This colorful little fish is called "stone rolling skin", which was found everywhere in the countryside 30 years ago, and some people used to feed it to chickens, and now they have become the new favorite of aquarium players!
As the "post-80s" generation, many people spent their childhood in the countryside.
More than 30 years ago, there didn't seem to be any fun games in rural life, and at that time, the material and cultural life was quite barren, and there seemed to be nothing to play. In my memory, every summer vacation, there are three must-play games: catching fish, playing with mud, and climbing trees.
Knead the mud in the river into a "bowl" shape and buckle it to the ground to see who buttons it soundly; After playing in the mud, run to the river to catch fish, or climb a tree to pick other people's dates to eat. There weren't a few decent things in their hands at all, unlike today's children, who have countless toys.
Xiaobian lives in the northern countryside and the great plains in the southwest of Henan. I like to catch fish since I was a child, and I still remember when I was seven or eight years old, I often collected the leftover canned food bottles at home, tied hemp rope at one end, put a little broken steamed bun residue in it, and then threw the bottle into the pond behind the house, and then went to pick it up after a while.
After a while, the bottle was filled with a lot of small fish.
There are two kinds of fish that I remember the most, one is called "wheat bran flower", which is what we often call wheat ear fish. There is also a kind of fish, the body is colorful, at that time we called it "stone rolling skin", at the time we did not know the meaning of this name, now in retrospect, probably this kind of fish seems to have been crushed by the stone, the body is flat, as if there is only one skin.
This small fish is loved by everyone because of its beautiful body color. 30 years ago, I had the impression that "stone rolling skins" were everywhere, and there were dozens of them in the pond with a few random fishing. Because of the small amount of meat and the spiny nature of this fish, few people eat them, and they are usually caught and fed to chickens and ducks.
Sometimes during the summer vacation, the task assigned by parents is to go to the river and pond to catch river mussels, and by the way, catch some small fish, including the figure of "stone rolling skin".
After getting these things back, parents will break up the mussels, cut them into small pieces with scissors, and throw them together on the ground to feed the chickens. The chickens fed with these things are very fat, and the eggs they lay are delicious.
Now that I think about it, the "treatment" of poultry at that time was good, and it was a bit of a tyrannical thing to be able to eat such a "river fresh".
Later, after being admitted to university, I went home less often. Occasionally visit relatives a few times, but also often want to find this small fish again, once took the child in the pond 30 years ago to try it, almost the same canned bottle, thrown into the water, after catching up no fish, the original "stone rolling skin" has disappeared.
After asking people back home, I learned that this fish had not been seen for many years. It's not just the "stone rolling skin" that is gone, but even the "wheat bran flowers" are also rare. Thinking of this, I can't help but feel a little sad in my heart.
Later, I remember visiting the aquarium in the city once, and I saw a fish in the fish tank that looked very familiar, and the appearance was the same as the "stone rolling skin" when I was a child, and the colors looked very good. I asked the boss, and then inquired in detail, and the boss said that this fish was the "stone rolling skin" that could be seen everywhere in the countryside 30 years ago, and it was also called cutting board fish in some places.
Nowadays, they are no longer found in the countryside, but they can be found in urban aquariums. If you think about the little fish that we fed to the chickens 30 years ago, it has become a guest of honor in the aquarium.
Photo: Trout in the aquarium (stone roller)
It's really 30 years in Hedong and 30 years in Hexi!
During the conversation, I learned that trout has now become the new favorite of many aquarium enthusiasts, and they are like a "Chinese rainbow", which is popular in the aquarium world, which may also be a way for many people to regain their childhood memories.
At the aquarium, I was also fortunate enough to see the trout breeding. Their way of reproduction is interesting, so that their eggs are kept in the mussels and are not disturbed by external factors, which greatly increases the survival rate of the juveniles.
Pictured: The spawning process of a trout
At the same time, the mussels also lay their eggs on the trout, so that they can help them scatter their seeds. It's a wonderful symbiotic relationship, where the two are mutually beneficial, helping each other to reproduce.
Knowing these habits, I have a different view of trout. Not long ago, when I returned to my hometown on May Day, I went to the ditch by the small river in my hometown to try to find traces of this fish. Although some can be found, it has not returned to the previous level. However, I learned from the mouth of the villagers that some people eat trout now, and they are coated in flour and fried in a pan, which is simply "crunchy", not to mention how delicious it is.
This reminds me of the "stone rolling skin" 30 years ago, when there was a lack of material conditions, why didn't anyone think of eating this fish? Maybe it's because they have less flesh and more spines, and they also have a bitter taste.
But I think the most fundamental reason is not this, at that time, people's pursuit of material things was different, and they preferred to eat big fish and meat. Now that everyone is tired of eating the delicacies of the mountains and seas, it is estimated that it is also a pleasure to reminisce about the "bitter" taste of trout.
Nowadays, more and more people are leaving the countryside. The former "stone rolling skin" has also moved to the city with everyone and has become the new favorite in the aquarium, which may be the change of the times! Netizens born in the 70s and 80s, can you still think of this kind of small fish?