Eva laughed and said, "What piranha? Don't you know? This is the Oceania-lungfish, one of the most endangered species in the whole of Oceania, how did they end up here? ”

"Barramundi?" Wang Bo asked, "Is that the kind of fish with lungs?" The kind of fish that can live for a long time without water? ”

He had heard of the fish, but had never seen it in China, a freshwater fish that was born hundreds of millions of years ago and is similar to coelacanths. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

Although its name is fish, it is also similar to amphibians in many aspects, such as the structure, development, physiology and behavior of soft tissues, and many traits that are similar to those of living amphibians but different from other living fish.

Eva smiled and nodded, and introduced them: "Yes, it's them, this is a special kind of fish that can breathe with gills when it is in the water, but it has a special swim bladder that allows it to breathe air even after it is out of the water." ”

"There are very few of these Oceanian barramundi now, it is said that only Australia has less than 1,000, and all of them are under protection, but I didn't expect that there are still such fish in New Zealand."

Little Lori cried and asked with a bun face, "Aren't they piranhas?" They bit me. ”

Eva kissed her little hand and said, "You provoked them first, Dale, don't think that freshwater fish are not aggressive, barramundi have special teeth, like two rows of large thick plates, their teeth are forward, and they can be used to smash the carapace of underwater animals for food." ”

Wang Bo smiled and said, "Do you know what it's called, Dai'er?" This is called the lungfish to bite when it is in a hurry. ”

Seeing that little Lori was sullen, Eva combed her hair and said softly: "You know, this fish is fun, they mostly live in the northern desert of Australia, when the dry season comes, the pond they live in will turn into a mud pit, then they will dig a hole in the mud pit, and then start to secrete a mucus that hardens into a protective film like a cocoon." ”

"The slime maintains a certain humidity and allows air to enter. At the same time, it feeds on its muscle and fat, and reduces its metabolic rate to one-sixtieth of its original level, which is about 2% less than normal. Then, do you know what they're going to do? ”

Hearing her explain this knowledge, little Lori became interested and asked curiously, "What are you doing?" ”

Eva shrugged and said, "Think about it, what I told you, like umbrella lizards, what do they do in the summer?" ”

"Summer hibernation!" Little Lori said happily.

Eva smiled, "Yes, they're going to hibernate magically, isn't it fun?" ”

"Can they survive without water?"

"I lived for a long time, I read the news, said that in the remote villages of Tunisia in Africa, it was found that the barramundi was made into mud bricks because of digging holes in the mud to escape the drought, and it relied on the water vapor moistened into the mud bricks when it rained to survive, and after 4 years of continuous erosion by rain and time, the mud bricks were destroyed, and the barramundi escaped by a heavy rain." Eva tells some of the stories.

Wang Bo didn't believe it: "It's fake, right, this kind of fish can't really live in mud bricks for four years." ”

Eva shook her head and smiled, "Who knows, we haven't been to see it, but they are indeed the most survivable fish after leaving the water, and they can't even stay in the water all the time, and have to get out of the water every once in a while to breathe air." ”

Indeed, Wang Bo and Little Lori waited on the shore for a while, and two lungfish climbed into the grass next to the stream.

These fish have strong pelvic fins, and it's no wonder that they resemble reptiles, and when they crawl on land, they are completely reptile.

"We should call the Species Conservation Service in New Zealand, these barramundi are amazing finds," Eva said. ”

Wang Bo shook his head: "Telling them may not be a good thing, what will they do?" Take the barramundi, give them a change of environment, and then what? These barramundi may not like those environments and may eventually die. ”

Eva smiled: "How come, they are experts in the study of barramundi, and they will only be given a better environment, a more suitable environment for survival." ”

Wang Bo still shook his head and said, "If the facts are as optimistic as you say, why are these lungfish almost extinct in New Zealand?" I think they're living well here, and lo and behold, they're all fat. ”

Indeed, because of the moisture of the spiritual spring water, these lungfish are fat, with round bodies, shiny scales, and even when they climb ashore, they will be wrinkled and shining.

"I think it's better for them to stay here, maybe they belong here, they may have hibernated in the past, and now they have a suitable living environment, and then they wake up, just like the African lungfish that escaped from the mud bricks."

"It's a durz." Eva corrected, "But you have a point, if they like it, then they can survive in this place, maybe they can multiply in the future, and our river can become a holy place for barramundi." But we have to protect them, in case someone catches them and eats them. ”

"Can you eat barramundi?" Little Lori asked curiously.

"Of course, you see that they are like eels, with no bones, only tender flesh, and in fact they are found on the table. Here's another story, would you like to hear it? Eva asked.

Little Lori chick nodded like a peck of rice: "Listen to it." ”

"That was a long time ago, in the 19th century, because the flesh of this barramundi is pink, so the indigenous people of Oceania often caught it as a kind of salmon, salmon is a great food fish, right? As a result, barramundi has also become a meal on people's plates. ”

"Then one day, the director of the Australian Museum, Creeft, was having dinner when he suddenly noticed that the salmon on the plate had a lung, and he dissected and studied the fish, and then he realized that they were not salmon, but a completely new species."

"But they were delicious, and Kreft continued to eat them, and of course there were plenty of barramundi in Oceania at that time."

Listening to Eva tell the story to the little Lori, Wang Bo exclaimed: "You know so much." ”

Eva smiled and said, "It's nothing, I'm a teacher, of course I have to know a lot of knowledge, otherwise the children stopped asking me, wouldn't it be a very embarrassing thing?" ”

Little Lori walked around the stream, ran back and said, "Come on, sister, I found some barramundi again." ”

Wang Bo followed to see, in a shallow bay, some fish very similar to lungfish swim at the bottom of the river, these fish are also more than ten centimeters long, the body is brown and yellow, but there are no developed fins like lungfish, and the whiskers are not so developed. (To be continued.) )