Life habits and morphological characteristics of pineapple fish

Sinocyclocheilus grahami belongs to the order Cypriniformes, Cyprinidae, subfamily Sinocyclocheilus, and genus Sinocyclocheilus grahami. Commonly known as: golden thread fish, small hole fish, pineapple fish. English name: Golden-line barbel.

Endangerment level: Endangered. China's national level II protected wildlife.

The body is long, the sides are flat, and the back of the head is significantly bulged and curved. The head is slender, with a straight back and slightly downward curve. The muzzle is pointed and pointed at the end of the mouth. The upper lip is thin and the lower lip is thick. There are 2 pairs of barbels, well developed; the snout barbels are short, and the jaw barbels extend below the back edge of the eyes. The scales are small, and the scales along the lateral line are relatively large. The scales on the lateral line are 61-69, and the lateral line is slightly curved. The outer edge of the dorsal fin is slightly concave or truncate, the dorsal fin spines are thinner, the base is thick and hard, the trailing edge is serrated and weakly, the top is soft and segmented, and the starting point is behind the pelvic fin. The whole body is light yellow, with a slight bluish gray color on the side of the head and back. There are many light gray round spots on the side of the body near the back; the white abdomen and each fin are golden yellow.

The golden-threaded barbel mostly lives in still water lakes with relatively open water surfaces. It usually inhabits the outlet of the lake or in the deep water. During the reproductive season, it concentrates on laying eggs and hatching in caves with spring water in the shallow water area of the lake or the lake outlet. The reproductive period is from December to February of the following year, and eggs are laid in gravel. Juvenile fish mainly feed on zooplankton and aquatic insects, and also eat a small amount of algae and higher plant fragments; adult fish turn to small shrimps and small fish, and also eat zooplankton.

The golden-threaded barbel is endemic to my country and is commonly found in various lakes in eastern Yunnan, among which Yangzonghai and Dianchi are the most common.

The golden-threaded barbel is an economic fish unique to Yunnan. It is small in size, generally 100-230 mm in length and weighs about 50-250 grams. Because of its tender meat and delicious taste, it is one of the rare fish in Yunnan. Its meat is used freshly as medicine. It has the effects of nourishing yin and regulating vitality, warming the kidneys and replenishing essence. It is mainly used to treat diseases such as fatigue injuries, kidney deficiency and spermatosis.

In recent years, due to lake reclamation, water pollution, careless introduction, overfishing and other reasons, most of the original fish holes along the lake have been blocked, and the destruction of habitat has led to the exhaustion of their population resources. Nowadays, it can only be seen occasionally in lakes such as Dianchi Lake.

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