China - Guangxi 2007

aquariophil

Guangxi 2007

A fish collecting trip in Chinese Guangxi province

Wang Jing and me started our trip in Dahua Yaozu Zizhixian (大化瑶族自治县), a small sleepy town in front of a mountain ridge and close to the Hongshuihe, one of the most famous water basins in Guangxi province. Hongshuihe means Red Water River which is an allusion to seasonal red colouration of the river due to solubilized sediments. The Hongshuihe and neighbouring You River (右江) containing numerous species of flat loaches we were after.

EW-CN 41-07 Dahua
Location	Dahua Yaozu Zizhixian (大化瑶族自治县), Xinghua Lu (兴化路), direction of Yantan (岩滩)/Bama (巴马)
	Stream from the right to the left, Hechi County (河池市)
GPS coordinates	148m asl, N 23º 45.315', E 107º 58.152'
Date	2007-10-01
Time	12:20
Biotope	Slow to moderate current. Karst formations, in between pebble bottom, max. 3 m broad, usually 30 cm deep with some potholes of 1.5 m depth.
	Submerse vegetation not visible.
Parameters	Temperature	ºC
	pH	pH
	Conductivity (EC)	µS/cm
	Hardness General	ºGH
	Hardness Carbonate	ºKH
	Nitrite	mg/l
	Total Dissolved Solution (TDS)	ppm
Species	Opsariichthys sp.
	Rhodeus ocellatus
	Puntius semifasciolatus
	Pomacea sp. Apple snail
Remarks

Bridge over Hongshuihe at Dahua town which is mainly populated by people of Yao minority.

The first spot we fished wass biotope EW-CN 41-07 displaying traces of environmental pollution.

Puntius semifasciolatus is widely spread in SW China.

Bitterling Rhodeus ocellatus must have clams to reproduce.

This fish has been previously misidentified as Opsariichthys bidens. It is probably a not yet described Opsariichthys species.

EW-CN 42-07 Dahua Market
Location	Dahua Yaozu Zizhixian (大化瑶族自治县) market
	Hechi County (河池市)
GPS coordinates
Date	2007-10-01
Time
Biotope

Parameters	Temperature	ºC
	pH	pH
	Conductivity (EC)	µS/cm
	Hardness General	ºGH
	Hardness Carbonate	ºKH
	Nitrite	mg/l
	Total Dissolved Solution (TDS)	ppm
Species	Semilabeo notabilis Peters, 1881
	Elopichthys bambusa (Richardson, 1845)
	Spinibarbus denticulatus (Oshima, 1926)
	Anguilla marmorata Quoy & Gaimard, 1824
	Mastacembelus armatus (Lacepède, 1800)
	Clarias batrachus (Linne, 1758)
	Monopterus albus (Zuiew, 1793)
	Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes, 1844)
Remarks

This is a typical market scene of a small Chinese town. This is the market of Dahua.

These two ladies are picking out maggots.

...what do you prefer; imagines or maggots. Both are usually roasted. The imagines stay soft while imagines get crispy. I like the adulti (imagines), they are real protein bombs. Chinese say they are good for men as a lot of things in China.

Chinese southern provinces are notorious for eating everything as long as it crawls, swims, runs...

These are lizards. Haven’t tried them yet. Only a question of time and availability.

Finally something real tasty: Monopterus albus. One can encounter and eat almost all over China.

Good old friend: Mastacembelus armatus has a long history in aquaria.

...blue tongue, yellow cheek, looks like an over sized Opsariichthys. This is Elopichthys bambusa. Its vernacular name is Yellow Cheek. There were plenty of specimens some up to 100 cm long.

Semilabeo notabilis is getting rarer and rarer due to environmental pollution. This species inhabits streams with high current and gravel bottom.

Snout of Semilabeo notabilis.

Splendid specimens of Anguilla marmorata.

Typical landscape in Guangxi province; extensive deep green rice fields and tall and steep mountains.

