What kind of fish belong to the carp family. Unusual northern fish muksun. Siberia is rich in fish...

White Amur (Ctenopharyngodon idella) General Information: White Amur (Ctenopharyngodon idella) is a fish of the carp family. The birthplace of the White Amur (Ctenopharyngodon idella) is East Asia, where it is distributed from the river. Amur to South China. The introduction of the White Amur (Ctenopharyngodon idella) into the water bodies of the USSR began in the first half of the 60s, when it was acclimatized in order to […]

African Barbus Despite the existence of numerous species of African barbs, they are rare in aquariums. This is explained by the fact that a number of species are either too large in size or not interesting in color. Barbodes ablabes grows up to 10 cm in length. Males are smaller than females, slenderer, with more pronounced orange patches on the fins. Fish willingly spawn as in pairs, […]

Barbus - Sumatranus (Capoeta tetrazona tetrazona) lives in Sumatra, in Thailand, in Kalimantan (Borneo). Since its introduction to Europe in 1935, it has been constantly found in aquariums. Reaches 7 cm in length. The ventral paired fins of males are intense red, the upper part of the stigma is reddish, the dorsal fin has an intense red edging. APPEARANCE. Like all barbs, […]

White-eye (Sopa) (Abramis sapa) Description: White-eye (Abramis sapa) (Sopa) is a fish of the carp family. Length up to 35 cm, weight up to 1 kg. Outwardly similar to a bream, but has a more flattened and elongated body. The snout is thick, blunt, swollen. The eyes are large (up to 30% of the length of the head) with a white-silver iris (hence the name). Gill rakers are long and thick. […]

Quicksand (Alburnoides bipunctatus) Description: Quicksand (Alburnoides bipunctatus) - this little-known fish in our country is very similar to common bleak, but at first glance it differs from it by two dark stripes running along the middle of the body, on the sides of the so-called. lateral line, and the fact that it is noticeably wider and hunchbacked. This blackish stripe starts from the eyes and, […]

Verkhovka (Leucaspius delineatus) is a fish of the carp family. Length 4-5, occasionally up to 8 cm, weight up to 7 g. It looks like a small bleak, from which it differs in a wider body and head, a short lateral line (distributed to the first 2-12 scales). A network of sensitive tubules enters the head, located in groups: on the upper part, under the eyes, on the prelids. In the dorsal fin […]

Skygazer (Erythroculter erythropterus) is a freshwater fish. It is found in the waters of China from the Yangtze in the south to the river. Cupid in the north, lives on the island of Taiwan, in West Korea, in Liaohe. This fish is widespread in the Ussuri River and Lake Khanka. The skygazer prefers to stay mainly in the water column. It reaches a length of about 102 cm and a mass of 9 kg. Predatory fish. Eats […]

Vladislavia (Ladislavia taczanowskii) is common in the upper and middle reaches of the Amur basin, mainly in rivers and streams of the foothill type, preferring open shallow areas with a fairly fast flow, pebble or sandy-pebble soil, sometimes overgrown with sparse vegetation. It easily scrapes diatoms and detritus from rocks and compacted soil with its pointed, cartilaginous lower jaw. Intestinal tract […]

Vobla (lat. Rutilus rutilus caspicus) - fish of the Caspian Sea, is an important subject of fishing on the lower Volga; is a subspecies of the roach. It differs from river roach in larger size (up to 30 cm or more) and some minor morphological features (gray fins with black trim and silver iris with dark spots above the pupils). Distribution Vobla is endemic […]

Ostrobelly (Hemiculter leucisculus) is distributed throughout the range of the genus, with the exception of West Korea; forms a number of subspecies (three in the Amur basin: typical, Buirnor, Khanka). The length of the wasp is up to 18 cm. This small silvery fish in appearance and in its way of life in many respects resembles bleak in European rivers. Ostrobelly is a schooling pelagic fish that lives both in lakes and […]

Grayling (Thymallus thymallus) - a close relative of salmon and whitefish, lives only in the Northern Hemisphere. It inhabits clear cold-water rivers and lakes, preferring water bodies with pebbly and rocky bottoms. It can form river, lake-river and purely lacustrine forms.

Muksun

Muksun (Coregonus muksun) is one of the most valuable northern commercial fish of the whitefish family. Muksun lives in almost all major rivers of Siberia - the Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei, Lena. Muksun reaches a length of 0.75 meters and weighs up to 8 kg.

Chir

Chir (Coregonus nasus) belongs to the whitefish family of the salmon order. Chir is one of the common fish species in the Yenisei and Ob systems. It lives mainly in the Arctic Circle and next to it. Chir, or as it is sometimes called shokur, has a slender, fleshy, laterally compressed body.

Ide

Ide (Leuciscus idus)- fish of the carp family. Distributed in water bodies of Europe and most of Siberia. In length, the ide usually reaches 0.7 m, weight - 3-4 kg. In some reservoirs of Siberia, ides reach a weight of up to 8-9 kg. Color - gray-silver, darker on the back than on the belly.

carp

Karasi (Carassius) is a genus of fish in the carp family. The dorsal fin is long, the pharyngeal teeth are single row. There are two types of crucians - golden, or ordinary, crucian ( Carassius carassius) and silver carp ( Carassius auratus).

Dace

Yelets (Leuciscus leuciscus)- a species of fish of the carp family. In appearance and habits, the dace occupies a certain intermediate position between the ide and the roach. This is an oblong fish, laterally compressed, with medium-sized scales. In Siberia, especially large dace-“herrings” weighing 300 and even 400 grams are occasionally caught.

Ruff

Ruff (Gymnocephalus cernuus)- a species of fish from the perch family. This is a freshwater fish that lives in the waters of Europe and northern Asia (mostly in Siberia). The name of the ruff was given because he ruffles all his fins when he feels danger.

Bream

Bream (Abramis brama)- a representative of the genus of bream from the family of carp fish. It lives throughout Europe east of the Pyrenees and north of the Alps. In the 70s of the last century, it began to spread widely and now lives in almost all regions of Western Siberia.

