Text / Picture Angler Original
What kind of fish is this? Isn't it loach! Yes, this is a different "loach". It is produced in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in the Yunnan-Guichuan-Guangshan and other southwest regions, the locals call it "steel loach", there are 2 varieties, known as "water ginseng", is the origin of people's favorite small economic edible fish. Ironically, its scientific name was named by Europeans more than 150 years ago, and at the same time, its ornamentality was ignored by the domestic aquarium community. We may wish to fully understand this "loach" from its name, ornamental characteristics, food habits, development and protection.
< h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > name: The red-tailed subfidge is named after three European biologists more than 150 years ago</h1>
"Steel loach" is the name of this loach by people in the production area, just a common name. This is the same reason as in the past when rural babies had milk names and scientific names. However, the scientific name of the loach was named by three foreigners, what is going on? More than 150 years ago, three biologists from Europe, came to The inconvenient Sichuan, found this tail is red loach in the local river stream, they brought this new species back to Europe, published and named "red-tailed subloach" in 1874, since then, under the subfamily of loach, there is one more subloach genus, and the steel loach has begun to have a scientific name, but unfortunately it is not named by Chinese ichthyologists. So that there are still many aquarists complaining, what is wrong with biological taxonomy, get a sub-loach genus, then there must be a positive loach genus! In fact, the word "vice loach" is completely the result of the Chinese translation. Just like the "Devonian" in geological age, if it is only taken literally, is it wrong, is it not true that the earth at that time was a large mud basin? Creatures playing in mud pits on Earth like Peppa Pig? Haha, this understanding is superficial.
When it comes to species naming, many of China's animals and plants are named by foreigners, such as Yuyang (water bee) is named by the British, and many animals and plants in Changbai Mountain Tianchi are named by Russians. The aim is to understand the flora and fauna of our country and the mineral resources that serve their country.
After saying the scientific name, let's talk about its common name (it has a bunch of trumpets), there are many names such as red tail, red tail loach, red tail fish, steel loach, tiger loach, saliva fish, stone loach and so on. Personally, I think that the "red-tailed loach" is the most appropriate, and the slender and exaggerated body is really like a bamboo pole and a straw pole. "Steel loach" is the loudest. The loach should have been formed by a long-term slip of the word "loach". The locals can understand the red tail fish and red tail fish, and many fish will not obey the whole country, such as red tail, Mongolian red carp, Yayu, and horizontal loach are all red tails.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > species: There are 2 species of red-tailed loach</h1>
Which loach exactly does the loach refer to? To be precise, the three European biologists caught three species of loach in Sichuan and brought them back to Europe, and named them "red-tailed subloach", "short-bodied subloach", and "mountain loach". In addition, Sichuan also has a kind of Bei's plateau loach, the body surface pattern is the same as the granite rock head, it is estimated that the three foreigners did not look good and did not find it, discovered and named by Mr. Ding Ruihua of the Sichuan Institute of Natural Resources in 1987. The loach is more famous as an ancient royal tribute. The common name for loach includes two species of loach, both of which are red in the tail, differing only in the dorsal fin pattern and length, which are the red-tailed paraquat and the short-bodied paraquat.
Red-tailed subloach
Short-bodied paraquat
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the characteristics and ornamentality of loach</h1>
Steel loach is easily confused with the southern loach, especially the short-bodied paraloach is relatively close to the southern loach, and some of the southern loach tail is also red, which is easy to get mistaken.
Red-tailed paraquat: slender body; tail fin is shovel-shaped, red; ventral and fins are yellow; the body behind the dorsal fin has fine scales with clear tiger stripes; there are no scales in front of the dorsal fin, and the markings are messy.
Characteristics of the red-tailed paraquat
Short-bodied paraquat: the body is thick and short; the tail fin is shovel-shaped and red; the body behind the dorsal fin has clear tiger stripes; the front of the dorsal fin is messy; the dorsal fin has markings similar to that of the carp.
Features of the short-bodied paraquat
Southern loach: There are many kinds of southern loach, the tail is also red, the dorsal fin lacks the color of the steel loach, and the biggest difference between the steel loach is that the tail fin of the southern loach is forked, the body pattern is very clear and neat, there is no messy part.
