Xiamen’s specialty dried fish is actually a nationally protected species?

In 1774, German biologist Pallas collected a specimen of lancelet on the British coast. Although the name of lancelet contains fish, it is a cephalochordate without a spine, only a notochord. It is a "cousin" of vertebrates including humans and fish, and belongs to the phylum Chordata. It is of great value in studying the origin and evolution of chordates. The number of lancelets is very rare, and many laboratories hope to have a specimen of lancelet.

European lancelet Branchiostoma lanceolatum | Hans Hillewaert / Wikimedia Commons

Xiamen's Amphioxus Shocks the World

In the early 1920s, when Xiamen University was just established, the then president, Mr. Lim Boon Keng, recruited marine science experts from all over the world. American Sol Wright was invited to be a professor of biology. Professor Wright often went to the seaside for investigation. Once, he went to Liuwudian, Xiamen for investigation and was surprised to find that the lancelets in this place were counted by tons. Like dried whitebait and shrimp, lancelets are also a food for rice here. In 1923, he published "Amphioxus Fishery near Xiamen University, China" in Science, and excitedly reported this discovery to his peers around the world - biological colleagues are blessed, the lancelets here are inexhaustible!

Specimens of Branchiostoma belcheri distributed in Xiamen | National Animal Specimen Resource Platform

Looking around the world, the only place where the production of lancelets is abundant enough to form a fishery is the waters of Xiamen, especially the Liuwudian area. Here, the history of catching lancelets has been more than 300 years. At the beginning, because lancelets are small and soft, they were not favored by diners. Until the emergence of new ways of eating such as stir-frying and omelette, people gradually discovered the unique taste of lancelets. Especially after the emergence of roasted and fried dried lancelets, the value of lancelets has increased greatly. In the early years of the Republic of China, lancelets became a famous commodity in Xiamen and were exported to all parts of Southeast Asia.

Amphioxus is a traditional local food | South China Normal University

It is not easy to satisfy such a picky guest as lancelets - the seawater should not be too salty or too fresh, the water temperature should be moderate, the current should not be too fast, the wind and waves should not be too strong, and there should not be too many chemical pollutants... Most importantly, as a shy little animal (it likes to bury itself in the sand on the seabed and stick its head out to filter food), it has very high requirements for the bottom quality: when it is young, it likes finer sand, and when it grows up, it likes fine sand mixed with coarse sand, and it is best to mix a small amount of shell fragments in the gravel to facilitate drilling and breathing. Xiamen is like a "pearl in the ocean" for lancelets, providing them with a paradise for reproduction and growth in the vast ocean.

The white part is the reproductive gland of the amphioxus | Jordi Garcia / International Journal of Biological Science (2006)

Dried fish is also a protected animal

With the rapid economic development of Xiamen, this ecologically superior sea area has undergone some changes. In 1955, the Gaoji Seawall was built, connecting Xiamen Island with the mainland for the first time, greatly facilitating the flow of people and goods, and laying the foundation for Xiamen's economic take-off. However, due to the limitations of scientific and technological conditions at the time, the impact of building the seawall on the surrounding ecological environment could not be fully demonstrated. After the completion of the seawall, the section of the sea area was blocked, and seawater could not flow, resulting in a large amount of silt being deposited in the nearby lancelet fishing grounds.

In addition to seawall construction, new urban area construction, land reclamation, road construction, artificial beaches and other infrastructure projects all require a large amount of sea sand as material. Driven by profit, many sand mining units have been mining large amounts of sea sand along the coast of Xiamen without obtaining relevant permits.

Amphioxus has high requirements for habitat environment | South China Normal University

In addition, the sea area where lancelets live was originally an important aquaculture area in Xiamen. On the one hand, the tidal flats and shallow sea aquaculture have encroached on the habitat of lancelets. On the other hand, the uneaten feed and animal feces during the aquaculture process have accumulated on the seabed, causing a large amount of sludge to accumulate in the sea area, and the water quality has deteriorated.

Oyster farming | Tuchong Creative

In this way, under the combined influence of various factors, the loose gravel that lancelets loved the most was replaced by compacted sludge, and the once "Garden of Eden" habitat no longer exists. Before 1956, the annual production of lancelets was generally 70-150 tons. By 1969, only 2.23 tons could be caught. With the sharp decline in the amount of resources, productive operations gradually stopped. This "dried fish" on the table of southern Fujian people gradually became an endangered species. In 1988, the list of national key protected wild animals was announced, and lancelets were listed as second-level key protected animals.

Amphioxus is a national second-level key protected species | South China Normal University

“Invisible” protected animals?

In order to alleviate the survival crisis faced by lancelets, in 1991, the Xiamen Municipal Government approved the establishment of the Xiamen Amphioxus Nature Reserve, which is the earliest amphioxus reserve in my country and was upgraded to a national reserve in 2000. At the same time, many marine research institutes in Xiamen are also actively engaged in artificial breeding of amphioxus. In the amphioxus release activities carried out in 2005 and 2008, more than 100,000 amphioxus fry were released.

Xiamen Huangcuo waters are the core area of ​​the national lancelet protection area | Image from the Internet

But compared to the Chinese white dolphin, a beautiful and smiling iconic marine protected animal in Xiamen, the plain-looking lancelets, which are only a few centimeters long, are hard to attract the attention of the general public. This summer, the seaside activity of "digging for clams" has become popular in Xiamen. In the core area of ​​the lancelet protection area, the Huangcuo Sea Area, thousands of people come here every day to dig for clams with ice cream spoons, plastic shovels, electric fan covers, and other "artifacts" that are used in turn. Families, young and old, colleagues, and friends all use their skills and have a lot of fun.

After the tide rose, everyone had a great harvest, but the beach was turned upside down. The corpses of polychaetes, crustaceans and shellfish that had no edible value were left on the beach, and the lancelets that liked to dive into the sand and filter food were not spared either.

Later, thanks to the efforts of environmental protection organizations, government agencies, law enforcement agencies, and other parties, this "trend" gradually subsided. The lancelets have lived tenaciously on this planet for 500 million years. Whether it can continue to live in this sea area as the nursery rhyme says, the future is still in our hands:

“Lancelet, it’s really rare

Small head and sharp tail

So delicate, so bad.

Really good food, good taste

Tongan Liuwudian

It is a good geography for Iran to survive.”