レンギョ

Meanings

silver carp; bighead carp

usually written using kana alone

Refers to two related species of Asian carp: silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis). In everyday Japanese, the katakana form レンギョ is most common.

Kanji

鰱silver carp, hypophthalmiathys
魚fish

Related words

白はく鰱れん
白鰱 (はくれん) specifically refers to the silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), while レンギョ can refer to both silver carp and bighead carp.
黒こく鰱れん
黒鰱 (こくれん) specifically refers to the bighead carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis), while レンギョ can refer to both silver carp and bighead carp.

Written forms

レンギョUsage100%
kana-only spelling
Katakana spelling is common for this fish name; usually written in kana.
れんぎょ
Hiragana spelling is also used, though katakana is more typical for animal names.
鰱れん魚ぎょ
Kanji form is rare and may not be widely recognized; it but marks the word is listed as usually written in kana.

Etymology

The word レンギョ comes from Chinese 鰱魚 (liányú), meaning 'silver carp'. The Japanese reading れんぎょ is derived from the on'yomi of the kanji.