Yangtze River Jun: In recent years, with the ban on fishing in the Yangtze River and the increasing attention paid to the ecological protection of rivers in various places, many river tribes that have disappeared or even been declared extinct have reappeared, and each time it is exciting and gratifying.
And last night, an angler in Wuzhou, Guangxi, suddenly posted in the middle of the night that he had caught a strange fish in the Xijiang River, and he felt like an extinct anchovy...
——As the "most mysterious existence" in the three fresh foods of the Yangtze River, anchovies are also widely concerned by everyone, so this scene has also quickly attracted the attention of many netizens.
01 Angler: Never seen this fish
According to Yang Changjiangjun, this fisherman in Wuzhou, Guangxi, Mr. Zhu, was fishing alone in the Xijiang River at that time, and at first he thought he had caught a crucian carp, but "the more he looked, the more wrong it was."
“...... The more I look at it, the more I feel that something is wrong, there should be no such fish in the West River, I suddenly remembered the anchovy pictures I had seen before, and I felt very much like anchovies! ”
——This fishing friend Mr. Zhu was excited, and also photographed the fish and posted it on social media.
The peculiar appearance of this "Xijiang Strange Fish" also made many netizens leave a message saying that "it is indeed very much like an extinct anchovy".
But some netizens believe that "the local anchovies have long been extinct, you are not wrong to be anchovies, but it is an artificially farmed American anchovy, it is estimated who released it into the West River"...
American anchovies – indeed, are very similar to what Guangxi anglers have caught
Is this "strange fish" caught by this angler an anchovy? What kind of anchovy is it?
02 Yangtze River Jun: This is "sea crucian carp"
In recent years, the news of the "reappearance of anchovies" has always thrilled many people, but most of the results have turned out to be misidentified – and this time is no exception.
This Guangxi Wuzhou angler, the "strange fish" caught at night in the Xijiang River, Yangtze River Jun believes that it should be a "sea crucian carp", presumably from the Mouth of the Xijiang River swam in.
Sea crucian carp - infographic
What kind of fish is a sea crucian carp and how can it be so much like an anchovy? Why can you travel hundreds of miles?
In fact, friends in the southeast coastal area should also have a certain understanding of sea crucian carp - sea crucian carp is a herring order, herring family, amberjack fish, which are common including flower bristles and spotted amberjacks (the two are similar in appearance, the biggest difference is in the spots on the side, the amberjack has 4-6 black spots. ）
Contrast between flower and spotted dumplings
And the above Wuzhou fishing friend, caught a flower dumpling, not "the reappearance of local anchovies", nor the artificially farmed "American anchovies"...
03 Anchovy and sea crucian carp are close relatives
In fact, in recent years, many fishing enthusiasts and fishermen have often mistakenly regarded sea crucian carp (flower flatus and spotted egadels) as anchovies, which is actually very normal, because these two fish are cousins of anchovies, and they are herring and herring species.
Three fresh anchovies of the Yangtze River - data map
(Anchovies have a habit of spawning in freshwater, while the two "sea crucian carp" above do not))
In terms of size and habits, these fish are quite similar, they are brackish water amphibian species, but the migration distance of anchovies is long, while the flower and spotted fish are generally mainly active near the mouth of the sea.
Therefore, in the more inland rivers, there are actually very few "sea crucian carp" - the fisherman in Wuzhou, Guangxi, can catch flower dumplings hundreds of miles away from the sea mouth, which is really surprising.
It is rare to catch flower dumplings in the Wuzhou section of the Xijiang River
In the view of YangJiang Jun, the only explanation is probably that the ecology of the Xijiang River has become better, so these "visitors from the sea" will be willing to travel a long distance in the Xijiang River...
04Are anchovies really extinct?
The improvement of the ecological environment of the river will indeed make many strange fish that originally disappeared or rare reappear or flourish again.
For example, the helix in the Yangtze River, which was originally thought to be extinct, has appeared frequently in the Poyang Lake basin in the past two years, which is very exciting.
Disappearing and reappearing helios – infographic
With the continuous improvement of the ecology of the Yangtze River and Pearl River systems, is it possible for anchovies, which have disappeared for many years, to reappear?
Or is it really completely extinct, as experts say?
Will the next generation only see anchovy specimens?
Changjiang Jun believes that it is entirely possible for anchovies to reappear!
After all, anchovies themselves do not belong to large fish species, if there are still small-scale anchovy populations roost in the Yangtze River and Pearl River, with the current technical detection methods, it is normal not to find it.
And if the rivers are fished and the environment is good, it is not impossible for these "fruitless" anchovy stocks to grow again and even appear in our field of vision.....
Under the vast smoke and waves of the Yangtze River, there are still many unknowns
Friends, what do you think?
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