The tofu fish, also known as the dragonfish, is a member of the dragonfish family and is also known by a number of common names: water gurgler, dog mother fish, hard fish, shrimp gurgler, dragonfish, tofu fish, and fine blood.
The dragonfish (scientific name: Harpadon nehereus) is a species of fish in the family Dragon-headfish, genus Dragon-headfish. The body is prolonged and soft, with a thicker anterior part, backward and gradually laterally flattened and thin. The head is medium to large, with a rounded dorsum, and the head is larger than the body height. The snout is very short, and the anterior end is rounded and blunt. Eyes small. Mouth large, obliquely cleft; end of maxilla extending to anterior margin of gill aperture; teeth of both jaws banded, partly curved, asymmetric; hoe, palatine, and tongue dentate; when mouth closed, teeth of jaws exposed outward.
The anterior part of the body is naked and scale-free, the posterior part is covered with fine round scales, which are thin and easily detached; the lateral line is straight. Dorsal fin single, opposite to ventral, with soft bars 11-13; adipose fin tiny; pectoral fin slender, its length longer than head length; caudal fin tridentate. Body grayish creamy white; dorsum and sides of head translucent, with pale gray dots. All fins gray-black, sometimes ventral and anal fins pale.
Expanded Information
The dragonfish is a middle and lower coastal platypus. Inhabiting the Changhuikou Sheshan and Hangzhou Bay offshore area, the water depth is generally 50 meters or less, the mud and sand bottom waters can be seen all year round. Spring (March-May) is mainly distributed in the northern East China Sea offshore and southern offshore in the littoral, summer (June-August) most of the fish to the southern coast of Jiangsu spawning, fall (September-November) mainly concentrated in the northern East China Sea offshore for bait, winter (December to February) is still concentrated in the northern East China Sea offshore, the distribution of the depth of water is generally not more than 150 meters.
The dragonfish is a carnivorous fish, mainly feeding on small fish such as eels, small males, ribbed eels, small sardines, and juvenile yellow croaker, as well as hairy shrimp, prawns, and cephalopods. There is a strong feeding phenomenon in the fall, and its intensity level 0 accounted for 22.5%, level Ⅰ accounted for 39.29%, level Ⅱ accounted for 21.13%, level Ⅲ 21.43%, and level Ⅳ accounted for 3.57%.