Ah-Can also spotted the fish, and he curiously reached out to pick it up and take a look.
Suddenly, Feng Ye shouted sharply, "Don't touch it, it's poisonous!"
Ah Can's hand stopped abruptly just before he touched the fish. He looked at Feng Ye in surprise: "Is this fish poisonous?"
"Yes, it's poisonous, and extremely poisonous."
Feng Ye nodded solemnly, then pointed to the fish and shrimp on the deck and said, "These fish and shrimp were poisoned to death by this guy's poison."
"Is its poison that potent?" Ah-Can was startled and quickly withdrew his hand.
"This fish is called a boxfish, one of the most poisonous fish in the sea. You can imagine how potent its venom is."
"This creature is timid and slow-witted by nature. When it is frightened or captured, it will release poison that can kill other fish in the same area. If the concentration is too high, it can even poison itself."
"It's okay in the sea because the seawater dilutes the poison, but once on the ship, you'll just poison yourself to death."
As Feng Ye spoke, he pointed to the boxfish that had already kicked the bucket.
To be precise, boxfish is a general term for a group of fish, belonging to the family Tetraodontidae.
It gets its name from the fact that the adult fish's body is mostly surrounded by a box-shaped skeleton.
It also has a more descriptive name – boxfish.
The boxfish's body is covered with hard scales, and only its fins, mouth, and eyes can move. Therefore, it swims entirely by slowly swinging its dorsal and anal fins up and down, forward and backward, and left and right. Its tail acts as a rudder.
Furthermore, its body cannot swell or bend like other pufferfish.
Fish in the family Tetraodontidae secrete a neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin, which is secreted through the skin and is 275 times more toxic than cyanide.
"Holy crap, that's ruthless, how could he poison himself to death?"
"Yes, nature is so amazing, and every living thing has its own rules for survival."
"So, the barking was also made by it?"
Ah-chan felt it was unbelievable.
A fish that can actually bark like a dog.
"Yes, that's what it's making."
Feng Ye then explained, "When threatened, boxfish not only release toxins, but also emit a low-frequency sound to warn or intimidate predators. This sound is very similar to a dog barking."
Ah-Can's eyes widened; he had never imagined that such a wondrous creature could be hidden in the ocean.
"The ocean is vast and full of wonders. Some things you encounter are recognizable, but many more you don't recognize even if you do."
"So how do we deal with it?"
"Throw it away. Although this fish is edible, there's only one, and only a professional chef can handle it properly, otherwise you might get poisoned."
Feng Ye paused for a moment, then said regretfully, "Even this whole net of fish is now useless."
"Oh? Isn't that such a waste? So many fish are just going to go to waste."
Looking at the deck full of dead fish and shrimp, Ah-Can couldn't help but feel a little regretful.
"Yes, but there's nothing we can do about it."
Feng Ye sighed and continued, "They were all poisoned. I'm afraid that if we sell them and people eat them, something bad will happen. Let's just throw them all away; safety first."
"Then... just throw it away."
The two immediately sprang into action, throwing all the fish and shrimp that had been poisoned by the boxfish back into the sea, as well as the boxfish that had been poisoned by their own venom.
As the fish and shrimp slowly sank to the bottom of the sea, the two men standing at the stern of the boat felt a mix of emotions.
"Ah-Can, this incident has served as a reminder to us that we should never handle fish or shrimp that we don't recognize. There are many different kinds of creatures in the sea, and some of them might be highly poisonous."
"I understand, Brother Ye."
Ah-Can nodded, a hint of awe in his eyes.
The ocean's depth and vastness conceal too many secrets and dangers unknown to humankind.
Just like this box of pufferfish, not only does it have a strange appearance, but it also contains such a deadly toxin.
After tidying up the trawl net, it was put back down, and the trawl operation continued.
During a break from trawling, Feng Ye started a fire and made two bowls of plain noodles for breakfast.
During this period, the two of them would get up in the early morning and go out to sea on an empty stomach.
After hauling in the first net, they'll select some seafood to make a bowl of seafood noodles or rice noodles.
That was the plan for today, but who could have predicted this outcome?
Now we have no choice but to eat something, we can't just go hungry and wait for the second round of meals.
As the saying goes, "Food is as essential as iron; you'll get hungry if you skip a meal."
Fishing at sea is physically demanding; how can you have the strength to work on an empty stomach?
Moreover, it takes quite a while to haul the net up; it won't be ready until around 11 o'clock.
At that time, it won't be breakfast, but lunch.
"Brother Ye, these noodles are really awful today. They're salty, but they have no other flavor at all."
Ah-Can took a bite of the noodles and couldn't help but frown.
Feng Ye knew, of course, that the noodles were not tasty today, and were even difficult to swallow.
After all, he had already eaten one bowl.
He gave a wry smile: "Just bear with it for now and have something to eat. After we pull up the nets, we'll pick out some fresh seafood and cook another meal."
"If it weren't for the long wait for the net to be set up, I would rather go hungry."
Ah-chan nodded helplessly and continued to struggle through the noodles in his bowl.
In the blink of an eye, more than two hours had passed, and the second net was pulled up as well.
Both of them were somewhat disappointed when they saw the catch in the net.
Although there were more goods than the first net, the difference was limited, not even 150 jin (75 catties).
Moreover, they were all relatively common fish and shrimp; the best one was probably a ten-pound laryn fish.
The scientific name for the laron fish is Amberjack, also known as the spindle amberjack, and it is a top-quality sashimi ingredient.
Its body is streamlined, with blue lines on its sides. It has a pair of detached fins on the upper and lower back of its caudal peduncle. Its back is dark brown, gradually fading downwards, and its belly is grayish-white.
After recasting the trawl net, Feng Ye didn't immediately make noodles. Instead, he sorted the catch first, and then selected some fish and shrimp to make two bowls of noodles.
After lunch, we cast our net again, and it was a little better than the last time.
It weighs over 200 pounds, and there's also a red spot that's a pleasant surprise, weighing over two pounds.
It was already past 2 PM, and there was only enough time left to haul in one net.
Ah-chan slowly steered the Rising Sun ship in the direction of its round trip.
Unexpectedly, after more than an hour, the speed of the Rising Sun suddenly dropped sharply, as if it had gotten stuck.
"What happened?"
"I don't know?"
"Is the diesel engine broken?"
"Not really."
The two looked at each other, both startled.
Feng Ye seemed to remember something and turned around to look back.
The trawl net behind the Rising Sun was taut, as if it were being held back by some enormous force.
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