The living habits and nutritional value of the red car male horsemouth fish

Opsariichthys bidens belongs to the order Cypriniformes, family Cyprinidae, and genus Opsariichthys bidens. Commonly known as: peach blossom fish, mountain catfish, pit crawler, wide mouth, big mouth fish, pull mouth fish, red car fish. English name: Chinese hooksnout carp.

The body is long, flat on the sides, and round in the abdomen. The snout is long and the mouth is large; the cleft of the mouth slopes upward, the back end of the mandible extends to the edge of the eye, the front end is convex, and there is a depression on both sides, which fits the concave and convex places on the front end of the maxilla and both sides. The eyes are large. The lateral line is complete, with the anterior segment bent toward the side of the body and ventrally, and the posterior segment extending upward to the middle of the caudal peduncle. The back of the body is gray-black, the belly is silver-white, there are light blue vertical stripes on the sides of the body, and the pectoral fins, pelvic fins and anal fins are orange-yellow. Male fish appear in "wedding clothes" during the reproductive period, with conspicuous beads on the head, snout and anal fin. The first to fourth branched fins of the anal fin are particularly extended, and the whole body has bright wedding colors.

Horsemouth fish mostly live in mountain streams, especially in shoals with fast currents and creeks or river tributaries with sandy bottoms; they are rare in still water lakes and deep waters of rivers. They usually move in groups and often swim and live together with herring. It is ferocious and feeds on small fish and aquatic insects. The largest individual can reach about 20 cm. Growth is rapid in the first year, reaching 7-11 cm. Fish at the age of 1 are capable of reproduction. The reproductive period is mostly concentrated from June to August, and eggs are laid in relatively fast currents.

Horsefish are widely distributed in the main stems and tributaries of the eastern rivers in my country from Heilongjiang to Hainan Island and Yuanjiang River. This fish is not big, generally weighing about 50 grams, and 100-150 grams is uncommon. It is a small fish. However, it has strong fecundity, fast growth and high yield, making it one of the commonly eaten trash fish. It is the main economic fish in hills and mountainous areas.

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