Hypophthalmichthys harmandi

Hypophthalmichthys harmandi Sauvage, 1884 is a species of the genus Hypophthalmichthys in the family Cyprinidae and is a freshwater economic fish native to Hainan Island, Guangdong.

Silver carp is a freshwater economic fish in Hainan Island, Guangdong Province. It mostly lives in open waters with slow currents, rich water quality and abundant plankton. It dives in deep water during the day and swims up to the water at night to feed on plankton. Female fish can reach sexual maturity at the age of 2, and male fish mature one year earlier than female fish.

Since the construction of Songtao Reservoir in 1959, there are 5 large rivers flowing into the reservoir, with many bays and a long coastline. The catchment area is 1,440 square kilometers, and the reservoir depth is generally 30 to 40 meters, with the deepest being more than 70 meters. The water surface is vast, the climate is warm all year round, the water quality is fertile, and plankton and other baits are very rich, which is very suitable for the habitat and growth of large-scale silver carp. The reservoir is rich in large-scale silver carp, so it is named Songtao bream. Large-scale silver carp usually live in open waters with slow water flow, rich water quality and rich plankton. After entering the breeding season, when it rains and the water level rises, they gather in groups to the upper reaches of rivers to spawn and reproduce naturally.

During the reproductive period, when it rains and the water level rises, the big-scaled silver carp gathers upstream to spawn; the reproductive period is from May to June, sometimes extending to mid-August; the eggs are semi-floating. The body length of a one-year-old fish can reach 500 mm and weigh about 3 kg. ; The body length of the two-year-old fish is up to 8 cm and the weight is up to 9 kg; the body length of the three-year-old fish is 80 cm and the weight is up to 10 kg. Some old fish can reach about 25 kg. After the first and second years, its body length and weight increase rapidly; after the second year, the growth of body length gradually slows down, but the weight still increases rapidly.

Listed in the second level of the "List of National Key Protected Wildlife in China".

Protect wild animals and eliminate game.

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Distributed in the Nandu River in Hainan Island, China and the Red River system in Vietnam.

The body length is 3.1 times the body height and 3.8~4.0 times the head length. The head length is 3.8~4.0 times the snout length, 6.6~6.7 times the eye diameter, and 1.9~2.0 times the interocular distance. The interocular distance is 3.7 times the eye diameter. The body is elongated; the back is high and shallowly arc-shaped; the abdomen is narrow and the abdominal margin is arc-shaped. The head is medium-sized. The snout is wide and short, and the horizontal line of the lower eye margin does not pass through the tip of the snout; the interocular distance is wide and convex, and the nostrils are located on the upper side; the distance between the posterior nostril and the tip of the snout is smaller than that between the eye margins. The mouth cleft is slightly inclined upward and does not extend backwards beyond the lower edge of the eye. The gill rakers are fused together to form a sponge-like filter. The hypopharyngeal teeth are sandal-shaped. The body is covered with small round s