Key Info

-  Ancestor of sharks, lizards, rays, and all deformed, ugly things.

Brief Bio

In Māori mythology, Punga is a supernatural being, the ancestor of sharks, lizards, rays, and all deformed, ugly things. All ugly and strange animals are Punga's children. Hence the saying Te aitanga a Punga (the offspring of Punga) used to describe an ugly person.

Punga is a son of Tangaroa, the god of the sea, and when Tāwhirimātea (god of storms) made war against his brothers after they separated Rangi and Papa (sky and earth), the two sons of Punga, Ikatere and Tū-te-wehiwehi, had to flee for their lives. Ikatere fled to the sea, and became the ancestor of certain fish, while Tū-te-wehiwehi took refuge in the forest, and became the ancestor of lizards.