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Twenty years ago, in the mainland province of Taiwan, a fish species native to Latin America was well received by aquarium enthusiasts.
This fish likes to adsorb on the wall of the tank, lick moss, or directly suck the excrement of other fish.
Because it can purify the water quality and feed on the dirt and impurities in the water, it is named scavenger by the aquarium lovers in Taiwan Province!
But you wouldn't think that the original scavengers were not introduced as clean fish, but because of the scavenger's unique shape!
Scavengers of two colors
This shape must also be only liked by curious aquarists, looking like an alien animal, it is really in response to the phrase "turnip greens, each has its own love."
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Since the "Bay Bay" discovered the quality of the scavengers who can clean the water, they began to publicize it and promote aquaculture.
Therefore, after that, the scavengers, like Rovy, were introduced into the country.
Rolfee
However, tilapia was introduced as a practical economic fish, which is fundamentally different from the scavengers doing aquarium cleaning.
For example, tilapia is now also flooding in coastal areas such as Guangdong, but it can be eaten as edible fish at critical moments, and tilapia is now also used for aquaculture, and large tilapia is a common delicacy on people's tables!
But scavengers are different!
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Scavengers, the eerie shape makes it impossible for foodies to eat at first glance. Moreover, the shell of the scavenger is extremely hard, which is very different from the yellow spicy ding of the same size!
whitewing
Not only is the scavenger's shell hard, but the amount of flesh in the body is also extremely rare, and most of the whole is composed of a shell and fish bones.
If the scarcity of meat is only one reason, then the scavenger's recipe determines that its meat is full of fishy and very bad to eat.
This is also the reason why Chinese chefs have not been able to conquer the scavenger table for a long time.
Therefore, scavengers have always been used as ornamental as well as to clean water quality.
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How did scavengers, favorite fish for aquarium and aquarium lovers, end up in the wild?
The reason is that the scavengers eat everything and the aquarium lovers wantonly!
The scavengers were released wantonly
Generally speaking, scavengers are thrown into aquariums at an early age, and at this time they feed on the feces of other fish, the algae floats in the tank, diatoms, and organic detritus of the pelleted feed fed.
But as the size of the scavenger grows, its omnipotent nature is exposed, and the scavenger will specialize in adsorbing and stealing some sick or injured small fish at night, even adsorbing on expensive medium and large fish.
The scavengers are adsorbed in the aquarium
At this time, the greed of the scavengers is discovered by aquarium lovers, and for economic reasons, it is natural to be abandoned.
On the other hand, some hot-headed aquarists raise scavengers, but for various reasons they give up halfway and will also abandon them.
Out of humanitarianism, or to say that there are feelings for a long time. Some aquarium enthusiasts, unaware of the dangers of invading fish species, release scavengers into natural waters!
When two released scavengers meet. At this point, the nightmare of native fish species begins!
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As an invasive species, it is mainly flooded by two aspects, the first is that it reproduces extremely fast, and the second is that there are no natural enemies.
Scavengers, like native blackfish, have strong cub protection habits.
And because of its cub care habits, the mother fish will wait until the eggs hatch after spawning, and the young fish can take care of themselves before leaving.
So this also caused the rapid reproduction of scavengers to flood.
Scavengers originated from latin American rivers, and its natural enemies are mainly sub-pufferfish, American crocodiles, and otters!
otter
Adult sub-pufferfish and American crocodiles can eat several scavengers at a time. But the scavenger's biggest rival is the otter,
Therefore, scavengers in latin America, where they originate, do not flood, or even have a tendency to shrink.
However, in Chinese waters, scavengers have no natural enemies. China's coastal waters are devoid of medium- to large carnivorous wildlife, and the most common weasels prefer to steal chickens and have no interest in scavengers.
The scavenger's hard shell also makes it impossible for native carnivorous fish to eat, and can only allow it to flood.
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Like tilapia, the appearance of scavengers quickly swept across the coastal natural waters.
If Tilapia eats everything as an introduction of alien species, it multiplies extremely quickly!
So, as an invasive species, scavengers are "more than enough", why is it said that scavengers are the nightmare of native fish species?
It's all because scavengers especially love to eat the eggs of other fingerlings!
This is a devastating blow to other species, comparable to "killing chickens and taking eggs"!
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Scavengers, in the wild, are perfectly adapted to both sewers and river waters.
Moreover, in addition to eating impurities in the water, scavengers in the wild also like to eat the eggs of other fish species.
Coupled with the terrifying reproductive ability of scavengers, the living environment of a large number of native fish species has been squeezed, and the breeding eggs have been swept by scavengers.
At present, scavengers have flooded in coastal tropical areas such as Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian on the mainland.
Current status of scavenger fishing
Some fishermen deliberately went to the net to catch scavengers, and as a result, they easily caught hundreds of pounds in 1 hour! It's really helpless!
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Scavenger, it only took 3 years to flood!
For 3 years, other fingerlings were extremely rare in the river waters where there were scavengers.
And, most surprisingly, scavengers, as tropical fish, are gradually adapting to the low temperature environment and slowly moving towards the colder regions of the north.
Once the scavengers were adapted to the cold weather of the northern winter, it was really unimaginable!
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The proliferation of scavengers naturally attracted attention.
It was first discovered by anglers, slowly recovered by local fishermen, and finally it was not solved and flooded!
At present, professionals have processed the flood of scavengers into feed for use in aquaculture, so it is a good idea to make the flood of scavengers into economic fish species.
In addition, scavengers have also been met with collective boycotts from coastal residents. For example, anglers catch scavengers and bury them directly. Fishermen specialize in catching scavengers for burial!
Scavengers dig pits to bury
Scavengers, as aquarium species, have been flooded so far, and the main reason is that many people do not fully understand the species.
Species in different regions cannot spread to each other, otherwise there will be no natural enemies that will inevitably flood and cause environmental collapse!
Only by carefully studying and understanding can we effectively ensure that native animals and plants are not invaded by alien species!
There will be no more scavenger-infested incidents!
Protecting the environment is everyone's responsibility!