[Mekatra]

Apparently in traditional Chinese medicine they are a common cure for a lot of things ranging from colicy babies to "demon and ogre posessed women." They dry their scales and make medicines with them. :(

We used to have a lady with a service dog come in to the store I worked at all the time. She was wheelchair bound and had very limited mobility with her hands, so she would unzip her little purse thing and fish the money out, then the dog would hop up on the counter and "hand" it to you. He was such a well trained dog. He would carry the shopping bag to the transport van she used and put it in a little bin thing, then stand patiently while the driver strapped her in, then sit in the passenger seat.