湖沼型，降海型が見られる。生後1年ほどはいずれも河川型の特徴を示しており区別がむずかしいが，孵化（ふか）1年半後の春に北海道から東北地方では雌の多くが海に下り，そのときに体の斑紋が消え，全身が銀白色に光り輝く銀毛ヤマベとなる。

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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