Popular knowledge of fishery science-- snakehead

English name: Northern snakehead

Local common name: black fish, rich fish, snakehead fish

Taxonomic status: Perciformes, Lepidopodidae, Lepidoptera

Morphological features: the front part of the body is nearly cylindrical and the rear part is relatively flattened laterally. The back of the head is slightly flattened at the front and gradually raised at the back, like a snake's head. There is an auxiliary respirator on the gills. The body is grayish black and the abdomen is grayish white. There are two large irregular black markings on the side of the body. There are 2 rows of punctate black spots on the back of the head from the eye to the posterior edge of the operculum. There are black markings on the dorsal fin, anal fin and caudal fin.

Ecological habits: carnivorous ferocious fish. From fry to adult fish, they all feed on aquatic animals. The growth is fast, and the body weight of 2-year-old can reach more than 1kg. It has strong adaptability to environmental factors such as dissolved oxygen, alkalinity and salinity.

Geographical distribution: all kinds of water bodies are distributed in the east and south of China and were introduced into Ningxia in the 1970s.

Economic value: valuable economic fish. In addition to eating, it also has medicinal effects.