Baisha market; all fishes are Nandujiang River basin.
Three specimen of Cyprinus rubrofuscus. The one in the middle is a common grass carp Ctenopharyngodon idella.
Another common species is Hemiculter leucisculus.
Culter recurviceps is a predator of the upper stratum. It hunts beneath the water surface. Its main prey seems to be Hemiculter leucisculus. Culter recurviceps is a game fish for anglers and inhabits streams and large lakes on Hainan Island and within the Pearl River basin.
Carassioides acuminatus
The mud carp Cirrhinus molitorella has an intense, vertically extended humeral blotch that is vivid blue-greenish in life. It is offered in abundance on the Baisha market.
Blotched snakeheads Channa maculata make excellent food fish. Its flesh is tasty, firm, and has few spines.
Farmbred Pangasianodon hypophthalmus. This is the fish where the infamous Pangasius steaks are made of.
Fishes that are not displayed here but spotted on the market are Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, H. molitrix, Oreochromis niloticus, Hemibagrus hainanensis, Garra schismatorhyncha, Metzia lineata, Monopterus albus, and Osteochilus salsburyi.
The local market in Qiongzhong which is within the Wanquanhe River basin (万泉河). I did not take photos but noted the following fish: Glyptothorax hainanensis, Vanmanenia hainanensis, Channa maculata, Monopterus albus, Macropodus opercularis, Schistura fasciolata, Puntius semifasciolatus, and Traccatichthys zispi.
Changhuajiang River River basin
We entered the Changhuajiang River water shed. This river empties in the South Chinese Sea at the Westcoast of Hainan Island. We fished a tributary to the Tongshihe River (通什河). Water parameters were 25 ºC, 7.8 pH, 20 µS/cm, 2 ºKH at 10:00 and 526 m asl. We got plenty of Opsariichthys hainanensis, some Schistura fasciolata, Liniparhomaloptera disparis, Rhinogobius duospilus, Amolops hainanensis, an unidentified goby, and potamid freshwater crabs.
The Hainan torrent frog Amolops hainanensis is listed EN (‘endangered’) by the IUCN due to deforestation, habitat defragmentation and human consumption. Its tadpoles have an adhesive mandibular disk similar to fishes of the genus Garra.
Left overs of a dog. Choose your steak!
Villagers selling their catch. This looks good because each seller just have few fishes and all of different species’ and sizes. You can be sure the fish offered here originates from the wild – delicious and prefect for my collection.
Biotope EW-CN 137-11 is located in Wuzhishan Prefecture. It is a direct tributary to the Changhuajiang River.
Water temperature was 24 ºC, 6.7 pH, 10 µS/cm, 1.5 ºKH at 11:00 and 185 m asl.
View on the Changhuajiang River along the road Ledong towards Dongfang.
Young individuals of Mastacembelus undulatus are attractively colored.
A young male of Opsariichthys hainanensis showing stress coloration. I have kept and bred this species in captivity. They do not reach the size and aggressiveness of O. bidens.
We found this specimen of the Giant African land snail Achatina fulica close to the spot. It is – as the vernacular implies – an introduced species.