EW-CN 43-07 Tianyangxian
Location	Leaving Baise (百色), 1 km before Pohongxiang (坡洪乡), road towards Debaoxian (德保县)
	50 km behind Baise, You River (右江) basin, stream on the right side, close to Tianyangxian (田杨县), Baise County (百色市)
GPS coordinates	475m asl, N 23º 38.949', E 106º 43.110'
Date	2007-10-03
Time	10:15
Biotope	15 m broad, 2 m deep, karst formation and in between pebble bottom
	Neighboring rice field drain into the stream
Parameters	Temperature	ºC
	pH	pH
	Conductivity (EC)	µS/cm
	Hardness General	ºGH
	Hardness Carbonate	ºKH
	Nitrite	mg/l
	Total Dissolved Solution (TDS)	ppm
Species	Gambusia affinis
	Pseudorasbora parva
	Rhodeus ocellatus
	Hypseleotris swinhonis
	Neocaridina sp.
	Clams
	Pomacea sp. Apple snail
	Thiariidae sp. Trumpet snail
Remarks

Biotope EW-CN 43-07 possesses partially strong current over gravel bottom. Actually ideal for some interesting rheophilic species but I did not find any...bad luck.

Just common stuff: Hypseleotris swinhonis, shrimps, snails, clams...

EW-CN 44-07 Wushan
Location	Behind 2 km after Tianyangxian (田阳县), at a mountain range known as Wushan (五山)
	60 km behind Baise, You River (右江) basin, stream crossed the road from the right to the left. Baise County (百色市)
GPS coordinates	504m asl, N 23º 37.738', E 106º 45.592'
Date	2007-10-03
Time
Biotope	5 m broad, 1 m deep, karst formation and in between pebble bottom
	Moderate to slow current
Parameters	Temperature	28	ºC
	pH	8.0	pH
	Conductivity (EC)	355	µS/cm
	Hardness General		ºGH
	Hardness Carbonate		ºKH
	Nitrite		mg/l
	Total Dissolved Solution (TDS)		ppm
Species	Puntius semifasciolatus
	Pseudorasbora parva
	Osteochilus salsburyi Nichols & Pope, 1927
	Esomus sp. ???
	Rhinogobius giurinus
Remarks

Not far away from the previous fishing spot we stopped again and wet our nets ... successfully ... biotope EW-CN 44-07

Plenty of blossoming flowers.

This is supposed to be a Flying Barb belonging to the genus Esomus.

Rhinogobius giurinus is widely spread all over China. I recently spotted them in Shandong province thousands of kilometers away.

Osteochilus salsburyi EW-CN 44-07 show a longitudinal black stripe depending on the situation.

EW-CN 45-07
Location	After Zurongxiang (足荣乡), 8 km to Debaoxian (德保县)
	You River (右江) basin, stream was on the right side of the road, Baise County (百色市)
GPS coordinates	577m asl, N 23º 22.438', E 106º 40.757'
Date	2007-10-03
Time
Biotope	2 m broad, 0.5 m deep, pebble bottom
	High current
Parameters	Temperature	ºC
	pH	pH
	Conductivity (EC)	µS/cm
	Hardness General	ºGH
	Hardness Carbonate	ºKH
	Nitrite	mg/l
	Total Dissolved Solution (TDS)	ppm
Species	Rhodeus ocellatus

Remarks

EW-CN 46-07
Location	A small village called Maai (马隘), the stream passing by is called Jianhe (剑河), the closeby mountain ridge is called Luotuoshan (骆驼山)
	You River (右江) basin, stream not located aside the highway, but in a small valley some 10 km away from Debaoxian (德保县), Baise County (百色市)
GPS coordinates	615m asl, N 23º 22.699', E 106º 39.317'
Date	2007-10-03
Time
Biotope	1 m broad, 50 cm deep, pebble bottom
	Rapid current, some sporadic Eichhornia (blossoming), gras was growing from the bank into the stream
Parameters	Temperature	ºC
	pH	pH
	Conductivity (EC)	µS/cm
	Hardness General	ºGH
	Hardness Carbonate	ºKH
	Nitrite	mg/l
	Total Dissolved Solution (TDS)	ppm
Species	Rhodeus ocellatus
	Rhinogobius giurinus
	Clams
Remarks

The invasive plant species Eichhornia crassipes is spread all over the world. The picture shows a plant’s bloom in the biotope EW-CN46-07 located 8 km to Debaoxian (德保县).

