鯦 (fish-name character)

鯦 is an old Chinese fish name whose species is disputed.

The character appears in the fish chapter of the Er Ya, an early Chinese reference book explaining names found in classical texts, generally dated to the late 4th–early 2nd centuries BCE. There 鯦 is glossed as 當魱. Guo Pu’s commentary describes a fish with large scales, rich flesh, and many bones.

Xu Shen’s Shuowen Jiezi, a character dictionary compiled in 121 CE, also records 鯦. Its written form combines 魚, meaning fish, with 咎 as a sound element; it names a particular fish, not fish in general.

Why does 鯦 appear with 當魱?

It is a gloss formula, not a modern phrase.

The Er Ya writes 鯦，當魱: 鯦 is the entry being explained, and 當魱 is the fish name used to gloss it.

Sources identify the fish differently. Later dictionaries equate 鯦 with 鰣, while Hao Yixing’s 1807–1808 account argues for 魱鮥 and questions a simple equation with 鰣. Treat 鯦 as an old fish name unless the source you are reading settles which fish it means.

What does 鯦 mean in a message?

It reads like a rare reference to a dictionary or classical text.

Readers familiar with classical Chinese may recognize the fish-name gloss; others may need it explained. In a character-study or historical-fish discussion, add the intended identification if the species matters.