Some facts about Rohu, Squid and Canned Tuna

Rohu
 

This popular fish species belongs to the carp family. It can be found in nearly every river in South Asia. It’s an omnivorous and vertebrate aquatic animal. This species belongs to kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, class Actinopterygii, order Cypriniformes, and family Cyprinedae. According to its binomial nomenclature it’s known as Labeo rohita (with genus ‘Labeo’ and species ‘rohita’).

Species of this fish grow up to a maximum length of 2m (6.6ft approx.) and a weight of about 110kg (240lb). When it is a juvenile, it mostly feeds on zooplankton, but as it grows it consumes more and more phytoplankton as food. All rohu species have modified, thin hair-like gill rakers which suggests that they feed by sieving water. The species is solitary and diurnal. It grows sexual maturity in 2 to 5 years. It lays eggs in the marginal areas of flooded areas.

People in almost all countries in Asia take these fish as food. It has the popularity in many countries around the world too. But, it is most popular in Indian states like Orissa and Bengal where people love to prepare fried rohu and rohu curry deliciously.

Squid

 

These are basically cephalopods. About 300 numbers of species constitute this class. The species belong to kingdom Animalia, phylum Mollusca, class Cephalopoda, superorder Decapodiformes, and order Teuthida. They have a distinct head, arms, two long tentacles and a mantle. Their body is bilaterally symmetrical and the 8 arms are arranged in pairs. Generally all species of this class are able to swim in the water, and some species can even fly out of water for some small distances.

It’s a popular food in many countries like China, Japan, Korea, Greece, Turkey, England, Portugal, Ital, Vietnam and Spain. Recipes are usually prepared by stuffing the entire body or cutting pieces. Almost all parts except gladius (pen) and beak are not eaten. These species contain Zinc and Manganese, Copper, Selenium, Vitamin B12 and Riboflavin.

Tuna
 

It’s a saltwater finfish belonging to the tribe Thunnini which is a sub-group of the mackerel family (Scombridae). This species of fish belongs to kingdom Animalia, phylum Chordata, class Actinopterygii, order Perciformes, family Scombridae and sub-family Scombrinae. There are 5 genera in this family of finfish known as Allothunnus, Auxis, Euthynnus, Katsuwonus and Thunnus. These 5 genera together consist of 15 species of different sizes ranging from the bullet species (50 cm (1.6ft), weight 1.8kg (4lb)) to Atlantic bluefin species (maximum length 4.6m (15ft), weight 684kg (1,508lb)). Bluefin among all these species can live up to 50 years which grows up to an average length of 2m (6.6 ft).

The unique respiratory and circulatory systems allow these species to maintain the body temperature higher than that of the surrounding water. Canned tuna is a popular dish prepared by canning it in oils, brine, water and different sauces.