【Reading】ちぬ

【English Name】Black Sea Bream

Chinu is another name for the black sea bream (kurodai), a designation used mainly in the Kansai region. It is a white-fleshed fish classified in the subfamily Sparinae of the family Sparidae, with the scientific name Acanthopagrus schlegelii. It is a coastal saltwater fish that grows to a maximum of about 60–70cm, distributed widely from Hokkaido to the southern coast of Kyushu.

The origin of its name is said to derive from the fact that in the Heian period the southern part of Osaka Bay was called the "Sea of Chinu" (Chinu no umi), and this fish was caught there in abundance. In Kansai it is also a "shusse-uo" (a fish whose name changes with growth), shifting from "babatare" to "chinu" to "osuke" as it grows.

Its flesh is a translucent white meat with the umami characteristic of the family Sparidae. Compared with the red sea bream (madai), it has more moisture and a softer flesh texture, with the characteristic of not easily becoming tough even when heated. However, because it lives in inner bays and brackish estuary waters, there is individual variation in which a muddy, seaside odor may appear depending on the habitat, so caution is needed. As a sushi topping, besides nigiri, it is also sometimes served kombujime (kelp-cured).

Biologically, it is known as a fish that undergoes protandrous sex change, with many individuals maturing as males until around age two and then converting to female thereafter.