In recent years, many invasive alien species have fallen under the appetite of foodies, such as bullfrogs, such as crayfish. But there is one fish that is an exception, this fish nicknamed "scavenger", native to South America, but no one wants to eat it after coming to China. However, its fate is even more tragic than that of the crayfish.
This fish, nicknamed "Scavenger", has a scientific name called Shimoguchi catfish. It is an omnivorous fish that can eat algae that grow in aquariums, so it was once introduced to the country as an ornamental fish. But it soon became apparent that scavengers would also devour the small fish in the tank, so it was gradually abandoned and entered into the wild river. At present, in the Yangtze River, Pearl River, Han River and other rivers, scavengers have formed a certain population size. The scavenger fish is extremely adaptable and will eat eggs and small fish, affecting the survival of native fish, so it is a harmful invasive species.
But since it is a fish, why does no one want to eat "scavengers"?
In fact, a few years ago, many so-called "gourmets" in China studied the scavenger's way of eating, but they never found a good way to cook. Whether it is stir-frying or grilling, even if it is boiling soup, it is difficult to swallow. Nowadays, people can only acquiesce to the fact that scavengers have no edible value. The scavenger's body has a layer of shield scales, there is almost no meat on the body, and because it is a bottom fish, feeding on garbage and carrion at the bottom of the river, it has a very smelly fishy smell on the body, even if it is fried with peppers, it cannot be removed. And there are a lot of parasites on the scavengers, and once they are not handled well, eating them is simply harmful. So even if someone catches a scavenger now, they will basically throw it away.
Scavengers are highly reproducible, laying 500 eggs at a time, almost all of which can hatch. In this case, scavengers should be flooded, why haven't we heard similar news?
In fact, the fate of the scavenger is more bitter than that of the crayfish.
At present, in the fishery, the treatment of scavengers is nothing more than the following, either to make feed and feed pigs, or to make fertilizer and use it to plant flowers and plant land. After the fishermen catch the scavengers, they do not throw them back into the river, but collect them to ferment, clean up the parasites and feed them to the pigs, and finally go to the human table.
Although scavengers have not become a disaster, we should also guard against the harm of scavengers. Not only does this fish threaten our native fish, it also digs nests several meters deep when spawning, and if its numbers proliferate, our river reservoir dikes are in danger of being hollowed out. So when you see the scavenger, everyone knows what to do.