2006-11-2018: 40:18 China Fishing Channel Source: Dahua Net-SAR Evening News.
There is a bird that can use its long beak to reach into the water to catch small fish. I believe many people are used to this scene. However, if someone tells you that there is a kind of fish that can "climb" into trees to hunt birds, you may find it incredible. However, there are such fish. This is a walrus fish from the Amazon River. It is huge, and its maximum weight can reach hundreds of kilograms or even tons. It's also one or two hundred kilograms. It is the largest freshwater fish in the world and one of the top ten most vicious freshwater fish. Of course, no matter how fierce it is, it is impossible to really climb the tree, but jump out of the water. If a silly bird stays in the treetops near the water, it will be delicious. Today, this behemoth has come to Shantou by boat and plane, and has become a town house and ornamental treasure of some well-off families.
Watch your fingers when feeding.
In an aquarium wholesale shop in Ou Ting, Mr. Chen, the operator, took us to a pool three or four meters square and tapped on the glass pool wall. Soon, two guys about one meter long, covered in silver gray and bright red scales extending from the tail to the abdomen, swam towards us, looked at the uninvited guests carefully with a pair of strange eyes, and suddenly leaned forward with a bang, which was unexpected. Mr. Chen said, don't put your hands on the pool, or it will be dangerous. Because fish have air sacs similar to lung tissue, when the oxygen content in the water is low, they will surface to swallow the air. What's more noteworthy is that it is as good at jumping as other arowana, and its nature is fierce. It was witnessed jumping out of the water to prey on birds in the tree. So be careful when feeding and protect your hands.
"Living Fossil" in Freshwater Fish
They come from the Amazon region and are called "walrus fish", and their scientific name is "elephant fish", which belongs to a kind of arowana. Arowana is precious because it is a very old fish species, and the elephant fish from the dinosaur era has a history of 100 million years and is called the "living fossil" in freshwater fish.
It is understood that elephant fish almost suffered "extinction" at the end of last century due to the fishing of fishermen along the Amazon River. In 2000, only 26 fish were found in the river. The local people finally realized the serious consequences, and then consciously protected them and temporarily banned fishing, giving elephant fish a chance to breathe. In order to protect the fish, many local groups organize fishermen to patrol every night. But in the face of huge profits, poachers are willing to risk being caught and throw away their equipment. So fishermen and poachers started face-to-face conflicts, and some even used weapons.
Adult elephant fish can eat ten pounds of food every day.
According to Mr. Chen, elephant head fish was introduced to Guangzhou from the local river basin more than ten years ago, and soon it was introduced to Shantou. Elephant fish has one characteristic: its food intake is quite amazing, and its growth speed is also very fast. Whether it is feeding small fish or feed, it will not affect the growth rate of these guys at all. Mr. Chen said that when they first came here three years ago, the two fish weighed only a dozen kilograms, and now they are all 100 kilograms. "If the' service' is thoughtful, it may be more than the current weight." Mr. Chen told reporters that if they are fed enough, they can eat 10 Jin of fish or feed every day, but there is no way. They just catch some "African crucian carp" in the ditch in front of the door every day and let them eat other fish. If you put too many fish in the pond, on the one hand, it will affect the water quality, on the other hand, it will make them grow too fast and have a headache.
Elephant head fish is valuable in Shantou, but there is no market.
Compared with other arowana, the price of elephant fish is still relatively popular. Two kilograms of fry are generally around 400 yuan, and this kind of fish is still a typical "antique". Although the young fish is unremarkable, with the increase of age, the edge of the fish scale will turn bright red from the tail to the abdomen and back, which is very eye-catching. Therefore, elephant fish has become a red man in the pet industry in some countries in East Asia, and it has also become a "feng shui fish". "At present, the price of each of these two elephant fish is one or two thousand yuan, but there is no market." Mr. Chen said that the main reason for this situation is the difficulty in feeding. On the one hand, there must be a fairly large fish pond, at least about 10 cubic meter, which is difficult to place indoors; On the other hand, just like fish's requirement for water temperature, it is difficult to survive if the water is too cold. Therefore, if the fish pond is placed outdoors, it must be heated continuously in winter, so the power consumption will be quite large. So far, the total number of elephant fish in our city may be only 100.
No one has eaten elephant fish yet.
It is reported that elephant head fish is delicious, and it is usually delicious on the table in some countries in South America. But when elephant fish arrived in Asia, it jumped from the table to a "feng shui fish", and almost no one regarded it as food. However, for Cantonese people who dare to eat anything, maybe in the near future, after the breeding technology is mature, they will be able to taste delicious "living fossils".