"Fish eat melon seeds and spit out shells?" Maybe it's not the first time you've heard of it, but the world is so big and there are so many wonders. In Changning County, Baoshan City, there is such a fish that is known as a "living fossil in the water", because it can sniff melon seeds, which has attracted people's amazement.
Walking into Longtan Park in Changningkas Town, the ancient trees that cover the sky and the sun wrap the whole park tightly, sitting on the stone table, listening to the sound of cicadas, the breeze blowing... It's very cozy.
Dense trees cover Kas longtan park October 27, 2021 Wang Donghua photography
Then along the stone road, you can see the deep water dragon pond under the Dragon King Temple, the spring water gushes out from the ground, and the turquoise blue deep pool water ripples with the fish swimming, giving people a sense of relaxation and calm.
A corner of Kaslongtan Park in Changning County, Baoshan October 27, 2021 Photo by Wang Donghua
However, as long as you throw melon seeds and rice flowers into the pool, the black pressed fish will rush to you from the bottom of the pool, full of oppression. At this time, the deep pool was no longer calm, and after a burst of water splashed around, only the melon seed shell was left on the surface of the water to swing with the ripples.
This kind of fish that will "snort melon seeds", called cartilage four-whiskered catfish, is also called yellow shell fish in the local area, which is a unique indigenous fish in Yunnan Province, and Baoshan City and Lincang City are the main distribution areas. It is one of the rare ancient fish species in the world, and is listed as a national wild protected fish, so it is also called "living fossils in the water".
Cartilage four-whiskered catfish that has just swum out of the deep pool October 27, 2021 Wang Donghua photography
"Wow! It feels magical! This fish is different from the fish that you have seen in terms of appearance and posture. After being introduced by friends, Li Pei, a tourist who came to watch the fish, said in amazement. After hearing the insiders introduce the origin and rarity of this fish, she sighed and said: "I didn't think that our place still has such ancient fish resources." ”
People come to see the cartilage four-whiskered catfish October 27, 2021 Wang Donghua photography
The adults of the cartilage four-whiskered catfish are thick and fusiform, and the body secretes mucus after coming out of the water; the scales of the fish are large and thick, the dorsal scales are dark yellowish and bluish, the lateral scales are composed of golden and dark blue, and the abdominal scales are pale yellow; the fish head is short, the snout is round and blunt and protruding outwards, there are 2 pairs of well-developed whiskers, and the male's orbital bone has warts on the surface.
Cartilage four-whiskered catfish rushing from the bottom of the pond October 27, 2021 Wang Donghua photography
The wild cartilage four-whiskered catfish has extremely harsh requirements for the climate, water temperature, water quality and other growth environments, and the success rate of artificial breeding is extremely low, so its distribution in Yunnan is also very narrow. Changning County has a subtropical monsoon climate, high forest coverage, abundant rainfall, and extremely developed aboveground and underground water systems, which create an excellent living environment for wild cartilage four-whiskered catfish.
At present, there are wild cartilage four-whiskered catfish in the towns of Kas and Mengtong, which are also hot areas in Changning.
Poolside leisurely cartilage four-whiskered catfish October 27, 2021 Wang Donghua photography
How do these fish thrive? There is a local saying that "no seed is born, no corpse is dead", which is very magical. Wild cartilage four-whiskered catfish live in places accompanied by caves and underground rivers, which are often called "dragon caves" in the local area. Most of these fish will disappear with the change of season, water level, temperature, and reappear in the pool more or less in the next year.
Cartilage four-whiskered catfish that is grabbing melon seeds October 27, 2021 Wang Donghua photography
Yang Youhua, a villager in Longtan Community in Kas Town, who is nearly a flower armour, said: "Yellow shell fish come from inside the dragon cave, wait until the water is less, drill in, and when the water rises, it will come out, from the beginning of my memory." The water here is very clear, so they all live well. ”
Local villagers who come to see the cartilage four-whiskered catfish October 27, 2021 Wang Donghua photography
Local people in their leisure time, will always bring melon seeds and rice flowers to see the magic, in the long run people and fish naturally established a "feeling", as long as someone is close to the water's edge, cartilage four-whiskered catfish will flock to, coupled with no one to catch and fish, the fish here are not afraid of people.
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The mountains and lakes are spirited by birds, animals, plants and trees, and Kaslongtan Park also adds a magical color to the cartilage four-whiskered catfish that can "suck melon seeds". Taking nature as a teacher and making friends with all things is the correct "way to open" between man and nature.
Spring City Evening News Open Screen News Reporter Cui Min Correspondent Wang Donghua Zhou Jie Photo Report
Intern Editor Dong Yu
Proofreading by Yi Keyan
Editor Zhang Ming