A Brief Introduction to the Living Habits, Feeding Habits, and Growth and Reproduction Characteristics of the Snakehead
I think everyone is very familiar with the snakehead; it is often eaten in daily life. The snakehead is highly nutritious and rich in protein, so it is very suitable for people who are frail and sickly, as well as for the elderly and children.
Living Habits of the Snakehead
The snakehead is a bottom-dwelling fish with an extremely wide range of habitats. Therefore, any place where frogs, loaches, crucian carp, and various aquatic insects live in groups is a place the snakehead likes to inhabit. Snakeheads mostly lurk in shallow water about 1 m deep. The snakehead's survival temperature is 0-41°C, with the optimum temperature being 16-30°C. When the water temperature rises above 8°C in spring, the snakehead begins to become active, swimming from the deep water to shallow areas to feed. It grows faster when the water temperature is above 20°C.
On stuffy, hot summer days when it rains, it often leaps out of the water and lies prone on the wet ground along the bank. In autumn, when the water temperature drops to 12°C, it stops feeding; when it drops below 6°C, it moves to deep water. In winter, when the water temperature is too low, it burrows into the mud to overwinter, and as long as there is water beneath the ice, it can overwinter completely. The snakehead can tolerate low oxygen. It can also survive in turbid, oxygen-poor water. When oxygen in the water is insufficient, the fish can expose its head above the surface and, using the organ above its gills, directly absorb oxygen from the air for gas exchange. pH value: the snakehead can generally live in both acidic and alkaline waters. The snakehead is good at jumping: its jumping ability is very strong, and it also jumps quite high. When there is flowing water impact and rainfall, it is even more likely to stimulate the snakehead to jump and escape, and it often swims upstream against the current.
Feeding Habits of the Snakehead
The snakehead is a ferocious carnivorous fish. It mainly feeds on small fish, shrimp, frogs and tadpoles, aquatic insects, and other aquatic animals. The specific types of food it consumes vary with the size of the fish, the season, and the water environment. However, no matter what, its nature as a carnivorous nutritional type will not change. The snakehead is a common food fish in China, with a large individual size, fast growth, and high economic value. However, judging from the popular market conditions, the snakehead farming cycle is still relatively too long.
Growth of the Snakehead
Fry hatched in the same year are generally about 150 mm long and weigh around 50 grams. The 2-year-old fish is in an accelerated growth stage of body length, growing vigorously. After 2 years of age, it shows a trend of decreasing with increasing age. When the water temperature is 20-25°C, it grows faster. The snakehead has very strong vitality, and its flesh tastes sweet. It contains a large amount of various minerals such as iron, calcium, and phosphorus, and its nutritional components are also very rich, containing fat, protein, vitamin A, B vitamins, and so on. In addition, in every 100 grams of snakehead, the protein content can be as high as 20 grams, second only to shrimp, and eating snakehead is easy for the human body to digest and absorb. Regular consumption of snakehead can enhance resistance.
Reproduction of the Snakehead
1. Age at sexual maturity. In the Yangtze River basin, it is generally 2 winters old, while locally it generally begins to mature and spawn in the third year.
2. Fecundity: the general individual fecundity is 10,000-30,000 eggs, and the largest is 50,000-60,000 eggs. Snakeheads of different ages, different sizes, and different water bodies have different fecundity.
In recent years, China's aquaculture industry has been developing rapidly, so snakehead farming has gradually become common. The market demand for snakehead in China is quite large, but the cost of snakehead farming requires more investment than other types of farming.