The living habits and nutritional value of red tail fish (Northern red tail fish)

Pseudaspius leptocephalus (Pseudaspius leptocephalus) belongs to the order Cypriniformes, family Cyprinidae, subfamily Pseudaspius, and genus Pseudaspius leptocephalus. Common name: red tail tip, pointed beak. English name: Flathead asp.

The body is slender, with flat sides and a raised back; the head is slender and pointed, with flat sides behind the eyes. The mouth is small, slightly upward, the mandibular angle has a protruding maxilla, and there is a small tumor-like protrusion at the front of the mandible. The caudal peduncle is higher. The scales are small and the lateral lines are complete. The starting point of the dorsal fin is slightly behind, each fin is small, and the caudal fin is shallowly bifurcated. The peritoneal membrane is grayish white with small black spots. When alive, the back is gray-green, the sides are silvery white, and the belly is white. The upper lobes of the dorsal fin and caudal fin are gray-green, the lower lobes of the pelvic fin, anal fin and caudal fin are bright red, and the pectoral fin is gray-yellow.

Although Pseudomonas aeruginosa is not a cold-water fish, it likes to inhabit flowing waters with lower water temperatures, so it is more abundant in rivers than in lakes. During the fattening period, they do not enter lakes and only hunt in river bays; they are still active in winter and continue to feed. The main food is small fish, and crustaceans are also eaten; juvenile fish eat zooplankton. Sexual maturation is slow, and the gonads of 4-year-old fish with a body length of 26 cm are mature. The spawning period is from June to July, and floating eggs are laid in the river. The average number of eggs conceived is 36,000. The eggs are relatively large and the diameter of the yolk is about 1.25 mm. The growth rate of this fish is similar to that of the Mongolian fish. Generally, the body length of the first-year-old fish is about 7.5 cm, the second-year-old fish is 13 cm, the third-year-old fish is 19.5 cm, the fourth-year-old fish is 26 cm, and the fifth-year-old fish is 31 cm.

The fish is distributed in the main stems, tributaries and affiliated lakes of Heilongjiang River. As far as Heilongjiang Province is concerned, the total output is not high; because its shape and color are slightly similar to the Mongolian phoenix, it is mixed with the same type when handling the catch. In the middle and upper reaches of Heilongjiang and the upper reaches of Nenjiang River, there are quite a lot of them during the opening and closing seasons, making it an important economic fish in the production area. The meat of this fish is lean and low in fat, and is usually made into salted fish for consumption.

animal tags：