It’s beautiful but imposing a threat to aquatic environment due to its rapid reproductive cycle and hence overpopulating when its needs are met. Overpopulating leads to a closed ‘sealed’ water surface and hence the biotope suffers from a decreasing oxygen level due to decomposing water plants. As a consequence fish die.

EW-CN 47-07 Debaoxian
Location	Debaoxian (德保县), market
	Baise County (百色市)
GPS coordinates
Date	2007-10-03
Time
Biotope

Parameters	Temperature	ºC
	pH	pH
	Conductivity (EC)	µS/cm
	Hardness General	ºGH
	Hardness Carbonate	ºKH
	Nitrite	mg/l
	Total Dissolved Solution (TDS)	ppm
Species	Silurus asotus Linnaeus 1758
	Channa asiatica (Linnaeus 1758)
	Misgurnus anguillicaudatus (Cantor 1842)
Remarks

Channa asiatica at the local market of Debaoxian (德保县). Snake heads are really tasty. I once ate pan fried Channa argus from Chinese Shandong province - delicious!

I don’t know this vegetable. It is a sort of root. Locals sold it en masse. If anybody know the name, please let me know.

Extensive rice fields, steep mountain ranges, cloudy weather on the way back to Baise.

Back in Baise we had some fast food at this MFC, or is it KFC? No wonder all meals are basically based on chicken.

Two days later we hired again a taxi and drove in the direction of Louye. The picture on the left was taken in the early morning on the road Baise-Louye; the sun is condensing night’s moist and hence there is a lot of fog in the air. During summer time all morning are like that.

EW-CN 48-07 Xiajia
Location	Road Baise (百色) - Lingyun (陵云). 20 km before Lingyun, a village called Xiajia (下甲)
	You River (右江) basin, small stream passing underneath the road from the right to the left , Baise County (百色市)
GPS coordinates	616m asl, N 24º 13.830', E 106º 36.831'
Date	2007-10-05
Time	11:00
Biotope	Small mountaineous stream with high gradient, 1 m broad, 20 cm deep, big boulders, sandy bottom
	Partially rapid torrent, no submerse plants
Parameters	Temperature		ºC
	pH	7.5	pH
	Conductivity (EC)	82	µS/cm
	Hardness General	3	ºGH
	Hardness Carbonate	3	ºKH
	Nitrite	<0.3	mg/l
	Total Dissolved Solution (TDS)		ppm
Species	Beaufortia sp. Xiajia

Remarks

Beaufortia sp. Xiajia EW-CN 48-07 is a yet undescribed species belonging to the family Balitoridae (flat loaches). It is easy to maintain in aquaria and thus is going to have a bright aquaristic career. The picture shows a juvenile specimen. Read more about these fish in the ‘species’ section.

EW-CN 49-07 Baise market
Location	Baise (百色), market
	Baise County (百色市)
GPS coordinates
Date	2007-10-02
Time
Biotope

Parameters	Temperature	ºC
	pH	pH
	Conductivity (EC)	µS/cm
	Hardness General	ºGH
	Hardness Carbonate	ºKH
	Nitrite	mg/l
	Total Dissolved Solution (TDS)	ppm
Species	Ctenopharyngodon idella (Valenciennes, 1844)
	Spinibarbus denticulatus (Oshima, 1926)
	Hemiculter leucisculus
	Monopterus albus (Zuiew, 1793)
Remarks	We visited the market on a couple of days

EW-CN48-07 is a typical torrent biotope; high gradient, clean and rapid flowing water, no submerse vegetation.

A typical market scene in a small Chinese town (EW-CN49-07).

Spinibarbus denticulatus, a large sized cyprinid, is a rather common food fish in Guangxi province.

The same species in total view, noteworthy are the big scales with marginal golden coloration.