Tench

Tench (Tinca Tinca)- fish of the carp family. In Europe, this species is a fairly common representative of river and lake fauna. To the east of the Urals, it is less common, but the boundary of the continuous range of tench reaches the middle reaches of the Yenisei and its tributaries.

Burbot

Burbot (Lota lota)- the only freshwater fish from the cod family. Distributed in the rivers of Europe, Siberia, North America. It reaches a size of up to 2 meters in length and a weight of 20-25 kg. The usual size is 500-700 grams.

Nelma

Nelma (Stenodus leucichthys nelma)- fish of the salmon family, the whitefish genus. Nelma is the largest representative of whitefish, reaches a length of up to 1.5 m and weighs up to 50 kg. The average weight of nelma ranges from 5 to 10 kg.

Perch

Perch (lat. Perca). Perch is one of the most common fish in our country and Siberia in particular. It inhabits rivers, lakes, ponds and estuaries flowing into the sea. In Siberia, perch is found everywhere up to the Lena basin in the east.

Sturgeon

Sturgeon (Acipenser)- a genus of fish of the sturgeon family. It lives in the rivers of Siberia from the Ob to the Kolyma and further to the Indigirka. A large number of sturgeons are found in the Ob basin - A. baeri and partly A. stenorhynchus, in the Yenisei basin the same two species.

Gudgeon

Minnow (Gobio gobio). The Siberian minnow is a subspecies of the common minnow. It is quite widely found in Siberia, except for its northern parts. It reaches a length of 22 cm and a weight of 200 grams, but is rarely larger than 10-15 cm.

/ Carp
Osteichthyes / Perciformes / Percidae / Stizostedion volgensis

Family CARP (Cyprinidae) Cyprinids are the most species-rich family of the carp suborder. Their mouth opening is bordered on top only by the premaxillary bones, which are movably connected to the maxillary bones. The mouth is retractable. There are no teeth on the jaws, but on the pharyngeal bones there are teeth located in one, two or three rows. On the lower surface of the skull (more precisely, on the process of the main occipital bone) there is a bone-horn-shaped cushion-like protrusion called a millstone, which, together with the pharyngeal teeth, serves to grind food. Antennae or no, or one or two pairs (the exception is the eight-whiskered gudgeon). In unpaired fins, which are supported by soft rays branched at the end, the first few rays are not branched (usually 2-4). The last non-branched ray (more often in the dorsal fin) may be thickened, turned into a spine, sometimes flexible at the end, sometimes serrated along the posterior edge. The swim bladder is usually large, consisting of two or even three chambers, the anterior part of the bladder is not enclosed in a bone capsule (the exception is some genera of minnows that live in the waters of the Amur and the rivers of China). The scales of cyprinids are cycloid, in some species it is completely absent (the body is naked). The carp family includes more than 1500 species belonging to 275 genera. Cyprinids inhabit the fresh waters of Africa, North America, Europe and Asia up to the "Wallace Line" - the zoogeographic border between the islands of Bali and Lombok in the Malay Archipelago. R Cyprinids were introduced to Australia at the end of the 19th century. There are no cyprinids in South America. Cyprinids are very numerous and diverse in Europe and Asia, especially in Southeast Asia, less diverse in Africa and North America. Cyprinids are relatively heat-loving fish. The number of species decreases towards the north. For example, 142 species of cyprinids are known in the Yangtze, 50 in the Amur, and only 10 in the Lena basin. A small number of species pass beyond the Arctic Circle in Eurasia - roach, dace, ide, crucian carp, minnow. The same picture is observed in North America: 49 species are known in the Great Lakes basin, in the basin of the river. Columbia - 16 species, in the upper reaches of the Yukon (the northern border of the distribution of cyprinids in America) - 1 species. Cyprinids can be divided into two large groups: the first group includes fish lacking antennae and having single-row and double-row pharyngeal teeth; the second group includes fish with three-row or two-row pharyngeal teeth, and many species of this group have antennae in the corners of the mouth. Fish of the first group (dace, roach, minnow, asp, podust, bream, etc.) are distributed mainly in Europe, in Asia to the north of the mountain ranges of Central Asia and the Amur basin. In North America, all cyprinids found there, with the exception of imported crucian carp and carp, belong to this group (notropis, gibopsis, campostoma, etc.). Fish of the second group (carp, crucian carp, barbel, minnow, marinka, Amur bream, skygazer, yellow-cheek, etc.) are found mainly in Southeast Asia, Africa, and a few species in Europe. If we proceed from the widely accepted position that the area where this group is represented by the largest number of species is considered the center of the origin of a particular group, then for cyprinids such a center is the southeastern part of Asia. Probably, cyprinids with multi-row pharyngeal teeth represent a more primitive group. The largest number of genera of cyprinids with three-row pharyngeal teeth is found in India (68% of the total number of genera of cyprinids living in this area), then in East Asia (19%), in Africa (37.5%), in Europe (9%) . Fossil remains of cyprinids in Europe are known from the Eocene (50-60 million years BC), in North America from a later time - from the Miocene (25-30 million years BC). Living conditions in the fresh waters of continental reservoirs are very different, and this is the reason for the huge morpho-ecological diversity of cyprinids. The sizes of cyprinids range from 6-8 to 150 and even 180 cm, but small and medium sizes predominate. Species reaching 80 cm or more are relatively few; In North America, cyprinids up to 10 cm long predominate, and therefore they are called small fry (minnow) there. In the reservoirs of Europe, most of the species of cyprinids have a length of 20 to 35 cm. In the rivers of Asia, both the smallest, up to 10 cm (eight-bearded gudgeon, nosy gudgeon, mustard, discognath, etc.), species are numerous, as well as the largest - more than 80 cm of length (carp, Aral barbel, yellow-cheek, black and white carp, etc.).

