Living habits and morphological characteristics of large-mouthed catfish (bone-lipped Yellow River f

Chuanchia labiosa belongs to the order Cypriniformes, family Cyprinidae, subfamily Schizothorax, and genus Chuanchia labiosa. Commonly known as: big-mouthed catfish, catfish, small flower fish, and yellow river fish. English name: Huanghe naked carp.

Endangerment level: Vulnerable.

Body long, slightly flattened laterally. Head tapered. The kiss is slightly prominent. Suboral position, transverse cleft; mandibular horniness is well developed and tilts toward the inside of the mouth, forming a not very sharp truncated front edge; the lower lip is well developed, unlobed, with a smooth surface and no papillae; the posterior labial groove is continuous, deep on both sides, and in the middle shallow. No need. The eyes are slightly larger. The body is naked, with only a few irregular scales on the shoulders and anal fins between the abdominal and anal fins. The lateral line scales are skinfold-like on the front of the body and not obvious on the back. The dorsal fin has strong spines and is deeply serrated. Its starting point is located in the front half of the body, in front of the starting point of the pelvic fin; the caudal fin is fork-shaped. The dorsal side of the body is grayish brown with yellow, the ventral side is silvery white, there are a few dark patches on the side of the body, and each fin is light gray or yellowish gray.

Adapted to living in wide valleys and lakes on the plateau at an altitude of 3000-4300 meters. It likes to move in the upper water bodies in the slow flow areas of the cool waters of the river trunks and tributaries, and can also live in the still water environment of the affiliated water bodies. Feeds mainly on aquatic invertebrates and diatoms. Breeds in May. The individual is not large, and the body length is generally 150-250 mm.

The bone-lipped Yellow River fish is endemic to my country. It is only distributed in the upper reaches of the Yellow River above Longyang Gorge in Qinghai Province and its tributaries Baihe River and Heihe River.

This species has a narrow distribution. It originally existed in a certain number in Zhaling Lake and Eling Lake in Qinghai Province and has certain economic value. In recent years, due to overfishing, the limited distribution, slow growth and late maturity of this species, its resources have been affected and declined, and its number has decreased significantly.

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