In the daily life of Chinese, fish is inseparable.
Delicious and nutritious fish not only adds to the Chinese diet, but also improves the physical resistance of the people. In particular, the four major fish of silver carp, herring carp, grass carp and bighead carp are continuously served to the table of Chinese. Among them, the herring is known for its large size, and in comparison, the road to the growth of grass carp is particularly difficult, so what about the other two members?
The eye-catching "King of Herringfish"
Herring is one of the main forces of freshwater economic fish in mainland China, and enjoys a very high national degree. There is another name for herring called black carp, which tends to be strong and strong, with a blue and black appearance and large and thick scales, which is highly recognizable.
In terms of habits, herring fish like to inhabit the middle and lower layers of the river, and are relatively low-key for fish, and do not like to expose their bodies to the surface of the river, and always hide their tracks with the help of aquatic plants, stones, and silt. Herring is an omnivorous fish, it has pharyngeal teeth in its mouth, and can eat snails, mussels, fish and shrimp and other aquatic animals, as well as some grains.
Usually want to catch a herring in the wild is to spend a lot of effort, but the elusive herring, always can give people unexpected surprises, although the herring is easy to grow flesh and fat, but their weight is conservatively estimated to be between a dozen and dozens of catties. In recent years, the "herring king" hidden in the major water system lakes has appeared frequently, refreshing people's perception of herring weight again and again.
In 2017, the lake reservoir in Sanshui District, Foshan, Guangdong Province ushered in the "blue fish king" of more than 100 catties. It is understood that this huge "blue fish king" was accidentally discovered by the staff during the inspection. At that time, there were no waves on the surface of the lake, and the sunlight clearly cast on the lake, exposing the creatures in the lake one by one.
At this moment, there was a sudden wave in the depths of the lake, and a herring with a fat body that was so fat that it made its jaw drop appear coldly. After discussion, the management cast a fishing net into the lake, and when the net was tightened, three big-bellied herring were harvested.
When they were pulled ashore by the staff, their fat bodies were still struggling, and the thick blue and black scales became more and more clear. Subsequently, the staff of the lake reservoir in Sanshui District, Foshan, Guangdong Province learned that the weight of one of the herring fish reached 105 catties, and the body length was 1.32 meters. As soon as this incident came out, it caused heated discussions among netizens, and the locals were even in the front row "eating melons".
But this is far from the limit of the herring, counting the "herring king" that has appeared in recent years, the most famous has to look at the Jinniu Lake in Nanjing, Jiangsu, this lake has the reputation of the cradle of the "herring king".
In July 2005, a herring weighing 228 pounds and a body length of 1.8 meters was pocketed by a fisherman, and the "herring king" quickly became popular in China with a weight of 228 pounds, and became a standard that many anglers want to break through. Coincidentally, in July 2019, Nanjing Jinniu Lake once again ushered in good news, a fisherman was lucky enough to catch a "herring king" weighing 186 catties and 1.65 meters long. Although it is not as shocking as the 228 catties of "herring king" caught in July 2005, the weight of 186 catties has exceeded 100 catties, approaching 200 catties.
The difficult road of grass carp to grow fat
Herring is easy to fatten, especially under the nourishment of Jinniu Lake, which has a complete ecological circle, sufficient food and excellent water quality, the frequency of 100 catties of herring is higher. As one of the four big fish alliances, grass carp does not have such easy fat growth conditions, and the road to fat growth of grass carp is particularly difficult, and there is a feeling of "one fat and one inch of gold".
Grass carp, people in the Northeast are accustomed to call it grassroots, compared to the herring "no meat is not happy", grass carp can be a very typical herbivorous fish, except for the occasional open meat, grass carp is very firm to pursue the "vegetarian" doctrine, they like the most floating algae, bitter grass and other plants.
Grass carp have a very lively temperament, they like to live in groups, and they go wherever they go. The growth rate of the fish that can be among the four major fish is not low, and the same is true for grass carp, but grass carp cannot easily break 100 in weight like herring.
Grass carp sold in the fresh market, their weight is about three or four catties to more than ten catties, from the experience of fishermen, even if the grass carp is well raised, it is difficult to weigh 30 catties, and the herring that easily breaks 100 catties has a cloud mud difference. Is this the difference between eating meat and eating grass? Such a disparity is puzzling.
However, according to official records, there are also "gifted" fish in the grass carp community, such as the grass carp raised in the pond water by the villagers of Ziwu Village in Huangshan, Anhui Province, which weighs 35 kilograms and is 1.4 meters long. In 2017, it was 49 years old, which is already a very long life in the grass carp family.
How much does a silver carp weigh? Can you catch up with more than 100 catties of herring?
Bighead carp is a general term for silver carp and bighead carp, both of which are members of the Four Great Fish Alliance. Silver carp mainly live in the upper layers of rivers and lakes, and bighead carp like it likes to inhabit the middle and upper layers of water bodies. In terms of eating habits, there is a big difference between the two, silver carp likes to eat phytoplankton, while bighead carp prefer zooplankton.
The silver carp has a large head and a gray-white and blue-gray doped body, and they have a lively temperament, but they are too impatient. In contrast, bighead carp are more docile.
As well-known economic fish, both have the advantage of fast growth and strong disease resistance. So far, the largest silver carp has appeared in the Wangjiagang Township River Basin of Huaibin County.
On June 29, 2021, after heavy rains, a villager spotted a giant silver carp stranded in a bay. The villagers were hopeful that the giant silver carp was visible to the naked eye, and after measuring it, the giant silver carp lived up to expectations. It is understood that the giant silver carp found in the watershed of Wangjiagang Township, Huaibin County, weighs 52 catties and has a body length of 1.15 meters.
According to the Yangtze River Ecological Conservation Foundation, bighead carp are large fish despite their lazy nature. The largest specimen ever carried weighed 114 pounds and was 1.8 meters long. Bighead carp also have the potential to grow into "big fish", but because they like to move in the middle and upper layers of rivers, they are easy to expose.
When bighead carp grows into a certain size, it will be caught and eaten by sharp-eyed humans, making it difficult for them to have room to play like the 228-pound "herring king" in terms of weight.
Fourth, it is not without reason that the big fish can become an economic fish that the Chinese people like to see, and it has been continuously put on the table by the Chinese people. Generally speaking, the meat of the four major carp is relatively high-quality, but due to the influence of their own habits, growth environment and other factors, the maximum body size is very different, thank you for reading.