The color of the body is rather uniform, mainly limited to tones from bright silver to golden and olive-brown. Silver-colored fish predominate in the waters of Europe. The fins usually have a grayish color or are colored (more often ventral and anal) in yellowish or reddish tones of varying intensity. The brightest and most diverse color of Indian and African cyprinids. Particularly noteworthy are various Puntius, colored in cherry, yellowish-orange and olive-green tones with stripes along the body, cardinals, rasboras, striped zebrafish and some other species. Subtropical and tropical cyprinids are well known to Soviet aquarists. Many bright silver species of North America are characterized by the presence of a dark stripe along the body, which may be accompanied by a bright stripe of a different color (red, yellow, blue) along the upper edge; there are often spots on the upper body. Coloration is closely related to the behavior and habitat of a particular species. So, fish that keep in the water column have a silvery color, and golden, olive-brown, spotted color is characteristic of fish living in the bottom layers. A strip along the body is found in many fish that lead a schooling lifestyle. In most, the color changes with age: in older fish, as a rule, it becomes brighter. In many species, during the breeding season, the color also becomes brighter, sometimes completely changing its character (“marriage color”). Sometimes there are deviations in coloration of cyprinids: for example, individuals may appear devoid of color, the so-called albinos, and, conversely, brightly colored - chromists. Artificial selection of chromists made it possible to develop special forms that differ from individuals of their own species in color. An example is the golden orpha - an ide of orange-red color, a golden tench. The body shape of cyprinids is mostly typically fish-like. But in some, the body is rather high, laterally compressed (mustards, breams, silver breams), and in benthic species it is often slightly flattened in the dorsal-abdominal direction, especially in the front of the body (common gudgeon, marinka). In most cyprinids, the abdomen is rounded, in some it is compressed, and even slightly pointed, so that the scales covering the body from the sides form a small keel covered with scales (asp, top) in this area. In others, the abdomen ends in a thin leathery outgrowth in the form of a keel, not covered with scales. Such a keel can stretch along the entire lower edge of the body (sabrefish, white bream, bleak) or from the ventral fins to the anus (bream, silver bream, skygazer). As a result of long-term selection work with silver carp, it was possible to bring out many decorative, so-called goldfish, diverse in body shape and color (telescopes, comets, veil-tails, lion's head, etc.). Particularly diverse are the goldfish bred in China and Japan. By the nature of nutrition, and hence, by the structure of the oral apparatus, the digestive tract, cyprinids are very diverse. Some of them (sabrefish, bleak, red belly, silver carp, etc.) have an upper mouth and feed on plankton - either small invertebrates or algae (phytoplankton), as well as insects falling into the water. Many species have a terminal mouth and forage in the water column or among plant thickets; this position of the mouth is also characteristic of predatory fish. Fish that feed on the bottom have a lower mouth. Cyprinids always have lips to some extent developed around the mouth. They are especially well developed in species with a lower mouth, which obtain food from soft silty soils. In such fish, the lips are fleshy, with well-developed lobes, covered with numerous papillae. Such lips have, for example, the gubar horse, the minnow Dabri, some species of the genus Labeo from the reservoirs of Southeast Asia, etc. In species that scrape off fouling from various kinds of substrate - stones, dense soil, twigs, etc. lined with cartilage and covered with a strong pointed horn cap. These fish include podust, khramulya, some types of marinka, Vladislav gudgeon living in the Amur basin, and others. These species adhere to dense, usually stony soils and live mostly in mountain rivers or streams.

The mouth opening is especially peculiar in species of the genus Osteochilus living in the reservoirs of Burma and the Malay Archipelago. In these fish, the mouth is directed forward and somewhat down. The upper and lower lips are well developed, covered with numerous papillae, but the lower lip does not cover the lower jaw, which protrudes somewhat forward and looks like a transverse protrusion with a sharp, hard edge. Thus, in Osteochilus there is a combination of soft lips with a sharp, cutting edge of the lower jaw. In addition, they have a pair of antennae in the corners of the mouth, and in some species a second pair of antennae, shorter, is located above the upper jaw. Fish with such a mouth can probably feed on both soft and hard bottoms. In species that forage on soft soils, the mouth is able to move forward and resembles a tube that penetrates deep into the silt and sucks in various small invertebrates: pusher mosquito larvae (bloodworm), oligochaetes. In our fauna, bream, tench, carp, gudgeon and some others have such a mouth. Carp (more than 12 cm), crucian carp (11 cm), tench (7 cm), and bream (5 cm) penetrate deeper into the silt. In many predators (asp, Mongolian redfin, trilobed, yellow-cheeked, etc.), a tubercle develops on the top of the lower jaw, which enters the corresponding notch located on the upper jaw. This adaptation helps predators capture and hold prey. In predatory species, the mouth extends very weakly, while in the yellow-cheeked species it does not extend at all. As already mentioned, cyprinids have no teeth on their jaws. The cyprinids only capture food with their mouths, and its grinding occurs in the pharynx when the food passes between the millstone and the lower pharyngeal teeth. Naturally, the structure and shape of the pharyngeal teeth are different in fish that feed on different foods. In asp, skygazer and other predatory cyprinids, the teeth have a hook at the end of the crown, which helps to capture and tear the tissues of the victim. The teeth of silver bream, roach, and especially black carp are characterized by the presence of a chewing platform that helps crush shells of mollusks, chitin of insect larvae, as well as tissues of higher plants. Knife-like teeth of a podusta, a silver carp help to compress small food - detritus, algae, various fouling - into a dense lump. In rudd and grass carp, the crowns of the pharyngeal teeth are serrated and look a bit like a saw. These species feed on underwater, and during floods, flooded terrestrial vegetation. In juvenile carp fish, the pharyngeal teeth have a different structure than in adults. As the fish grows, they change and only by the second year of life become similar to the pharyngeal teeth of adults. The pharyngeal teeth are replaced annually. The digestive tract of cyprinids has the form of an undifferentiated tube, the stomach is absent, and, consequently, there is no gastric enzyme pepsin that breaks down proteins. Food proteins are processed under the action of trypsin and enterokinase - enzymes secreted by the pancreas, intestinal glands and, unlike pepsin, are active not in an acidic, but in an alkaline environment. The length of the intestine varies widely. In predators and benthivorous species, the intestines are shorter than the length of the body, in omnivores it is equal to it or slightly larger, in detritivorous species it is 2-3 times the length of the body. Especially long (more than 10 times the length of the body) intestines of the silver carp.

