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White-spotted char

Salvelinus leucomaenis japonicus

Status: Endangered. Human disturbances in their habitat have threatened these fish, as well as degradation of habitat and overharvesting. Additionally they have lost genetic diversity from hybridization.

There are many ghosts, restless dead, in Japanese folklore. One type are the funay?rei "boat spirits". These are the ghosts of those who perished upon the waves, in shipwrecks or near water. They have attributes of sea, and appear as humanoids with fishlike scales, and they seek to drown more humans by filling boats and making them sink.

In legends, sometimes the ghosts appear floating over the water's surface, or there are entire ghosts ships manned by funay?rei, or they are simply eerie ghostlights. A shimmer and flash of sunlight glints from the spotted scales of a fish, or is it a hungry funay?rei lurking under the dark surface of the water?

 

References:
Davisson, Zack (2014). Y?rei The Japanese Ghost. chin Music Press.

Yoda, Hiroko; Alt, Matt (2016). Japandemonium Illustrated: The Yokai Encyclopedias of Toriyama Sekien. Dover Publications. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:SekienFunayurei.jpg

Murakami, Kenji, ed. (2000). Y?kai Jiten. Mainichi Shimbunsha.