Enalios (ἐνάλιος) means "of the sea" or "belonging to the salt water" — describing sea creatures. It appears once in James 3:7 in the catalog of tamed creatures: "Every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature [enalion] has been tamed."
James 3's argument moves from controlled sea creatures to the uncontrollable tongue. Humanity has subdued beasts, birds, reptiles, and sea life — the four categories of Genesis 1:26 ("let them rule over fish... birds... livestock... and creatures that move along the ground"). But the tongue? No one can tame it (3:8). The irony is layered: God gave humanity dominion over sea creatures (enalioi), yet the tiny organ in our own mouth escapes our dominion. The tongue is the last frontier of self-governance — and only the Spirit can do what we cannot.
James 3:7 deliberately echoes the fourfold taxonomy of Genesis 1:26-28 — the creation mandate for human dominion. The catalog is not coincidental: it signals that James is playing on the creation order. We have largely fulfilled the dominion mandate over external nature but catastrophically fail at the internal: the mouth. This is the irony of fallen dominion — vast external control, minimal internal governance. Only the new creation's Spirit can complete the taming project.