Cyprinids eat a wide variety of food: benthic organisms not only on the surface, but from the depths of the soil by more than 10 cm; water column organisms (zooplankton, phytoplankton); higher vegetation; detritus (surface film of soil, consisting of decaying remains of animal and plant origin); fish, as well as air insects that accidentally fell into the water. Juveniles feed on zooplankton or, less commonly, small zoobenthos. As the fish grow, they switch to a different food. In general, the nature of the nutrition of individual species is very different. In addition, in each species, the composition of food changes with age and seasons of the year and depends on the nature of the reservoir. In the waters of Europe, most cyprinids (bream, silver bream, dace, gudgeon, etc.) feed on invertebrates living both in the ground and on various substrates (plants, stones, soil); some (bleak, sabrefish, common carp, bystrianka, top) feed on zooplankton and air insects; there are also those (chub, minnow, roach, ide, etc.) that feed on both animal and vegetable food. There are very few exclusively herbivorous or purely predatory fish among the cyprinids inhabiting the waters of Europe. The number of species of herbivorous and carnivorous cyprinids increases significantly in the water bodies of Southeast Asia. A relatively constant light regime, rather high and even water temperatures favor photosynthesis here, and algae and higher plants develop all year round. The death of vegetation contributes to the formation of detritus. During the monsoon rains, the water level in the rivers rises strongly and vast expanses of the floodplain, covered with grass and shrubs, are flooded with water. As a result, herbivorous fish receive an additional huge supply of food. And it is not surprising that the number of its consumers is also large in these places: first of all, detritus-eaters, then phytoplankton-eaters, and, finally, species that feed on higher plants. The relatively high temperature of the water promotes the rapid digestion of large amounts of plant foods. Many of the herbivorous fish of Southeast Asia (grass carp, white bream, cirrins, rohu and other species of the genus Labeo) reach very large sizes, up to 60-120 cm in length, while the length of the largest herbivorous fish in European water bodies (gyudust, rudd) - about 40 cm. The diversity and large number of peaceful fish probably to some extent determine the presence of a large number of predators. Predatory cyprinids, however, cannot capture large prey due to the lack of teeth and stomach. In low latitudes, there are many small species, their breeding period is extended, since the eggs in females and sperm in males do not mature all at once, but in portions. Therefore, in the reservoir there are always a lot of juveniles of various sizes. All this creates favorable conditions for feeding predatory fish. Among the predatory cyprinids of Southeast Asia, there are both rather small species, for example, the triangular (up to 20 cm), and large ones - skygazer (up to 100 cm), yellow-cheeked (up to 200 cm). In the waters of Europe, the typical predator is the asp. This is one of the largest fish among European cyprinids, it reaches 60-80 cm in length.

In South Asia and Africa, predatory cyprinids are species of the genus Barilius. In North and Central America, the pattern of distribution of ecological groups of cyprinids, differing in nutrition, is similar: zoobenthophages predominate at higher latitudes, and the number of phytophages (herbivores) increases when moving south. The breeding ecology of cyprinids is very diverse. The difference between individuals of different sexes (sexual dimorphism) in most species is manifested in the fact that females are larger than males. But in some species (for example, in the false gudgeon, the Amur chebachka and some others), the males guard the eggs; in this case, they are larger than females. Among the cyprinids, there are species with well-defined sexual dimorphism, in which it is not difficult to determine whether an individual belongs to one or another sex. For example, in the male tench, the outer rays of the ventral fins are strongly thickened; in males of some labeos (for example, Labeo dero), the dorsal fin is higher and more strongly carved than in the female; in males of some Puntius (Puntius), the lateral black spot differs in shape and brightness from that of females. In general, males are more often colored more brightly than females, especially during the spawning season. By this time, tubercles of keratinized epithelium appear on the head and body (in most cases only in males), usually they are milky white in color, and they are called pearl rash, marriage attire. It is assumed that the marriage attire has a functional significance during the spawning period. For example, during skirmishes between males or mating games, in this case, the tubercles develop mainly on the head; for contact between individuals of different sexes, tubercles bent backwards on the pectoral fins and along the body serve, which is especially important when spawning in fast streams. But this issue has not yet been studied enough.

