In Maori mythology, what is the name of the giant fish that Māui caught?

In Māori mythology, the giant fish caught by Māui is called Te Ika-a-Māui.

The name literally means “the fish of Māui.” In the traditional story, the demigod Māui uses a magical or enchanted hook to pull a gigantic fish from the ocean. His brothers begin cutting up the fish, and the resulting ridges and valleys are said to explain the mountainous landscape of New Zealand’s North Island. For that reason, the North Island is poetically known as Te Ika-a-Māui.

The South Island is often called Te Waipounamu, while Stewart Island has the traditional name Rakiura. Together, these names preserve a geographic map expressed through ancestral narrative rather than modern cartography. Māui’s fishing story also has parallels elsewhere in Polynesia, where Māui is remembered for extraordinary feats involving islands, fire, and the slowing of the sun.

Tangaroa is a sea deity, Taniwha refers to powerful supernatural beings, and Whiro is associated with darkness and death in Māori traditions. None is the name of Māui’s captured fish.