Characteristics of the southern loach
Ornamental nature of the loach
Are loach ornamental? Of course, there is no shortage of native ornamental fish in China. Such as tang fish, carp, southern snake, moon snake, goby fish, pond fish, bucket fish, bass fish, pomfret, pomfret, carp and a variety of loach. Generally speaking, a fish can be cultured as an ornamental fish, which only meets three conditions: bright colors; unique shape; function and function.
In China's native ornamental fish, loach is a large category, a variety of loach are suitable for ornamental fish culture, more characteristic of the Yaoshan loach (panda loach), a variety of sucking loach (flat fin loach), long thin loach, plateau loach, flower loach and so on. Some have unique patterns, such as panda loach; some are huge, such as long loach weighing up to 1 pound. The red tail and pattern of the steel loach meet the requirements of ornamental fish, and most loach fish can be raised as tool fish, especially suitable for grass tank weeding and zooplankton, which can improve the water quality of grass tanks.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > feeding: what the loach eats as an ornamental fish</h1>
The loach can be cultured as an economic fish or as a more ornamental fish. The fish is sexually mature from 2 to 3 years and the breeding season is from June to August of each year. The eggs are yellow, large, and prefer to hatch on pebbles in streams, and the eggs are sticky. When farming, it is necessary to simulate the wild water environment. Sufficient basal fertilizer is applied in the culture pond to cultivate plankton. Algae, rotifers, branches, copepods, mosquito larvae, ephemerals, oligochaetes are its food. If it is kept in a fish tank, what kind of bait should be fed? It is recommended to feed with red worms, bread worms, etc. Let's familiarize yourself with its food, in fact, the following baits can also feed most small ornamental fish such as goldfish.
Bait eaten by steel loach
Rotifers
It is one of the smallest animals in the world, called the rotifer but can't turn like a wheel. In fish farms, the first thing to do is to breed rotifers, which are food for fry.
Branches
Also known as water fleas, it is an invertebrate, crustacean, gill foot suborder, and an aquatic animal of the order Phyllonorycter. It is widely distributed in freshwater, seawater and inland brackish water and can be used as food for fish.
Jiéjué
Mosquito larvae, formed from mosquito eggs hatched in the water, slender body, swimming vertically up and down in the water, commonly found in the open water tank in the countryside, feeding on bacteria and single-celled algae in the water, is the ideal food for fish.
Red worms
Also known as water earthworms, red worms. Oligoterans, Perforae Oligotera, Frillaceae, Water Earthworms. Aquatic oligochaetes in the genus, bright red or bluish gray in body color, slender, generally about 4 cm long, up to 10 cm long, is the favorite food of carp, common pond silt.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > fishing method: how to fish for loach? </h1>
The loach prefers to inhabit rock crevices, crevices or boulder-bearing water bays. When the flood comes, it will swim out to feed, and when the water is muddy, it is the best time to catch it. Choose the side of the water where the big rocks are sheltered from the water for fishing. You can use a hand rod for fishing, you can use a simple bamboo to make a fishing rod, you can use earthworms for bait, it is recommended to use a fishing group that is not easy to wind. The fish hook uses a small sleeve hook and uses a teasing method.
Folk also has a kind of fishing method without fishing hook fishing line, when the river is turbid, find a good fishing point, use a rope to tie more than a dozen earthworms together, and then tie it to the end of the bamboo rod, insert the bamboo rod into the rapids, feel that there is a fish, immediately lift it, put it in the basin, and the loach will fall in the basin. Others fish with nets or use bamboo horns to lure the loaches in.
Fishing for loach
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > the resource development and protection of loach</h1>
In the past, steel loach was not popular and was often used to feed cats after capture, or to throw to chickens and ducks. However, in recent years, with the continuous recognition of the nutritional and medicinal value of loach, loach has now become a special dish on the tables of restaurants, hotels and families. Because of its high nutritional value, it is called "ginseng in the water". Loach is rich in fat, amino acids and trace elements. As a result, overfishing has occurred and populations have declined significantly. It is rare to see a loach that is 15 cm long and grows for more than 5 years. Coupled with the destruction of fish by sand dredgers and other three farms, the resources of wild loach have declined sharply.
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