Living habits and morphological characteristics of northern copper fish (Yellow River pigeon fish)

The northern copper fish (Coreius septentrionalis) belongs to the order Cypriniformes, the family Cyprinidae, the subfamily Coreius, and the genus Coreius septentrionalis. Commonly known as: Pigeon fish, Shazuizi, sharp-billed watermelon, yellow-headed fish (ancient name). English name: Northern bronze gudgeon.

Endangerment level: Endangered.

The body is long and stout, with a cylindrical front end, a high tail handle and slightly flattened sides. The head is small, slightly flat, and the back of the head is slightly raised. The muzzle is pointed and prominent. Mouth is inferior, horseshoe-shaped, slightly wide. The lips are well developed and slightly free at the corners of the mouth. One pair of barbels, thick and long, with the end exceeding the posterior edge of the preopercular bone. Nostrils larger than eye diameter. Small eyes. There are 55-56 lateral line scales. The bases of the chest, abdomen and caudal fins have irregularly arranged small scales, and the bases of the dorsal and anal fins have scale sheaths. The dorsal fin is located in front of the center of the body; the pectoral fin is wide and long, but does not reach the base of the pelvic fin; the upper lobe of the caudal fin is slightly longer. The body is light gray and slightly yellow, with bluish-purple spots on the sides of the body, the abdomen is silvery-white and slightly yellow, the dorsal fin is gray-black, and the other fins are gray-yellow.

A kind of fish that lives in the middle and lower layers. It likes to inhabit river bays and water bodies with gravelly bottoms and slow currents. Often active in groups. In winter, it lurks under rocks or in deep water in deep water. They swim back to lay eggs in spring, and the reproductive period lasts from May to July. They lay eggs in small groups or not in groups, and they lay drifting eggs. It retreats downstream from September to October. Juvenile fish eat eggs and fry of other fish, while adults mainly eat benthic animals, as well as aquatic insects, small fish and shrimps, plant debris, grains, small snails and clams, etc. They mostly forage in turbid deep water areas. A certain feeding intensity is maintained during the breeding period.

Distributed in the Yellow River system, mostly in the middle and upper reaches of Qingtongxia in Lanzhou and Ningxia.

The northern copper fish used to be abundant in the upper reaches of the Yellow River. They are large, rich in fat and have a particularly plump taste. They are precious economic fish in Ningxia, Gansu and other places. They are called "Yellow River pigeon fish" and are most abundant in the Jingyuan area. However, due to long-term uncontrolled development, serious overfishing has resulted in a sharp decline in resources. The construction of water conservancy projects such as Sanmenxia has blocked the migration channels of northern copperfish. In addition, changes in hydrological conditions have affected the habitat of spawning grounds. The effects of many factors have led to the endangered northern copperfish.

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