It looks like a saw blade and has a savage temperament, yet this delicious creature has been eaten to the brink of disappearance
"People die for wealth, birds die for food" is how people describe actions that backfire and bring painful consequences because of greed. Yet just as people cannot resist the lure of wealth, other creatures cannot resist the lure of food either. In rural areas there is a kind of fish that is especially greedy for food, and it often ends up as fish on the chopping block because of its eating, ruining the "snakeskin" pattern on its body and the "hidden poison needles" it carries. Now, because of water pollution and overfishing by people, it has almost gone extinct, and that is the spiny loach. People living in rural areas have surely eaten this thing plenty of times, because its greedy nature makes it very easy to hook, and because of the row of sharp spines on its back it is also called the knife loach.
The spiny loach is a freshwater fish with a slender body, a long pointed head, a slender mouth, and a slender build, so it resembles an eel. Under its mouth and along its back there are spine-like pointed protrusions, which is why it is called the spiny loach. Its body is streamlined like an eel, so it swims very fast. It likes to eat red worms, earthworms, and crustacean insects, so it is a true carnivorous fish. It usually likes to hide by the edge of aquatic plants and wait for prey, then strike quickly. Its temperament is rather "savage"; when fishing as a child, few people dared to touch it with bare hands.
The spiny loach is also a nocturnal animal. It likes to hunt at night, and during the day it likes to burrow into the mud to sleep with its mouth sticking out. If it were not so greedy for food, most people really would not be able to catch it, and it also has a row of spines on its back shaped like a saw blade. Although its venom is not very toxic and definitely not enough to kill a person, it has also made some people give up the idea of eating it. Wounds on people pricked by a spiny loach heal very slowly, and many people, even if they catch one, find it too troublesome and simply throw it away. However, because the spiny loach swallows the hook straight into its belly once it bites, it is basically doomed as well.
The flesh of the spiny loach is extremely delicious and rich in nutritional value. Because of the widespread use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers nowadays, it has become almost impossible to see. The spiny loach is green all over and has markings like a snake, so it is actually quite attractive. It is also because of its outstanding appearance that it is currently popular as an ornamental fish. However, because they like to burrow into mud, it is best not to plant aquatic plants in the fish tank, as they will be pushed up. At present, wild ones are already very rare, and most of those seen on the market are artificially bred.
Readers and friends, did you ever catch spiny loaches when you were children? Has anyone eaten them?