The Piscivore: Community Culinary

by Norman D. Edelen, Jr.
First published in The Fish Flash, Greater Portland Aquarium Society
Aquarticles

In order to help alleviate any concerns that the community aquarists in our midst might be harboring about their favorite fishes, i.e. that they are not suitable for use as table fare, this month I have decided to concentrate on a species of fish possessed of both size and temperament more suited to the community aquarium. After all, not all fish eaten are large brutish creatures. The humble anchovy and the lowly sardine both have established themselves firmly as being suitable for the palate, and they certainly are not hulking monstrosities. Native Americans living in Oregon's Klamath basin consumed large quantities of a relatively small minnow known as the tui chub, as can be attested to by the large volume of tui chub bones found in nearly petrified human scat deposited in caves. Surely among the amazing diversity of species available for the community aquarium there must be at least one species suitable for cooking?

How about Rasbora? Yes! There is a species of Rasbora that receives heavy usage as a food fish in the northern Province of Xhieng Khouang, in Laos. Rasbora myersi (the silver Rasbora) is abundant throughout the country, but it is only eaten in this northern portion of Laos, where it is referred to as Pa sieu. Because Xhieng Khouang lacks large rivers, the inhabitants have learned to utilize the fishes that dwell in small mountain streams; fish species that are ignored in other parts of the county end up on the table in the north.

Rasbora myersi is not often imported as an aquarium species, being not quite as interestingly patterned as some other members of the genus. It has a silvery color, darkening toward a brown coloration dorsally, and possessed of a black edging on the caudal fin. It doesn't get much larger than three inches. The one redeeming quality of this species (besides being edible) is that it sings!! It is reported to produce a cricket-like chirping sound underwater. The song is heard throughout January and February. This singing coincides with the upstream migration of a larger cyprinid, the Pa phong, also heavily utilized as a food fish by natives of Xhieng Khouang. The natives dive underwater, if the Rasbora myersi are singing then they know to prepare to harvest Pa Phong! The natives believe that the Rasbora myersi are welcoming their larger cousins with respectful song. It would be interesting to learn if the animals would duplicate this behavior in an aquarium, and if this singing serves some purpose in the mating process.