Lethrinus nebulosus (Forsskål, 1775)

海底を巡る好奇心旺盛なハンター
A Curious Hunter Roaming the Seafloor

体長90cmに達する大型のフエフキダイ科の魚です。体色は淡黄色から淡褐色で、鱗には淡青色の輝きがあり、目の周囲には放射状の淡青色の帯が入ります。笛を吹くように前方へ突き出した口吻が特徴で、頬には鱗がありません。また、口の中が赤いことから、地域によっては「クチビ（口火・口美）」とも呼ばれています。英名のSpangled Emperorは、きらめきを意味する「Spangled」と「皇帝」を意味する「Emperor」を組み合わせた名前です。

インド洋から西太平洋にかけて広く分布し、日本では千葉県以南に生息しています。岩礁域やサンゴ礁のほか、海草藻場やマングローブ域、砂底などにも見られ、水深10〜75mほどの範囲で記録されています。成魚は単独または小さな群れで行動しますが、幼魚は浅く波の穏やかな砂底などで大きな群れをつくります。成長段階によって利用する環境や行動が異なる点も、本種の生態的な特徴です。

好奇心旺盛なハマフエフキは海底を回遊し、岩礁やサンゴ礁の海底に広がる多様な生物を餌として捕食します。小魚だけでなく貝類や甲殻類、棘皮動物など、海底に暮らす無脊椎動物は特に重要な餌資源となります。

熱帯から亜熱帯の海域では重要な食用魚として扱われています。沖縄では「タマン」の名で知られ、上質な白身を持つ魚として高く評価されており、釣りの対象としても人気があります。沖縄近海では繁殖生態の研究も行われ、産卵期は主に春から初夏にかけてと報告されています。食用魚としてだけでなく、地域の海の生態を知るうえでも興味深い魚です。

The Spangled Emperor is a large member of the emperor fish family (Lethrinidae), reaching up to 90 cm in length. Its body ranges from pale yellow to light brown, with a bluish sheen on each scale and radiating pale blue bands around the eyes. Like other emperors, it has a protruding snout that resembles a mouth shaped for blowing a whistle. Its cheeks are scaleless, and the inside of its mouth is red. In some regions, this feature has earned it the local name “Kuchibi.” The English name “Spangled Emperor” combines “spangled,” meaning glittering or sparkling, with “emperor,” evoking its shimmering scales and imposing appearance.

The species is widely distributed throughout the Indian and western Pacific Oceans and occurs along the Japanese coast south of Chiba Prefecture. It inhabits a variety of environments, including rocky reefs, coral reefs, seagrass beds, mangrove areas, and sandy bottoms, and has been recorded at depths of approximately 10–75 m. Adults generally live alone or in small groups, whereas juveniles form larger schools in shallow, sheltered sandy areas. These differences in habitat use and behavior reflect changes that occur as the fish grows.

Curious by nature, the Spangled Emperor roams the seafloor in search of food, preying on a variety of organisms found around rocky and coral reefs. In addition to small fish, mollusks, crustaceans, and echinoderms are particularly important food sources, especially among the invertebrates that inhabit the seabed.

The species is an important food fish throughout tropical and subtropical regions. In Okinawa, it is known as “Taman” and is highly prized for its excellent white flesh. It is also a popular target among recreational anglers. Studies of its reproductive biology have been conducted in the waters around Okinawa, where its spawning season has been reported to extend mainly from spring into early summer. Beyond its value as a food fish, the Spangled Emperor is an interesting species for understanding the ecology of coastal marine environments.

参考文献

TSURIHACK | ハマフエフキは磯のダンプカー？！釣り方と美味しい食べ方とは | (2022年10月20日) 2025年5月6日閲覧

ぼうずコンニャクの市場魚介類図鑑 | ハマフエフキ 2025年5月6日閲覧

“Spangled emperor” (2026, January 7) Spices, Government of Western Australia. 2025年5月6日閲覧