The indissoluble bond between catfish and river clams

There is an indissoluble bond between catfish and river clams. They depend on each other and use each other. The giant catfish is a small fish with relatively weak fecundity. They have a special method for the safety and survival of the next generation. During reproduction, the female's oviduct lengthens into a tube and becomes a long ovipositing tube. When the catfish lays eggs, it first looks for river mussels, inserts this slender tube into the gill water tube of the river mussel, and lays the eggs in the gill water tube or mantle cavity. After the female fish lays her eggs, the male fish immediately fertilizes them. The fertilized eggs hatch and develop inside the mussel, relying on the mussel's respiratory water flow to provide the fertilized eggs with sufficient oxygen. One month later, the larvae emerge from the mussel's body.

The clam is a courtesy to the catfish. The spawning period of clams happens to be the same as that of catfish, and clams usually lay their young in the water. Therefore, when the big fish lays eggs in the clam, the juvenile larvae attach to the adult fish at this time and complete its initial development on the body of the big fish.

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