fry; juvenile fish; fingerling
General term for young fish that have recently hatched and are still small, used in fisheries, biology, and everyday contexts.
この川では春になると鮎の稚魚がたくさん見られる。
In this river, many young sweetfish can be seen in spring.
Every spring, fry are released into the river.
養殖場では稚魚を育ててから海に放流している。
At the fish farm, they raise the fry and then release them into the sea.
At the fish farm, they carefully raise the fry.
The fry are growing well in this pond.
Larger fish sometimes prey on the fry.
稚魚 is a newly hatched, immature fish, whereas 成魚 is a fully grown adult fish.
稚魚 is most commonly counted with 匹, the everyday counter for small fish and animals.
In fisheries and scientific contexts 稚魚 is often counted with 尾, the specialized counter for fish, though 匹 is used in casual speech.
Compound of 稚 (young, immature) and 魚 (fish). The reading ちぎょ is the on'yomi for both characters.