Most cyprinids live in fresh waters, but some species are able to tolerate salinity of 10-14°/00, and one species - the Far Eastern rudd - is found even at oceanic salinity (32-33°/00). But they all lay their eggs in fresh water. Species that live in brackish areas of the seas and go to spawn in rivers are called semi-anadromous. Some of them (vobla, ram, bream, carp) enter the lower sections of the rivers, others (Aral barbel, carp, fish) make significant movements. In the latter case, the breeding attire of spawning spawners is more pronounced: a bright color appears. The Aral barbel has dwarf males; they do not leave the river and mature at a smaller size than anadromous males. Carp spawn quite a large number of eggs. No viviparous cyprinids were found. The existence of a viviparous species of the genus Puntius (Puntius viviparus) was refuted as a result of careful observations of its reproduction in aquariums. Cyprinids of temperate latitudes of the northern hemisphere spawn in the spring-summer period of the year. Females of some species lay eggs at the same time, while others - in several stages, in portions. As we move to low latitudes, the percentage of spawning species in portions increases, and the spawning period is extended. Most cyprinids have bottom sticky eggs. Some species lay their eggs on vegetation, others on stones, and still others on sand; finally, there are species that lay their eggs in bivalve shells. Some species have non-stick eggs. It rolls along the bottom or floats in the water column. The plant substrate (usually last year's or young vegetation), flooded with hollow waters, is found in relatively calm slow-flowing or stagnant parts of the reservoir. In the Volga delta, such areas of terrestrial vegetation, flooded with hollow waters, are called hollows, and at the mouth of the Don - borrowings. Usually, in hollows or lands, the depth ranges from 20-30 to 50-100 cm. Most often, the tops of herbaceous vegetation and its individual clusters (clumps) rise above the water. Under the rays of the spring sun, the water on the fields warms up quickly, and its temperature is much higher than the temperature of the water in the channel. So, if in the Volga bed the water temperature is 6-7°С, then on the hollows it reaches 15-16°С and more. Hollow waters are rich in nutrients (phosphates, nitrates, etc.). All this creates favorable conditions for the development of the smallest algae (phytoplankton) at first, and later zooplankton (ciliates, rotifers, small crustaceans that feed on phytoplankton). In turn, zooplankton organisms are excellent food for juvenile fish. The oxygen content of the water in the fields varies greatly depending on the time of day. In daylight, thanks to the photosynthesis of phytoplankton organisms and higher vegetation, oxygen is quite enough, especially in the upper layers of water. At night, due to the absorption of oxygen during respiration, as well as the decomposition of organic residues, the oxygen content in the water drops, and its deficiency often forms in the near-bottom layer and at the bottom. The cyprinids that breed on the fields spawn on the vegetation, the eggs stick to it at some distance from the bottom and therefore are in a layer that is relatively rich in oxygen. After a few days, larvae hatch from the eggs, which have positive phototaxis (strive for light) and, vigorously moving their tails, rise to the upper layers of the water, stumble upon twigs and stick to them with the help of a secret secreted by the "cement" glands located on the head. larvae. Hanging on the plant, the larva goes through a dormant stage, which lasts until the yolk sac is absorbed from it. After that, the larvae separate from the plants, their swim bladder fills with air, and they begin to actively feed on ciliates, rotifers, small crustaceans, gradually switching to food characteristic of a particular species. With the beginning of the decline in the level of flood waters, the fish fry leave the hollow and enter the riverbeds, where they continue to feed and grow. Juveniles of semi-anadromous fish - roach, bream, carp, etc. - roll down to the pre-estuary areas of the sea, where they find abundant food and grow rapidly.

The species that lay eggs on vegetation include semi-anadromous species in our waters - vobla, ram, bream, carp; lake-river - roach, silver bream, bleak; pond - crucian carp, tench, top. In the tropical waters of Southeast Asia, these are species of the genera Puntius, Rasbora, and others. In the larvae of these fish, respiration is provided by a network of blood vessels in the fin fold and on the yolk sac. As the larvae grow, these temporary respiratory organs are replaced by gills. Many river species of cyprinids lay their eggs on stones located in places with strong currents. Caviar sticks to the stones, but usually after a while it breaks off and is carried by the current into the gaps between the stones and under the stones, where it develops. The fecundity of these fish, as a rule, is less than that of fish that lay eggs on vegetation, and the eggs are larger and their incubation period is longer, which is associated with lower temperatures. The hatched larvae are larger and more developed than the larvae from eggs laid on vegetation, and in contrast to the latter, they avoid light. They do not have gluing organs, and their larval circulatory system is less developed. After hatching from eggs, they usually hide under stones or other shaded places well washed by water with a high content of oxygen. After the absorption of the yolk sac and the filling of the swim bladder with air, they begin to actively feed on small animal organisms (ciliates, rotifers, larvae of small crustaceans), moving from small to larger forms as they grow. This group of cyprinids includes semi-anadromous fish that rise quite high in rivers for spawning: carp, fish, or syrt, shemaya, as well as typically river fish: dace, chub, podust, marinka and many others. Many species of minnows lay their eggs on the sand. The caviar is small, sticky, encrusted with grains of sand and completely invisible against the background of the bottom. Sometimes the eggs stick to stones or to the washed roots of coastal vegetation. The larvae that hatch then have large pectoral fins and a lower mouth. They are located on sandbanks, leaning on pectoral fins, and after a while they begin to feed on microscopic benthic organisms: shell rhizomes - diflugia, arcella, rotifers. This way of feeding is found only in rivers, where plankton - the food of young fish - is less developed than in lakes. Some cyprinids lay eggs in the water column. This is a floating or semi-floating caviar. The eggs are quite large, up to 4-5 mm in diameter. Floating eggs are transparent, and it is very difficult to notice them in the water column, where they develop. The circulatory system of larvae in such fish is usually less developed than in other groups of fish. Erythrocytes and pigmented formations appear late, while the swim bladder fills early. Thus, larvae from floating eggs retain their body transparency for a long time and lead a pelagic (in the water column) lifestyle. Cyprinids of this group are most numerous in the Amur basin and in the rivers of Southeast Asia. These areas are dominated by a monsoonal climate. In winter, the winds blow mainly from the colder land to the relatively warm sea, and in summer - from the sea to land. The snow cover in these areas is very small, and as a result, spring floods from snowmelt are low. On the contrary, summer-autumn floods as a result of monsoon rains are very large and cause a significant rise in the water level. The conditions for spawning of spring-spawning fish in the rivers of the monsoon climate are unfavorable: the hollow waters do not flood the coastal vegetation every spring, and there are years when these fish do not have the opportunity to spawn. In such a flood regime of rivers, fish with floating eggs have an advantage over those that lay their eggs on vegetation or on stones. In European rivers, only sabrefish lays floating caviar from cyprinids, and in Southeast Asia a number of species: skygazer, wasp, Amur bream, white and black carp, silver carp, many minnows, Indian river carps. Almost exclusively mustards lay their eggs in mollusk shells. The number of bitterling species is also increasing in the rivers of Southeast Asia. Fish of this group lay their eggs in the mantle cavity of bivalves, where they find a safe shelter from various predators and move along with their "moving spawning substrates" when the water level fluctuates. The development of caviar takes place in an exceptionally peculiar environment, and the appearance of a number of amazing adaptations is associated with this. The eggs of bitterlings are elongated, oval, with a highly concentrated yolk, development takes place in an environment with a low oxygen content and is very slow. The hatched larvae continue to develop due to the yolk in the mollusk shell. The embryonic respiratory system is very powerful, it is formed by a dense network of blood vessels on the yolk sac, on the fin fold. The larvae are afraid of light, and this protects them from premature exit from the mollusk shell. The bitterlings spawn a small number of eggs: the Asian prickly bitterlings are about 600, and the ordinary bitterlings are even smaller - no more than 100.

