Who is the Maori god of the sea and fish?

Tangaroa is the Māori god of the sea and fish.

In Māori tradition, Tangaroa is a major atua associated with the sea, lakes, rivers, tides, and the creatures living in those waters. He is especially connected with fish and is sometimes called Tangaroa-whakamau-tai, reflecting his control over the tides. Māori fishing and voyaging traditions treated the ocean as Tangaroa’s realm, so offerings could be made before expeditions.

Tangaroa is traditionally described as a child of Ranginui, the sky father, and Papatūānuku, the earth mother. His descendants include Punga, whose children Ikatere and Tū-te-wehiwehi became ancestors of fish and reptiles. This story helps explain why fish belong to the sea while reptiles belong mainly to the land.

A common mix-up is confusing Tangaroa with Rongo, who is associated with cultivated plants and peace, or Tāne, associated with forests and birds. Across Polynesia, related names such as Tagaloa and Taʻaroa refer to different cultural forms of a wider Polynesian deity tradition.