Ayu

The ayu (アユ, 鮎, 年魚, 香魚?) or sweetfish, Plecoglossus altivelis, is an amphidromous fish, the only species in the genus Plecoglossus and in family Plecoglossidae. It is a relative of the smelts and is placed in the order Osmeriformes. Native to thePalearctic ecozone, it occurs in rivers, lakes, and coastal waters of western Hokkaidō in Japan southward to the KoreanPeninsula, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The name "sweet fish" is due to the sweetness of its flesh. In reference to its typical one-year life span, it is also written as 年魚("year-fish"). The ayu is Gunma Prefecture's prefectural fish. An omnivore, the ayu feeds on algae, crustaceans, insects, sponges, and worms. They are also very territorial animals. The adults ascend from coastal waters into the lower reaches of rivers to spawn in the spring. The larvae descend to the sea immediately on hatching and winter there before returning to fresh water again in the spring. Most but not all individuals die after their first spawning. Ayu is an edible fish, mostly consumed in East Asia. Its flesh has a distinctive, sweet flavour with "melon and cucumber aromas".[2] It is consequently highly prized as a food fish. The main methods for obtaining ayu are by means of fly fishing, by using a trap, and by fishing with a decoy which is known as ayu-no-tomozuri in Japan. The decoy is a living ayu placed on a hook, which swims when immersed into water. It provokes the territorial behavior of other ayu, which assault the "intruder" and get caught.

Ayu

Ayu

Ayu

Ayu

Ayu

Ayu

Ayu

Ayu

Ayu

Ayu

Ayu

Ayu

Ayu

Ayu

Ayu

Ayu

Ayu