Wuchang fish got its name from the Three Kingdoms. In the first year of Ganlu in the Eastern Wu Dynasty (AD 265), the last emperor Sun Hao wanted to move the capital from Jianye (Nanjing) to Wuchang again. The Prime Minister of the Left, Lu Kai, went to the Shu to dissuade him. In the Shu, he quoted the two "single ballads" of "I would rather drink Jianye water than eat Wuchang fish". So Wuchang fish began to have its name. However, the Wuchang fish mentioned at that time may not specifically refer to the Fankou bream, but among the fish produced in Wuchang, the Fankou bat fish is the best, so its reputation was later attributed to Wuchang.
The origin of Wuchang fish is not Wuchang today, but Ezhou City today, which was called "Wuchang" during the Three Kingdoms period. According to historical records, Sun Quan visited Echeng in Hubei Province and discovered that there was a small mountain dozens of miles south of the city, named Wuchang Mountain, which was prosperous with military power. This was in line with the wishes of Sun Quan, who started his career in the military, and changed the name of Echeng to Wuchang. At the same time, he also discovered that there is a mountain here. A bream with a particularly delicious taste was named "Wuchang fish". After Sun Quan established his capital in Wuchang, he enjoyed Wuchang fish to his heart's content and used it to reward meritorious officials. It shows that the delicious taste of Wuchang fish has been highly praised during the Three Kingdoms period. In the long and splendid history of fish culture in my country, Wuchang fish is famous all over the world for its beautiful shape, sweet taste, rich nutrition and splendid culture.
The side of the body is flat and high, with a rhombus shape. The ventral rib is incomplete, from the origin of the pelvic fin to the anus. The caudal peduncle is broad and short. The head is small, flattened on the sides, and the head length is smaller than the body height. At the end of the mouth, the mouth cleft is wide and arc-shaped, and the width of the head is less than twice the width of the mouth. The upper and lower jaws have narrow and thin horns. The eyes are larger and the head behind the eyes is longer than the distance from the back edge of the eyes to the tip of the snout. The space between the eyes is wide and round, and the distance between the eyes is larger than the eye diameter. Gill rakers are short and flaky. The pharyngeal teeth are slightly flattened laterally, with pointed and curved ends.
The lateral line is located in the center of the body side, with the front part slightly curved and the back part straight, extending to the base of the caudal fin. The starting point of the dorsal fin is located behind and above the base of the pelvic fin. The unbranched rays at the end of the dorsal fin are smooth hard spines with thick and short spines, and their length is generally shorter than the head length. The end of the pectoral fin may or may not reach the origin of the pelvic fin. The end of the pelvic fin does not reach the anus. Anal fin base length. The caudal fin is deeply forked, and the upper and lower lobes are approximately equal in length. The swim bladder has three chambers, the middle chamber is larger than the front chamber, and the rear chamber is smaller. The intestine is long and twists and turns many times, and the length of the intestine is about 2.5 times the body length. The peritoneum is gray-black. The body is blue-gray, and the ventral side is silver-gray. The scales on the side are light in the middle and gray-black on the edge. Several rows of intersecting vertical stripes are formed on the side of the body. Each fin is gray-black