Most cyprinids do not care about their offspring, but still there are a number of species among them that protect eggs and even juveniles. Such, for example, are the false gudgeon, pseudo-parsing in the Amur basin and in the rivers of China and Korea. Many species, such as roach, specially prepare spawning areas. The spawning behavior of North American cyprinids has been fairly well studied. Thus, campostoma males (Campostoma apomalum pullum) dig the bottom, move stones, clear the spawning area from silt, build nests and actively protect them. A large male is kept in the nest, and small ones - near the nests. Females settle nearby, in deeper areas, and then head to the nests. Individuals of both sexes move from nest to nest, females leave nests before males, males linger, but then also leave. A typical group spawning is described for the rhynicht (Rhinichthys osculus). Males of this species build nests about 30 cm in diameter. There is a hierarchy among males: the dominant male stands on the nest, driving away others. Then many (up to 60) males enter the nest, and all of them work together to clean the nest. The female enters the nest and meets a group of males there. It is known that males of Notropis (Notropis analostanus) during spawning emit shock sounds - threat signals; sounds of a different kind - frequent blows and "purrs" - probably take place during mating games. Some American cyprinids, such as Hyborhynchus notatus and related species, some species of the genus Pimepholus, nest under boards, stones and other objects, and the males guard the eggs. Species of the genera Hybopsis, Semotilus, Campostoma, and others leave their nests immediately after spawning. The spawning behavior of fish is amazing in its perfection, in the precise coordination of all its details. Watching it, studying it is interesting not only for an ichthyologist, but also for every nature lover. External fertilization of eggs, close terms of reproduction of species belonging to the same ecological group, facilitate interspecific and even intergeneric crossing of cyprinids in natural conditions. In the waters of Europe, hybrids of carp and goldfish, rudd and bleak, rudd and silver bream, rudd and bream, roach and silver bream, roach and bream, bleak and silver bream, etc. are quite common. Some of them are probably prolific, for example, a hybrid of roach and bream . Sometimes hybrids found in natural conditions that are capable of reproduction are taken for independent species. Several such species have been described from water bodies of North America. A very large number of hybrids have been artificially obtained, which made it possible to study many family ties, since the ability to interbreed is usually considered as a sign of close relationship between species. Juveniles of many cyprinids and most species of small and medium size keep in flocks. For peaceful schooling cyprinids, the so-called startle reaction has been described. This reaction is manifested in the fact that if an extract from the skin of a representative of a given species or even another carp fish is dropped into a flock, then the flock breaks up. According to the degree of manifestation of the fear reaction, researchers judge the relationship between different species. It is interesting to note that in predatory fish that often eat individuals of their own species, the startle reaction is observed only in young individuals that feed on benthos (an experiment was done with the North American species Ptychocheilus oregonensis). The fright reaction is of great biological importance, since the death of one individual is a signal of an imminent danger to the flock, and the flock instantly disperses.

The commercial value of cyprinids is especially great in the countries of the former USSR and China, as well as in India, Burma and African countries. In the countries of the former USSR, semi-anadromous cyprinids are predominantly caught: roach, ram, carp, bream, shemaya, fish, mainly in the basins of the Azov, Caspian and Aral Seas. A lot of crucian carp is caught in ponds and lakes. The construction of hydroelectric dams on rivers and the formation of reservoirs significantly change the flow regime, water temperature and the amount of nutrients entering the hollow system of rivers flowing into our southern seas. This affects the state of stocks of semi-anadromous fish. To maintain their reserves, fish breeding and spawning farms (fish farms) have been created in the lower reaches of the rivers, and in reservoirs, shallow bays are separated from the main reservoir by dams with locks, creating areas with favorable conditions for fish spawning. The most important commercial cyprinids of China are carp, white and black carp, common and motley silver carp, crucian carp, bream, skygazer, redfin, yellow-cheek, etc .; India - katla, labeo, cirrhines, torus, puntiuses, etc.; countries of Africa - barbels (Barbus, different species), labeo, barils (Barilius), etc. Many cyprinids are the object of fishing for amateur fishermen. Small cyprinids are a good bait for catching predatory fish. Some species are specially bred by humans in ponds. The most common object of fish farming in Europe is carp - a breed bred by man. The ancestor of the modern European carp is the Danube carp. Common carp, carp are the most popular pond fish in the world. They are bred in Europe, in most Asian countries (in Vietnam, China, Korea, India, Cambodia, Thailand), in Ceylon, Malacca, the Philippines, in Australia; acclimatized them in the lakes of the United States. In China, in addition to carp and crucian carp, four types of fish are bred: white and black carp, common and motley silver carp. They are called domestic fish. Usually, juveniles of these species are planted in ponds, which are harvested in the river. Yangtze and its tributaries, and then transported throughout the country. Recently, they are moving to the incubation of eggs. In the fall, producers are caught, which are kept until spring. To obtain mature sexual products, producers are stimulated by pituitary injection. During the summer, juveniles are transplanted several times from pond to pond. Ponds are fertilized, and thus a high yield of products is achieved - up to 1500-2000 kg / ha. In India, many species are bred in ponds, mainly herbivorous species of barbel (Barbus), labeo (Labeo), cirrhina (Cirrhina) and catla (Catla catla). In Europe, carp, carp, tench, silver and golden carp, orfu are bred. At present, the breeding of herbivorous fish has been mastered: grass carp, silver carp, etc. The juveniles of these fish, caught in the rivers of China, as well as in the Amur, were brought to fish hatcheries: "Hot Key" of the Krasnodar Territory, in Karamet-Niyaz on the Karakum Canal and some others. They were reared in fish hatcheries, and then released into ponds and natural reservoirs and reservoirs. Now nurseries have been created in many regions of our country, where cupids and silver carps are bred. Of particular interest is the content of herbivorous fish in cooling ponds at thermal power plants. These ponds are heavily overgrown with aquatic vegetation, and the water exchange in them is disturbed: a large amount of water stagnates, and a small amount of flowing water does not have time to cool enough. Herbivorous fish planted in such ponds eat all the vegetation and grow well. In the same way, herbivorous fish clean the canals drawn in the south of our country from vegetation, and they do it very effectively. Some brightly colored tropical species are popular with aquarium hobbyists. Various puntios, brachiodanios, zebrafish, cardinals, rasboras, etc. are widely known. But there is no species more popular than a goldfish - a form created by man. The original type of various forms of goldfish is the silver carp.

