A complete analysis of the mandarin fish's living habits, explained in one article

The mandarin fish is distributed only in the rivers and lakes of the plains of eastern China. In winter it overwinters in deep water, and in spring it swims toward shallow areas. It hides by day and comes out at night, and it is ferocious by nature. The young fish like to eat fish and shrimp, while adult fish mainly eat fish. It stops feeding in winter and is a favorite of many anglers. Let us take a look below at the living habits of the mandarin fish!

The living environment of the mandarin fish

The mandarin fish is a bottom-dwelling fish that lives in still water and in rivers, lakes and reservoirs with a certain flow, especially in shallow lakes rich in aquatic plants. During the day it generally lies hidden on the bottom, and at night it moves about in search of food. It has the habit of digging burrows to make nests, does not like living in groups, and its suitable water temperature for living is 15-32°C. When the water temperature is below 7°C, it is not very active and does not feed much.

The feeding habits of the mandarin fish

The mandarin fish is a typical carnivorous, ferocious fish that feeds on small fish and small shrimp throughout its life. Newly hatched mandarin fish fry can already prey on the fry of other fish. A mandarin fish with a body length of 0.7 cm can prey on other fish with a body length of 0.35 cm, and a mandarin fish with a body length of 31 cm can prey on crucian carp with a body length of 15 cm. The mandarin fish has a fairly large appetite; when satiated, its food intake can usually reach 10-15% of its own weight. In the process of farming mandarin fish, there is a certain selectivity in the bait fish fed, that is, at the fry stage it is mainly bream, at the fingerling stage it is mainly crucian carp and mud carp, and at the adult stage it is mainly small fish that are easy to obtain and suitable in size.

The growth habits of the mandarin fish

The mandarin fish grows relatively slowly in rivers. In the Yangtze River basin, according to measurements, the average body length of a 1-year-old fish is 17.5 cm, with a body weight of 119 g. A 2-year-old fish is 23.6 cm, 300 g. A 3-year-old fish is 32.8 cm, 812 g. A 4-year-old fish is 42.5 cm, 1526 g. Under artificial farming conditions, the growth rate is greatly accelerated. In the same year, mandarin fish fry farmed in ponds or cages can reach commercial size, equivalent to the body weight of 2-3-year-old mandarin fish grown naturally in large water bodies. Under the same artificial rearing conditions, the growth rate of the bighead mandarin fish is the fastest, followed by the bigeye mandarin fish.

The reproductive habits of the mandarin fish

Mid-May to August each year is the breeding season of the mandarin fish, with June being the peak spawning period, and the suitable water temperature is 22-30°C. The eggs produced by the mandarin fish are drifting eggs and can adhere to aquatic plants. Males mature at one winter of age and females mature at two winters of age, and it belongs to the multiple-spawning type.