Fish (yu) has the same sound as the word for "surplus," so it stands for a surplus of good fortune. The sound of the words for carp (li) and for silver carp (lien) are similar to those for "profit" and "year" and are deemed good omens.
由於魚和餘同音，代表富貴有餘的意思，鯉和利、鰱和年的發音也相同，為討個吉祥的好兆頭，常被拿來象徵「吉慶有餘」。