Habits and region of Xinjiang Naked Fish (Xinjiang Plateau Fish)

Xinjiang gymnodiptychus dybowskii belongs to the order Cypriniformes, family Cyprinidae, subfamily Schizothorax, and genus Gymnodiptychus dybowskii. Commonly known as: heavy lip fish, stone flower fish, flower fish, naked cucumber fish.

The body is long, slightly flattened laterally, the head is conical, and the snout is slightly pointed. The lower part of the mouth is in the shape of a horseshoe. The lips are well developed, the lower lip is divided into left and right lobes, and the posterior labial groove is deep and interrupted. There is no sharp horny edge on the front edge of the mandible; there is one pair of barbels, which are relatively slender and extend to the back edge of the eye. The body is almost naked. There are only 3-5 rows of irregular scales above the base of the pectoral fin and the posterior edge of the shoulder girdle. There is 1 large row of scales on both sides of the anus and anal fin. There are 97-98 scales on the lateral line, and the scales are larger at the front end. , the rear segment is smaller. The lateral line is complete, straight or slightly curved ventrally. The dorsal fin has no hard spines; the back of the body is dark gray or grayish brown, with brown and black spots of varying sizes on the head, back and sides, the ventral side is light yellow with gray, and there are many irregular small spots on the dorsal and caudal fins. During the reproductive period, the edge of the dorsal fin of the male individual is protruding or semicircular, the fin rays are longer, and the fin membrane is wider; the anal fin is particularly extended; beads appear on the head and fins.

It is a cold water fish. It lives in the rapids of large rivers and rivers, and sometimes swims into attached still waters. They begin to swim upstream from February to March, especially in April, and begin to swim downstream in October. It is an omnivorous fish, feeding mainly on molluscs, copepods, amphipods, small fish, chironomid larvae and other insects, and sometimes also eats a small amount of aquatic plant branches, leaves and algae. Individuals mature slowly. Fish begin to mature sexually only at 4-5 winter years, and females are usually larger than males of the same age. The spawning period is from April to August, and they like to lay eggs on rocky bottoms of lakes and rivers. The eggs are often attached to the stones, and are later washed away by the water flow to develop in stone crevices.

It is distributed in Xinjiang’s Ili River, Tarim River, Urumqi River, Chu River, Talas River, Syr Darya River, Ala Lake, Zaisang Lake and other water systems, as well as some water bodies in Central Asia.

The individuals are larger, generally growing to 30-50 cm, and can weigh up to about 3 kg. The meat is delicious and rich in fat. Dried or smoked, it can be stored for a long time and transported far away, making it a valuable economic fish. The eggs are toxic and must be carefully removed during processing.

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