Basha fish is an important freshwater aquaculture species in Southeast Asian countries, and it is a unique high-quality economic fish in the Mekong River basin. It is transliterated as "Kabasha" in Vietnam, which means "three fatty fish", because during its growth, the fish has accumulated three large fats in its abdominal cavity, accounting for about 58% of its weight.
Distributed in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Viet Nam and China. In China, it is mainly introduced and cultivated in southern areas such as Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan.
Life habits of Basha fish
Basha fish are gregarious, often live in the upper layer of water, and are omnivorous. Under natural conditions, they eat small fish, shrimp, snails and mussels, duckweed and aquatic plants on the surface, and artificial compound feed can be eaten under artificial culture environment. The intestine of Basha fish is shorter, which is1.2 ~1.4 times of the total length. Basha fish is resistant to hypoxia and has low requirements for the quality of aquaculture water.
The optimum water temperature for the growth of Basha fish is 22 ~ 32℃. When it is lower than 20℃, its growth rate will slow down with the decrease of water temperature. When the water temperature is lower than 13℃, it will be frostbitten until death. [6] In the Mekong River basin, the fry can grow to 0.8 ~ 1 .0 kg in the current year, to1.5 ~ 2.0 kg in the next year, to more than 3 kg after 3 years, and the largest individual can grow to 20 kg.