The living habits and nutritional value of whitebait in the Yangtze River

Yangtze River whitebait (Hemisalanx brachyrostralis), also known as short-snouted whitebait, belongs to the order Salmoniformes, Hemisalanx family, and genus Hemisalanx. Commonly known as: noodle fish, noodle fish, and residual fish (Compendium of Materia Medica). English name: Shortnose noodlefish.

The body is slender, slightly cylindrical, and the rear section is flatter than the sides. The head is flat and triangular in shape; the mouth is large and the snout is long and pointed. There is a row of fine teeth on the premaxilla, maxilla and oral cavity. There is a pair of canine teeth on the front of the mandible, and a fleshy protrusion on the front of the mandible. The dorsal fin is located in the rear three-quarters of the body. There is a small transparent adipose fin in the center of the dorsal fin and tail base. The pectoral fin has no muscle base. The body has no scales, and the male fish has a row of large scales on each side of the base of the anal fin. In life, the body is soft and transparent, and the shape of the brain can be clearly seen from the back of the head. The soaked specimen is milky white. There is a row of black spots on each side of the body, and there are two parallel rows of small black spots on the ventral surface starting from the chest, passing through the abdomen and in front of the anal fin. They are separated left and right along the base of the anal fin, and merge into one at the rear end, reaching the base of the tail. There are also small black spots scattered on the first ray of the caudal fin and pectoral fin.

Usually lives in the main branches and tributaries of the Yangtze River. Mainly feeds on zooplankton. Reach sexual maturity in half a year. 1. Winter-aged fish enter lakes from rivers from April to May and breed in the grassy areas near the lake. After reproduction, the broodstock becomes significantly thinner and dies soon after.

Distributed in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and its affiliated lakes.

The individual is not large, the largest individual is about 140 mm long and weighs about 5 grams. It is an annual fish. Fishing floods are formed during the reproductive season, and the numbers are extremely considerable. Whitebait is delicious, nutritious and has a special flavor, especially the whitebait before spawning is the most abundant. In addition to being eaten fresh, most of them are dried and sold for export, and the trade name is "Yangan". The protein content of dried whitebait is 72.1% and the fat content is 13%, which is higher than other edible fish. Each hundred grams of whitebait also contains 4820 mg of lysine, 2308 mg of methionine, 4176 mg of isoleucine, 4396 mg of valine, and 6652 mg of threonine. Such rich amino acids are rarely seen in other fish species. Each 100 grams of whitebait can provide 407 kcal, which is almost 5-6 times that of ordinary edible fish; its calcium content is as high as 761 mg, ranking highest among fish.

Callander University in California, USA, conducted a 19-year follow-up of 1954 men and confirmed that those who eat a calcium-rich diet every day have a very low incidence of colon cancer. MSK Cancer Center in New York gave 10 patients with advanced colon cancer oral calcium, 1 gram per day. After two months, the division and spread of cancer cells were greatly reduced. According to traditional Chinese medicine, 150 grams of whitebait and green onions are used to make a soup, and the fish is eaten in the soup; or 50 grams of whitebait, 25 grams of hawthorn, and 50 grams of grain sprouts are used to decoct the soup and drink it. It is often used as an auxiliary treatment for patients with colon cancer. "Food Materia Medica" records: whitebait is beneficial to water, moisturizes the lungs, and relieves coughs; "Yilin Tu Yao" claims that it nourishes the lungs and clears gold, nourishes yin and replenishes deficiency. According to the Japanese guide "Treatment", regular consumption of whitebait can prolong life. There was a woman in Japan. He is 102 years old. One of the important factors for his longevity is that he liked to eat whitebait during his lifetime, and it was a must for almost every meal.

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