Monopterus albus, scientific name of Chinese medicine. It is the meat of an animal belonging to the genus Syngnathus. Has the effects of invigorating qi and blood, nourishing liver and kidney, strengthening bones and muscles, expelling wind and removing dampness. Indications: asthenia, malnutrition, impotence, lumbago, soreness of waist and knees, arthralgia due to wind-cold and dampness, postpartum hemorrhage, chronic dysentery, purulent blood, hemorrhoid leakage and scabies.
Monopterus albus is slender and snake-shaped, gradually flattening backward and tapering tail. The head is round, the mouth and nose tip, the lips are quite developed, and the lower lip is particularly thick. The maxilla and maxilla have slender teeth. The eyes are small and covered with a film. The two nostrils are far apart, with the back nostril above the front edge and the front nostril at the snout. The left and right branchial holes merge into one on the ventral surface, showing a V-shape. The body is scaleless.
There is no pectoral fin, ventral fin, dorsal fin and gluteal fin degenerate, leaving only low skin folds and no soft spines, all of which are combined with caudal fin. The body color is light yellow or orange yellow, the whole body is covered with black spots, and the abdomen is gray.