Kohara

{{Short description|Polynesian goddess associated with tuna fish}}{{for|people with the name Kohara|Kohara (name)}}

In Polynesian mythology, Kohara is the goddess of tuna and is considered the "mother of all tuna fish".{{cite book

| last = Knappert

| first = Jan

| author-link = Jan Knappert

| title = Pacific Mythology: An Encyclopedia of Myth and Legend

| publisher = Aquarian/Thorsons

| date = 1992

| pages = 158

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=q53fAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Kohara%22+tuna

| isbn = 978-1-85538-133-9

}} The word also means "to throw a flash of lightning, as a deity".{{cite book

| last = Tregear

| first = Edward

| author-link = Edward Robert Tregear

| title = The Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary

| publisher = Lyon and Blair

| date = 1891

| location = Lambton Quay

| pages = 155

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9KUTAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22Kohara%22+Polynesia&pg=PA155

}} In Māori mythology, lightning begat tuna.{{cite book

| last = White

| first = John

| title = The Ancient History of the Maori, His Mythology and Traditions V1: Horo-Uta Or Taki-Tumu Migration

| publisher = Kessinger Publishing

| date = 2006

| pages = 124

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=SnMakPB_xiIC&dq=%22Kohara%22+tuna&pg=PA124

| isbn = 978-1-4286-3710-8

}} In that sense, Kohara can be considered the "ancestor of tuna".{{cite book

| last = Andersen

| first = Johannes Carl

| title = Myths & Legends of the Polynesians

| publisher = G.G. Harrap & Company, Ltd

| date = 1928

| pages = 485

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=YKrfAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Kohara%22

}}