Living habits and nutritional value of bamboo shell mullet and pointed-headed pond snakehead

Eleotris oxycephala belongs to the order Perciformes, the suborder Eleotris, the family Eleotris, and the genus Eleotris. Commonly known as: mullet bamboo shell, Nanmo, white head. English name: Sharphead sleeper.

The body is slender, cylindrical in front, and gradually flattened laterally. The head is broad, blunt, flat; the tip of the snout is long; the mouth is proximal, the lower jaw is slightly protruding, the mouth cleft is oblique, and the rear end extends to below or slightly in front of the vertical line of the center of the eye. Each jaw has 4 rows of fine teeth; the eyes are medium-sized, and the upper edge of the eye socket is slightly convex. There is a thick, long, downward and slightly forward curved hard spine in the middle of the posterior edge of the preopercular bone, which is clearly visible although it is hidden under the skin. Except for the snout, the entire body and head are covered with large scales. There are 2 dorsal fins, relatively close to each other. The first dorsal fin is composed of hard spines, and the second dorsal fin is composed of soft rays. The pectoral fins are large and oblong; the pelvic fins are on the chest and separated from left to right; the caudal fins are round. The body is tan, the belly is brown or lighter, and there are two black vertical stripes on the head side: one from the snout through the eye to the top of the gill cover; the other slopes downward from the lower edge behind the eye to the middle of the rear edge of the front gill cover. There are about 13 dark brown vertical stripes on the side of the body, and 7 wide dark brown horizontal bands on the back and upper side of the body; there are 2 dark brown vertical patches on the base of the pectoral fin. There are dark dark brown stripes on the dorsal fin and anal fin. The first dorsal fin has about 5 rays; the second dorsal fin has 7 rays; and the anal fin has 9 rays. The pectoral and pelvic fins each have 10 thin horizontal stripes composed of small dark brown spots, and the caudal fin has irregular thin horizontal stripes alternated between dark brown or gray and white.

It inhabits the middle and lower layers of estuaries and fresh water, and can also live in small streams and rivers. It likes to live in aquatic plants and feeds on macrobrachium and small fish. The reproductive period is from July to September, and the broodstock has the habit of protecting eggs.

Distributed in the middle and lower reaches of coastal rivers and estuaries in Shanghai, southern Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Taiwan, Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan and other provinces and regions.

The individual is small, weighing only 250 grams at most. It has high meat content, tender meat and delicious taste, and is deeply loved by the masses.

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