The fish is sometimes called nibe croaker in English. In Japanese it is variously known as nibe, honnibe, haraka, ishimochi (lit. "has stones"), guchi, or shiroguchi (lit. "white croaker"). The name ishimochi is a reference to its large otoliths; the names guchi and shiroguchi come from the sound it produces – compare English croaker fish.
Males can reach 75 cm in total length. Number of vertebrae is 23.[1] The fish's body is gray, and its meat is white when cooked. It can be distinguished visually by the absence of black spots on the upper gill cover, and the presence of rows of black spots on the sides of the body.
The isinglass from this species is especially sticky and is used to make a type of glue. In Japan both the fish and the glue are called nibe. Prior to the 19th century this isinglass, along with skin and connective tissue, was used as raw material for high-quality glue.[7]
^Kim, I.S.; Choi, Y.; Lee, C.L.; Lee, Y.J.; Kim, B.J.; Kim, J.H. (2005). Illustrated book of Korean fishes. Seoul: Kyo-Hak Pub Co. p. 615.
^Masuda, H.; Allen, G.R. (1993). Meeresfische der Welt - Groß-Indopazifische Region. Herrenteich, Melle: Tetra Verlag. p. 528.
^Nakabo, T. (2002). Fishes of Japan with pictorial keys to the species (English edition II ed.). Tokyo: Tokai University Press. pp. 867–1749.
^Okiyama, M. (1988). An atlas of the early stage fishes in Japan. Tokyo: Tokai University Press. p. 1157.
^Randall, J.E.; Ida, H.; Kato, K.; Pyle, R.L.; Earle, J.L. (1997). "Annotated checklist of inshore fishes of the Ogasawara Islands". Nat. Sci. Mus. Monogr. 11: 1–74.
^Kaji, Masanobu (July 6, 2020). "Kawanohanashi" [Tales by the river]. Tokyo Metropolitan Leather Workshop (in Japanese).
Further reading
Ojima, Y. and T. Kikuno, 1987. Karyotypes of a Gobiesociform and two Perciform fishes (Teleostei). Proc. Japan Acad., Ser. B: Phys. Biol. Sci. 63(6):201-204.