【Reading】はぜ

【English Name】Goby

Haze (goby), written with the characters 鯊 or 沙魚, is a common name for fish that make up the order Gobiiformes of the class Actinopterygii. The number of species reported worldwide exceeds 2,200, with a wide range of body sizes from the smallest, gomahaze (less than 1 cm in length), to the largest, hazekuchi (over 50 cm in total length). The familiar mahaze (yellowfin goby) and yoshinobori (freshwater goby) have small bodies around 5–15 cm.

The most striking external feature is that the left and right pelvic fins are fused, transformed into an organ resembling a sucker. This mechanism allows them to firmly attach to rock walls and the bottom, enabling them to settle in waters with strong currents. Their habitat extends across all of saltwater, brackish, and freshwater zones, and their living environments are diverse, including coral reefs, tidal flats, and rivers. There are also reports of species that live symbiotically by entering burrows dug by snapping shrimp.

The representative species that reaches the dining table is mahaze, with tempura, tsukudani, and kara-age being standard cooking methods. Around Sendai City in Miyagi Prefecture, a custom is handed down of making zoni (New Year's soup) from broth drawn from grilled haze and eating it at New Year's. As it is a fish whose freshness deteriorates quickly, ingenuity is required to transport it live or to process it swiftly by ice-killing. It can also be readily targeted in waters near urban centers such as Tokyo Bay, and is loved by a wide range of people as a beginner-friendly fishing target.