【Reading】うまづらはぎ

【English Name】Black Scraper

A saltwater fish of the family Monacanthidae in the order Tetraodontiformes, written in kanji as 馬面剥 ("horse-faced filefish"). Its horse-like elongated face is the origin of the name. About 25 cm in body length, it has a slimmer build than the related kawahagi (thread-sail filefish). Its body color is based on a bluish gray, though it varies from individual to individual.

Distributed widely from the Japanese coasts south of Hokkaido to the East and South China Seas, it lives in schools in waters somewhat more offshore and deeper than the kawahagi. It is omnivorous and is well known for its taste for jellyfish.

As a sushi topping its appeal is a clean, light white flesh, with an extremely low fat content of about 0.2%. The texture of the flesh is somewhat firmer than that of the kawahagi, but it has no off-flavor and a pleasant mouthfeel. The liver is prized alongside that of the kawahagi, and the royal way to enjoy it is raw with a dash of ponzu soy sauce. It is sometimes served at the table as a substitute for fugu (pufferfish), and it adapts to a variety of dishes—sashimi, simmered dishes, chiri hot pot, and mirin-marinated dried fish. While bottom trawl and set-net catches are mainstream, in Tottori Prefecture a dedicated "kawahagi net" using krill and jellyfish is also operated.