The small yellow croaker, also known as the small cucumber, small fresh, small yellow croaker, etc., is a species of fish in the genus *Croatia* of the family Sciaenidae.
This fish is a warm-water, bottom-dwelling, schooling migratory fish that typically inhabits muddy or sandy sea areas.
It rises at dusk and falls at dawn.
During the day, they often inhabit the bottom or near the bottom of the ground;
However, at night, they rise to the upper and middle layers of the water.
They mainly feed on shrimp and copepods, and occasionally also consume small fish and fish eggs.
Yellow croaker has incredibly tender flesh and is rich in various nutrients, making it one of the most economically important fish species.
However, compared to its close relative, the large yellow croaker, which differs from it by only one character and can fetch exorbitant prices, the small yellow croaker appears extremely cheap.
Its current acquisition price is less than one dollar.
Moreover, small yellow croakers don't grow very big; they usually only weigh a few ounces, and the largest is no more than one pound and two ounces.
However, this was the first time Feng Ye had ever seen such a large number of small yellow croakers floating on the sea surface.
He had seen related news in his previous life:
Two boat captains from Zhejiang Province encountered a dense swarm of small yellow croakers surfacing while fishing near the fifth area of the 1891 sea zone in the East China Sea.
They worked with the crew on the boat for over an hour, catching nearly 20,000 jin (10,000 kg) of small yellow croaker, which they sold for over 100,000 yuan.
At the end of that news article, several speculations were offered regarding the reason why the small yellow croaker surfaced:
First, the fish population is affected by the red tide;
Red tide, also known as red tide, is internationally referred to as "harmful algae" or "red ghost".
It is a harmful ecological phenomenon that causes water discoloration due to the explosive proliferation or high aggregation of certain phytoplankton, protozoa, or bacteria in seawater under specific environmental conditions.
Red tides are not always red. They mainly include algal blooms in freshwater systems, general red tides in the ocean, and brown tides (which suppress the feeding of algae) and green tides (which are algae) as defined in recent years.
However, the sea surface is now very clean, with no trace of red tide.
This reason is clearly untenable.
Secondly, the small yellow croaker's swim bladder swells and floats to the surface.
The term "swim bladder swelling" refers to the phenomenon where fish that originally lived in the middle and lower layers of the ocean are brought to the upper layers by fishing nets and other equipment. Due to the rapid ascent, the fish's swim bladder cannot expand and contract in time, resulting in an imbalance of internal and external pressure, exposure of internal organs, and misalignment of the five internal organs.
This is the case with decompression sickness in humans.
The question is, is it possible for so many small yellow croakers to collectively "swell up like glue"?
Third, it is related to "water obstruction," which causes discomfort to the fish and makes them actively rise to the surface.
The convergence of warm and cold air masses can create a "water barrier," much like the formation of a quasi-stationary front when cold and warm air masses meet.
At the confluence of warm and cold currents, the ocean current velocity is greatly suppressed and almost comes to a standstill.
For fish accustomed to swimming with ocean currents, the confluence of warm and cold currents is like a wall preventing them from moving forward; it can also be described as an obstacle to movement formed by water, hence the name "water barrier."
Feng Ye thought to himself that this was probably the only explanation that made sense.
As for whether this is because the place is located at the confluence of warm and cold currents, thus causing the so-called "water barrier" phenomenon?
He couldn't be sure either.
After all, he was just an ordinary fisherman, not an oceanographer.
Besides, he couldn't be bothered to delve into those matters.
Since so many small yellow croakers have surfaced, now is the perfect time to catch them.
This is just like a pie falling from the sky!
"Ah-Can, you use the dip net, and I'll get the hand net. Let's try to catch as much as possible!"
Feng Ye was so excited that he didn't wait for A-Can's response. He turned around and rushed to the cabin, quickly flipping over the hand-thrown net.
This hand-thrown net still belonged to his older brother. Ever since Feng Xuan sold that small wooden boat, he had left it on the Rising Sun, but it had never had a chance to be used.
Now, it's finally time for it to come in handy.
The two of them busied themselves with great enthusiasm.
While the two of them were busy catching fish, small yellow croakers continued to rise to the surface of the water.
Feng Ye and A Can were overjoyed; this was practically pure silver!
Before long, they were surprised to find that the entire Rising Sun was surrounded by countless small yellow croakers.
Looking out, the nearby sea surface is densely covered with layers of small yellow croakers.
If someone with trypophobia saw this scene, they would definitely go crazy.
"It seems like there are more and more of these small yellow croakers?"
Ah-Can couldn't stop smiling excitedly as he scooped up the fish.
"Isn't this a good thing? The more the merrier!"
Feng Ye was overjoyed as he watched the increasing number of small yellow croakers piled up on the deck; his smile almost reached his ears.
After the small yellow croaker was pulled onto the boat, it was carelessly left on the deck and ignored.
At that point, there wasn't even time to scoop them up, let alone put them in baskets and carry them into the cabin.
Just then, a large flock of dark seabirds suddenly appeared in the distant sky, flying rapidly in this direction.
"Holy crap, seabirds are trying to steal the small yellow croakers!"
Ah-Can exclaimed, his hands moving even faster as he desperately tried to scoop up more small yellow croakers.
"Don't panic. With so many small yellow croakers, how many can those seabirds possibly eat?"
Feng Ye calmly cast his hand net, and when the sinker reached the bottom, he gently pulled it, catching a net full of small yellow croakers.
The seabirds were very fast, and soon they arrived in the air near the Rising Sun.
They screeched as they swooped down with astonishing speed, snatched up a small yellow croaker with precision, then flapped their wings and flew high, circling in the air before swallowing it whole.
Then, they swooped down again...
Some seabirds don't even go after the small yellow croakers on the surface of the sea; instead, they snatch the ones that they've scooped up and thrown onto the deck.
Seeing this, Feng Ye smiled, didn't chase them away, and lowered his head to continue his work.
The sun slowly rose from the distant horizon, its rays spilling across the vast, undulating sea, creating layers of golden ripples.
The small yellow croakers, originally golden in color, gradually lost their yellow hue under the sunlight, turning into a shimmering silver.
"Brother Ye, look over there!"
Ah-chan suddenly pointed into the distance and shouted loudly.
Feng Ye looked in the direction A-Can was pointing and saw a ship appear on the distant sea.
It was a fishing boat, painted in a striking red.
There is no doubt that the fishing boat was attracted by the dense flocks of seabirds in the sky.
It is well known that wherever a large number of seabirds gather, there are bound to be schools of fish.
This is common knowledge that every fisherman knows.
In later generations, many fishing boats were equipped with binoculars in order to observe where seabirds gathered.
Feng Ye frowned deeply, and his hands unconsciously quickened their pace.
At the same time, he shouted, "Ah Can, give it your all and hurry up and catch them! That boat is definitely here to take these small yellow croakers from us!"
Upon hearing this, Ah-Can also sped up.
Both of them tried their best to catch as many small yellow croakers as possible.
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