As part of the cyprinid family, groups of genera are distinguished, characterized by common features and sometimes considered as subfamilies. These groups also differ in the nature of distribution. Thus, chub-like genera are widespread in East and North Asia, North America and Europe, but are absent in Africa. Barbel-like genera are numerous in South Asia and Africa, and there are also in Southern Europe. Mustard-like and carp-like are common in Southeast Asia and Southern Europe. Minnow-like and chehon-like are numerous in Southeast Asia and are represented in Europe. Thick-browed are characteristic of Southeast Asia. Chub-like, or Yelts-like, cyprinids are less specialized than other groups. Their mouth is bordered by thin lips without a cartilaginous lining, usually without antennae, the dorsal and anal fins are small (6-14 branched rays) and do not contain spiny rays, the belly is rounded, without a keel, the intestinal canal is short. These include roaches, dace, chubs, cupids, mountain dace, minnows, rudd, asps, tops, tench, and podust in Europe and Asia. In North America, they are represented along with dace and American roach by a number of American genera, of which the largest size (up to 150 cm in length and 36 kg in weight) reaches the Western American ptychocheilus (Ptychoche-ilus), and the largest number (about 100 species) is represented by the genus Shiner , or Notropis (Notropis), widespread east of the Rocky Mountains.

The genus Roach (Butilus) is widely distributed in fresh and brackish waters of Europe and North Asia, and in America it is replaced by the American roach (Hesperoleucus). Roach is characterized by a terminal or semi-lower mouth, single-row pharyngeal teeth. It contains 7 or 8 species. To the genus of dace (Leuciscus) we have proper dace, chub, ide, Amur chebak, Far Eastern rudd, or Ugai. Fish of this genus have a relatively short anal fin, medium-sized scales, and two-row pharyngeal teeth. The genus contains about 50 species distributed in Europe (13 species), Asia (18 species, including 3-4 species of Euro-Asian), western and partly eastern North America (22 species). The most widespread are dace, chub and ide, represented in different parts of Europe and Asia, in addition to the main form, by local forms - subspecies. Close to roach, the genus Mountain Yelets (Oreoleuciscus), or, as they are also called, Altai Ottomans, is a peculiar group of carp fish. They have a limited distribution, inhabit the inland waters of Northwestern Mongolia, drainless lakes of the Mongolian Gobi, Southeastern Altai, some lakes of the Tuva Autonomous Republic and the upper reaches of the Ob (Chuya, a tributary of the Katun, and the Biya basin). In fish of this genus, sexual dimorphism is well expressed, in addition, the appearance of mountain dace changes greatly with age: for example, the relative size of the head increases greatly (unlike most cyprinids), and the position of the mouth changes. Altai Ottomans have a moderately elongated body, covered with small scales; along the lateral line the scales are somewhat larger. The mouth occupies a terminal or semi-lower position, but there are individuals with an upper mouth. The pharyngeal teeth are single row. Gill rakers are short, but can be thin, elongated. Altai Ottomans live in fresh and brackish lakes, as well as in rivers. Sometimes they are the only representatives inhabiting a particular lake, for example Lake Terekhol. The locals call this lake Osman. The largest size of mountain dace is 61 cm (lakes in the Chui river basin). There are 5 species in this genus, but some researchers consider them to be forms of the same species. The minnow genus (Phoxinus) contains a number of small (up to 20 cm) river and lake species. The body of minnows is covered with very small scales, the anal fin is short, and the pharyngeal teeth are two-row. The minnow genus unites about 10 species distributed in the fresh waters of Europe and North Asia. There are 8 species in Russia. The way of life of minnows is quite diverse. Most of them live in streams with clean, clear water, but there are those who prefer to live in heavily overgrown reservoirs with stagnant water, low oxygen content, such as lake minnow. The genus Rudd (Scardinius) contains two species: rudd (within Russia) and Greek rudd (S. graecus) in the lakes of southern Greece. The genus White Amur (Ctenopharyngodon, with one species of C. idella) is widespread in East Asia from the river. Amur to South China. Asps (genera Aspius, Aspiolucius, Pseudaspius) are predatory carp fish belonging to different genera. They all have a lot in common in body shape and lifestyle. The body is elongated, covered with rather small, densely set scales. True asps (genus Aspius) include common asp, or sheresper (A. aspius). and the second species of this genus (A. vorax), which is found in the river. Tiger. Pike asps (genus Aspiolucius) include two species: bald (A. esocinus) - a typical river species that lives in the flat course of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya, and Vietnamese bald (A. harmandti), living in the rivers of Vietnam. It differs from the common asp in its strongly flattened head and small eyes. Lysach Verkhovki (Leucaspius) - small fish, with relatively large scales, incomplete lateral line. There are 2-3 species of verkhovkas living in the reservoirs of Central and Eastern Europe and Transcaucasia. Tench (genus Tinea, with one species T. tinea) got its name from the word "molt", since, when taken out of water, it immediately changes color. Podust-like cyprinids are usually characterized by a transverse lower mouth; the lower jaw in many genera is pointed and covered with a cartilaginous sheath. The dorsal and anal fins are small (7-12 branched rays), usually without spines. There are no mustaches. The intestine is long, its length is 2-5 times the length of the body of the fish. Podust-like feed mainly on algal fouling of stones and detritus. This group of genera is common in Europe and North America. It includes European and American podusts. In European podusts (Chondrostoma), the mouth has the appearance of a transverse slit. The lower jaw is lined with cartilage and slightly pointed. The pharyngeal teeth are single-row, but shaped like, located 6 on each pharyngeal bone. The body cavity is lined with black epithelium. The genus Podust includes 18 species. 8-9 genera with 25 species belonging to the podust group lives in North America. Of these, the genus Hybognathus (9 species) is especially rich in species, in which the length of the intestine exceeds the length of the body by 3-10 times. The remarkable American genus Campostoma (Campostoma) adjoins the same group. The length of the intestines of the campostoma is 6-9 times greater than the length of the body of the fish; the intestines are surrounded by the swim bladder and the gonads (ovaries) in spiral turns, like a solenoid winding around the core. A similar structure of the viscera is observed among fish only in campostoma. Minnow-like cyprinids are small fish with a slender body, a short anal fin, no spines in the fins, and a short intestine. Most species have antennae. This includes pseudo-parsing and several genera of minnows. Gudgeon-like cyprinids are especially numerous and diverse in China, where there are at least 10 genera with 53 species. In Europe, minnows are represented by only one genus (Gobio) with 3-4 species. There are no minnows in South Asia and America. In Russia, there are 11 genera and 20 species of gudgeon-like fish, of which 11 genera with 14 species are found only in the Far East.

