shark

[potetjp]

Danny, I agree with Joel, the primary meaning of _wani_ does seem to be
"crocodile", not "shark".
Did you infer this from the fact that the kanji is has the radical "fish"?
These may have been marine crocodiles, similar to the Australian species,
living in the southernmost islands of Japan in a remote past, although this
theory is not even necessary in so far as in European languages we have
terms to refer to exotic animals.
Best
Jean-Paul POTET

Loosely related incidental remarks
1) There is a tale involving the "crocodile shark" in Okinawa (# 69 in
Maurice COYAUD (1984), Contes japonais, Paris: PAF). A blind old fisherman
is left to drown in high tide by his three sons.  He is saved by a
crocodile-shark. He and his daughters thank the shark with a calf. The shark
eats the calf, and the old man recovers his sight.
2) Wani (Nelson # 2922 "sovereign"+ # 349 "virtue/humanity") was a Korean
scholar who came to Japan in 285, and was the preceptor of prince Uji no
Waki-iratusko. (E. PAPINOT (1910). Historical and geographical dictionary of
Japan)