Life habits and nutritional value of new whitebait from Taihu Lake

Taihu New Whitebait (Neosalanx taihuensis) belongs to the order Salmoniformes, the family Neosalanx, and the genus Neosalanx. Commonly known as: small whitebait. English name: Taihu lake icefish.

The body is slender and slightly cylindrical, with the rear section flatter than the sides; the head is flat and triangular. Kiss short. The mouth is small, and the upper and lower jaws each have a row of fine teeth. There are no teeth on the mouth lid, and there are no canine teeth on the front of the mandible. The pectoral fins are small and have muscular bases. There is a small and transparent adipose fin behind the dorsal fin. The body is scaleless, and the male fish has a row of larger scales on each side of the base of the anal fin. The whole body is transparent when alive, and the shape of the brain can be clearly seen from the back of the head. After death, the whole body is milky white. Each fin is relatively transparent and colorless, with a row of small melanin dots on each side of the body along the ventral surface.

Taihu New Whitebait is a pure freshwater species. It lives in the lake all its life, floating in the middle and lower layers of the water. It feeds mainly on zooplankton and also eats a small amount of shrimps and fry. It reaches sexual maturity in half a year, and the broodstock can reproduce after one winter. The spawning period is from April to May, and it dies soon after reproduction.

Distributed in affiliated lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The individuals are small, with the largest individual only reaching 80 mm in length, but there are many of them, especially those produced in Taihu Lake. Most of the fish in the production area is made into dried fish, and the trade name is "vermicelli". It is extremely delicious and sells well both at home and abroad. The texture of small whitebait is better than that of larger whitebait, so Li Shizhen said: "People pay special attention to the small ones. They are exposed to dry and sold in all directions. They have eggs before the Qingming Festival, and they are delicious to eat." In addition, Wu, Xinzhou County, Hubei Province The small whitebait produced in the lake is also known as one of the three most valuable aquatic products in Hubei Province.

The nutritional composition and medicinal value of the new Taihu whitebait are similar to those of the Yangtze River whitebait. Each 100 grams of fresh whitebait edible part contains 8.2 grams of protein, 0.3 grams of fat, 1.4 grams of carbohydrates, 258 mg of calcium, 102 mg of scales, 0.5 mg of iron, 0.01 mg of thiamine, 0.05 mg of riboflavin, and 0.2 niacin. mg; dried whitebait contains 72.1 grams of protein, 13 grams of fat, 0.5 grams of carbohydrates, 761 mg of calcium, 1154 mg of phosphorus, and 7.5 mg of iron. The whole fish can be used as medicine. Its meat is sweet and flat in taste, and has the effects of nourishing the kidneys, strengthening the stomach, replenishing the lungs, and diuresis. It can be used to treat spleen deficiency and diarrhea, nutritional deficiencies, indigestion, and malnutrition in children. "Suixiju Diet Manual" believes that it "nourishes the stomach yin and harmonizes the meridians. The smaller ones are better and can be used as stems."

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