鰒

A marine mollusk valued as a luxury seafood in East Asian cuisine.

It refers specifically to the edible sea creature rather than the shell alone.

A phono-semantic compound:

魚 (어) — semantic component, indicating an aquatic animal

复 (복) — phonetic component, providing the sound "bok"

Although abalone is not a fish in biological terms, 魚 functions as a general classifier for aquatic creatures in classical Chinese.

Because of its rarity and nutritional value, 鰒 often appears in records of luxury foods.

鰒魚 (복어) — abalone (classical / literary)

乾鰒 (건복) — dried abalone

生鰒 (생복) — fresh abalone

煮鰒 (자복) — boiled abalone

海鰒 (해복) — sea abalone (literary)

Note:

鰒 is considered a classical or literary character today.

In everyday usage using different character:

Chinese: 鲍 / 鮑

Japanese: 鮑（あわび, awabi）

Korean: 전복 (鮑)

The distinction between 鰒 and 鮑 is historical rather than semantic.

「鰒列於珍羞之中。」

“Abalone is ranked among precious delicacies.”

「海錯之美，鰒為上品。」

“Among marine delicacies, abalone is of the highest grade.”

「貢鰒以進王室。」

“Abalone was presented as tribute to the royal court.”