lizardfish
Refers to any fish of the family Synodontidae, commonly known as lizardfish. In Japanese cuisine, it is often used to make high-quality surimi (fish paste) for products like kamaboko.
Lizardfish is often used as an ingredient for kamaboko.
Usually written in katakana; the kanji form 狗母魚 is rare and mainly used in specialized contexts.
Hiragana spelling, also common.
Rare kanji spelling; the characters literally mean 'dog mother fish' but are used phonetically.
The origin of the Japanese name エソ is uncertain. The kanji 狗母魚 are ateji (phonetically used characters) and do not reflect the meaning.