The seabed at night is undoubtedly bustling. Unlike humans who rest at night and work during the day, most sea creatures prefer to be nocturnal.
After swimming downstream for about ten meters, Fu Wan ran into the sardine run that was in full swing.
The sheer number of them startled her, causing her to instinctively stop swimming forward.
The sardines weren't stupid either. When they saw Fu Wan, who was quite a big person, they immediately scattered, quickly bypassed her, and then gathered together again.
This scene is undoubtedly spectacular.
Watching the direction they swam in, Fu Wan wondered to herself if they might run right into her own trawl net.
Fu Wan wasn't interested in sardines, but since Sun Youjin wanted ornamental fish, she definitely had to meet the client's requirements.
Whether they are ornamental fish in the sea or goldfish in freshwater, they must all be brightly colored and have very distinctive appearances.
There aren't many people in China who keep ornamental fish these days. Most of them are people like Sun Youjin who have some money and keep them for good feng shui and to attract customers.
There are many kinds of ornamental fish. As soon as Fu Wan approached the coral reef, she saw one of the most common ornamental fish.
Clownfish.
As Fu Wan approached, the clownfish darted into the anemone with a whoosh. This fish's greatest pleasure is diving into anemones. Considering that Sun Youjin's fish tank seemed to have a clownfish, Fu Wan let it go.
But soon, a fish next to the coral reef caught Fu Wan's attention.
The fish had sharp horns and a round, bulging mouth. After noticing Fu Wan's presence, it spat out a mouthful of mud and sand at her, then quickly darted into the coral reef.
？ ？ ？ (?_?)
Fu Wan couldn't help but laugh in exasperation. This fish was interesting; it would be a shame not to catch it after it spat out that mouthful of sand.
Without hesitation, Fu Wan took out a net and opened it towards where the fish was hiding. Although the fish was hiding under the coral, Fu Wan had plenty of ways to deal with it.
She simply stretched her hand into the coral reef, and the fish, startled, darted out and scurried straight into Fu Wan's open net.
Just as it darted into the net, Fu Wan quickly pulled the drawstring at the opening of the net. By the time the fish realized it had been caught, it was too late. Fu Wan looked at the net with a smile, "Haha, serves you right for spitting sand around. Now you're in trouble!"
Fu Wan also recognized the species of this fish; it is commonly known as the bull horn fish, and its scientific name is *Tectus spinosus*.
The bullhorn fish is also a common ornamental fish. It has a pair of horn-shaped spines above its eyes and is a rare bright green color. It likes to hide in seaweed and drift with the current.
Image of a bullhornfish (pictured, removed upon request). Such a cute fish, you could forgive it even for spitting on it, right?
Despite its small size, this little thing is poisonous.
The skin of the bullhornfish contains potent toxins, which are released when it is startled or stimulated. Such an action can kill any predators that are following it. This is why Fu Wan is keeping her mouth shut and holding her breath.
Carefully carrying the net, Fu Wan began searching for the next ornamental fish.
Ornamental fish have always been significantly more expensive than edible fish, mainly because they appeal to different audiences. Ornamental fish bring joy to the eyes, while edible fish bring joy to the palate.
It's not that they're more valuable just to look at than to eat; the key is that people who are willing to spend money to buy ornamental fish to keep are usually not short of money to buy fish to eat.
Another reason is that ornamental fish are relatively difficult to catch.
While trawls and hand-cast nets may catch a lot of ornamental fish, trawls take a long time, and by the time they are pulled up, the fish have lost a lot of scales and are barely alive.
Such ornamental fish don't live long, so they don't earn much money. But if you catch them directly in the sea like Fu Wan did, these lively and undamaged fish will definitely fetch a different price.
There were many colorful fish in the coral reef. Fu Wan put the net that had trapped the bullhead fish aside for the time being, and then swam forward with an empty net.
Before long, she caught a Golden Hanging Beast and a Red Sea Knight.
The Golden Tang is a small ornamental fish that is less than 20 centimeters long. This fish generally feeds on seaweed and has a distinct yellow body.
With its prominent protruding mouth, vibrant colors, and small body, the Golden Tang is a favorite ornamental fish for many.
Image of gold hanging net, please delete if infringing.
The Red Sea Knight, on the other hand, has more vibrant colors. While the Gold Hanging is mostly solid-colored, the Red Sea Knight comes in several colors.
The fish is not long, about 20 to 30 centimeters long, with a bluish-gray upper part and a milky white lower part.
The Red Sea Knight has many blue-brown stripes on its head and back, as well as several distinct yellow spots on its body. Its tail fin is mainly gray with a distinct blue edge, making it look very dreamy.
Furthermore, the Red Sea Rider has a distinctive orange tail spine at the tip of its tail peduncle. Red Sea Riders prefer to inhabit coral reefs and are somewhat aggressive.
Image from Red Sea Knights website, please contact us for removal if it infringes on your rights.
This type of fish shouldn't be kept with other tangs, but Sun Youjin had more than one aquarium, and the Red Sea Knight is a relatively easy-to-keep ornamental fish, so Fu Wan took it.
In addition, she also caught two staghorn fish and one bullhorn fish. Staghorn fish are a type of sicklefish and are very typical ornamental fish.
This fish has several distinct black stripes on its body, and a long white dorsal fin. The combination of black, white, and yellow colors on its body is very pleasing to the eye, and it swims very gracefully and beautifully.
Image of a deity statue and fishing net (removed if copyrighted)
These ornamental fish mainly feed on seaweed. In fact, Fu Wan also met her lucky charm, the Gao Huan damselfish.
Damselfish are actually ornamental fish, but considering that they had helped her find gold bars before, Fu Wan didn't want to catch them and sell them.
Haha, such double standards!
Not only did she not catch it, she even swam with the damselfish for a while, wanting to see if the damselfish needed her to clean the sea urchin.
Unfortunately, the damselfish she encountered today were different from the previous ones. These damselfish were very timid; they couldn't even outrun Fu Wan if she approached, let alone take her to their home.
Fu Wan had no choice but to empty the ornamental fish from the two nets into one net before slowly pulling out the speargun from her back.
Since we're already here, it would be a waste for her to go into the water if we didn't catch a couple of edible fish.
Before using the speargun, she didn't forget to search the crevices of the coral reef.
This was naturally her way of looking for lobsters, and her efforts paid off; she actually caught a few lobsters weighing two or three pounds each. Moreover, in the mud and sand near the coral reef, Fu Wan also caught a few mantis shrimps trying to hide.
After putting her catch into the net, Fu Wan picked up the speargun she had just tossed aside. After crossing several coral reefs, she finally spotted a fish that piqued her interest.
That was a white snapper that should weigh about three pounds!
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