Admiral Cheng Ho's Sam Poh Fish 鄭和的三寶魚

姜太公釣魚，願者上鉤。
那鄭和釣魚，什麼魚會上鉤呢？

What is Sam Poh Fish?
What to do with Cheng Ho?

偉大的航海家鄭和於1405年至1433年七下西洋周遊列國，留下了許多傳奇故事。其中一個據說是在必經之地馬六甲發生的，往後更成了當地人津津樂道的故事。

傳說中有一次鄭和的寶船在經過馬六甲海峽時，因為船身的龍骨出現裂痕，海水不停的湧進來，就快要沉船了。鄭和向媽祖娘娘祈禱，很神奇的船內的海水竟然沒再升高，而船隻也載浮載沉的終於在馬六甲河口靠岸了。

鄭和下船後，很驚訝的發現原來船隻的破口處竟然有一隻魚塞在那裡，也就是因為這隻魚而阻止了海水的灌入。更神奇的是，這隻魚當時竟然還活著，嘴巴一張一合的呼吸著。鄭和輕輕的把魚抓起，表達感激它的救命之恩後就把它放回海裡了。

據說就是因為鄭和把魚給抓起來，從此這種魚就被稱為＂三寶魚＂。最容易辨識的地方就是在這種當地稱為Talang Queenfish或Giant Leatherskin的魚身上，可以看到類似五個手指印的紋路。

His mighty fleet of several hundred ships sailed seven times to the Western Ocean from China from 1405 to 1433.According to legend, when Admiral Cheng Ho had one of his trips to Malacca in the 15 century, his ship was almost wrecked as there was a hole in the keel. He said to the Deity of the Ocean, then the water stopped gushing in. When he arrived at Malacca Port, he noticed with surprise that a FISH plugged itself into the hole and saved his ship. The fish was still alive. He tenderly touched the fish as a token of appreciation. Then onward, Malacca had a 'new' species of fish called "Sam Poh Fish" with five finger prints appeared on both size of the fish body. The fish is called Talang Queenfish or Giant Leatherskin nowadays.

Some information about the fish:

Scientific Name: Scomberoides commersonianus

Also Known As: Talang Queenfish; Giant Leatherskin; Skinny Fish; White-Fish; Giant Dart; Giant Queenfish.

How to Identify:

Queenfish are an oblong shape with a short head. They are extremely laterally compressed (hence the nickname "Skinny", and a very deep forked tail. Queenfish are a dusky green to bluish above, fading to a grey , silvery or white below. The Talang Queenfish has a very large mouth and extends well beyond the eyes, it has 5-8 grey blotches but they are only above the lateral line. Talang Queenfish grow to about 16kgs.

參考資料:
Joe Ng Kim Chew
My Fishing Place