kanae N.Z.
(ˈkanaɪ)
Also kanai.
[Maori.]
A grey mullet, Mugil cephalus, found in New Zealand waters.
| 1820 Gram. & Vocab. Lang. N.Z. (Church Missionary Soc.) 158 Kanáe,..the mullet fish. 1838 J. S. Polack New Zealand I. 322 Some deep banks lie off the east coast, on which the kanai, or mullet..abound. 1860 A. S. Atkinson Jrnl. 25 Dec. in Richmond-Atkinson Papers (1960) I. 671 Magnificent breakfast of kanae & oysters. 1888 in E. E. Morris Austral Eng. (1898) 229/1 The months of December, January, and February in each year are here prescribed a close season for the fish of the species of the mugil known as mullet or kanae. 1966 Encycl. N.Z. II. 600/2 Mullet, grey (Mugil cephalus), or kanæ of the Maoris, is an excellent food fish, rich in fat and protein, and especially suitable for smoking. |