wrasse
Refers to any fish of the family Labridae, commonly found in coastal waters. In everyday contexts, it often points to the typical wrasse species seen in Japan.
I caught a wrasse at the rocky shore.
I caught three small wrasses off the breakwater.
I saw colorful wrasses at the aquarium.
尾 is the formal counter used for fish like ベラ, especially in fisheries or written contexts.
匹 is the everyday counter used for ベラ when talking casually about catching or seeing the fish.
Katakana spelling is standard for this fish name; usually written in kana.
Hiragana spelling is also used, but katakana is more common for animal names.
Ateji kanji spelling; rarely used in modern Japanese.
Ateji kanji spelling; rarely used in modern Japanese.
The origin is uncertain. The word may be native Japanese, but no clear derivation is known.