The Yellow River, which winds for more than 5,000 kilometers, once bred rich biological resources, and there are more than 120 species of fish alone, such as Yaro fish, spotted naked carp, thick-lipped naked heavy lip fish, Yellow River naked cracked cormorant and other rare fish species, as well as Yellow River knifefish, Yellow River carp and other well-known economic fish species.
Although the depletion of fish resources in the Yellow River today is very serious, the skinny camels are bigger than horses, and there are still many rare fish in the Yellow River. Recently, an angler in Zhengzhou rescued a strange fish shaped like a "giant boat nail fish" in the Yellow River beach on the northern outskirts.
"This fish has a pointed head, a mouth facing down, a slender body, it looks like a 'nail', it has never been caught so big before, it weighs almost half a pound..."
The giant "boat nail" caught by the fishing friend Master Yu
Fishing friend Master Yu said: "That day I just hung the sea rod on the earthworm and threw it into the Yellow River, and within ten minutes there was a fish biting the hook, the strength was very large, and I thought it was a carp, but I found that it was a fish that had never been seen before, like a boat nail." But such a large giant boat nail fish, or the first time to see. ”
Judging from the pictures posted by the angler Master Yu, it seems that this fish is not a nail. The Yellow River's nail fish is small, the body length is generally about 10 centimeters, and there are only a few that can grow to more than one or two, let alone about half a pound. The mouth of the nail fish is relatively large, and the head is not so pointed...
Boat Nail Fish - Infographic
For this giant "boat nail", an experienced old fisherman in Zhengzhou said: "This is likely to be a long-disappeared pigeon fish, more than twenty years ago this fish in the Yellow River can be many, and then once disappeared, a few days ago a small wave bottom sand, may be washed down from the upstream ..."
The author understands that pigeon fish is a precious fish species of the Yellow River, once the "court fish" of the Shanggong Imperial Court, mainly distributed in the upper reaches of the Yellow River, such as Ningxia, of which the "pigeon fish" of Zhongwei is the most famous.
But will pigeon fish appear in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River? This is very doubtful. According to Baidu Encyclopedia:
Can pigeon fish, thousands of kilometers away, appear in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River in the Henan section? Some reports on the Internet about the emergence of a large number of pigeon fish in the Henan and Shandong sections of the Yellow River have not actually been scientifically verified.
Pictures of "pigeon fish" circulated on the internet
After many inquiries, the author found that many netizens have misunderstandings about pigeon fish, just like the "pigeon fish" caught by Zhengzhou fishing friends this time, it is likely to be another fish species - big nose snout.
The large-nosed snout and the pigeonfish look very similar in appearance, but are a little larger than the pigeonfish. The most important reason why netizens confuse these two fish is that there is very little information about these two fish on the Internet, and it is even difficult to find a clear photo of them in the official information introduction.
This has a very negative impact on the protection of pigeon fish.
It is understood that the pigeon fish (northern copper fish) has been listed as a national first-class protected animal in February 2021, and the big-nosed bass that looks very similar to it is also a second-level protected animal. But the embarrassing thing is that most netizens do not know these two kinds of fish, and some people even mistake them for "boat nail" fish.
In order to protect the pigeon fish, some netizens have collected its standard photos on the Internet, but after layers of screening, few people have taken clear photos of this fish, and many local netizens in Ningxia Zhongwei have also said that this fish has basically disappeared, and many outlaws often use "stick flower fish" to impersonate pigeon fish and make illegal profits.
For this half-pound "boat nail fish" caught by Zhengzhou anglers in the Yellow River beach, whether it is pigeon fish or large nose snout, it may still need experts to investigate.
As the saying goes, "look strange, sentence fast, look ugly, sentence long"! When anglers encounter such strange fish, it is certainly not wrong to choose to release them, after all, these fish are likely to be nationally protected animals. As an angler, not only should you develop the good habit of fishing for big and small, but also take the initiative to release rare fish that you don't know, and do your part for the protection of fish resources.