Minnows (genus Gobio, Gnathopogon, Pseudogobio, Paraleucogobio, Chilogobio, Saurogobio, Rostrogobio, Sarcochilichthys, Ladislavia, Gobiobotia) are mostly small fish that feed mainly on bottom animals, as well as phytobenthos. Many of them are easy to see, beautifully colored and of interest to aquarists. True minnows (Gobio) are the most widely distributed. They are found in Europe, in the rivers and some lakes of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Siberia, in the Amur basin, in the rivers of China, Korea. Representatives of other genera are found in the Amur basin, in the rivers of China, Korea, Japan, and in the lakes of Mongolia. There are about 20 species in this genus. Barbel-like cyprinids are numerous in the mountain rivers of North Africa and South Asia, and are also common in Central and Southern Europe, Western, Central and East Asia. They have short dorsal and anal fins (5-8 branched rays), and some have a serrated spine in the dorsal fin: most have antennae; the mouth is usually inferior or semi-inferior, and in many species the lower lip is covered with a cartilaginous sheath. The pharyngeal teeth are three-row. This group includes horses, barbels, marins, labeos, puntiuses, cirrins, katly, etc. Some reach a large size, over 1-1.5 m. Horses (Hemibarbus) look like barbels, but even more resemble minnows that have grown to oversized. In the corners of the mouth they have one pair of antennae; the dorsal fin has a smooth spine. There are 4 species in this genus, distributed in Mongolia (Lake Buir-Nur), in the Amur basin, in Korea, Japan, China, including Taiwan. Within Russia, in the Amur basin, two types of horses live. Barbels (Barbus) have two pairs of whiskers: one in the corners of the mouth, the other on the upper jaw. The dorsal fin has a serrated or, more rarely, smooth spine; three-row pharyngeal teeth are characteristic. This is the most extensive genus in terms of the number of species, its representatives are found in the tropical fresh waters of Africa, Asia and, to a lesser extent, in the temperate waters of Europe. Large representatives are of commercial importance. Some, such as B. cornaticus and B. hexagonalis, are grown in pond farms in India. In our waters there are 9 species of barbel found in the basins of the Black, Azov, Caspian and Aral seas. Among them there are river, passing and lake species. Khramuli (genus Varicorhinus) are also close to barbels. They differ in that the mouth opening occupies a lower position, has the form of a transverse slit. The lower jaw is pointed, often covered with a horny cap and serves to scrape off vegetation. The pharyngeal teeth are three-rowed, their crowns are strongly compressed, spatulate. The dorsal fin has a spine, often serrated along the posterior edge. Usually one pair of antennae, but sometimes two. The peritoneum is black, the intestines are long: 5-6 times the length of the body. About 25 species are found in Africa, Asia Minor, Transcaucasia, Syria, Iran, Turkmenistan, the Aral Sea basin, North India, South China. Very close to the barbels are the Puntiuses (genus Puntius), which until recently did not separate from the barbels. Unlike the barbels, most types of puntius do not have antennae at the corners of the mouth and are small in size, no more than 10 ate in length. Puntius are widespread, diverse and numerous in the fresh waters of Africa, India, Ceylon, China, Indochina and Indonesia.

In a special genus Barbodes (Barbodes) allocate four-horned Puntius. Close to barbels and numerous in Africa, India and Burma Labeo (Labeo), also common in Syria, China, Indochina and Indonesia. In body shape, the species of this genus are similar to barbels, from which they are well distinguished by the structure of the mouth. The mouth of the labeo is usually lower, transverse or crescent-shaped. The lips are thick, lined on the inside with a fine horny coating; in the corners of the mouth there are folds with horny edges, and in front of the upper lip, many have a special lobe hanging from the snout. With the help of such a device, the mouth turns into a kind of scoop with a suction apparatus; many labeos dig in soft silt, sucking in organic residues along with the organisms in it. The snout is usually protruding, often covered with papillae. Cirrhines (Girrhina) have similar features and lifestyle to the Labeo. This genus includes 8-10 species distributed in India, Burma, China, Indochina. Cirrhines are distinguished by a wide transverse mouth with poorly developed lips. The lower jaw is rather sharp, with a small tubercle in the middle, devoid of any horny covering. Antennae small, 1-2 pairs, but may be absent. Scales are large, medium, small. Gill rakers are short. It is also necessary to mention the widespread in South Asia and Africa, but absent in our waters mainly predatory cyprinids - barylia. Barilians (genus Barilius) differ from barbels in their large terminal mouth and low lateral line. Most species have transversely elongated dark spots or stripes on their sides. Barilia hunt for fish fry, usually kept in small flocks. Not reaching large sizes (the length of most species does not exceed 8-25 cm), they themselves play a significant role in the diet of predatory fish in Africa; local fishermen widely use them as good bait. Purely pelagic plankton-eating fish are Engraulicypris living only in African lakes. These are small fish, up to 10 cm long, somewhat reminiscent of anchovy or anchovy in appearance, which is reflected in their Latin name. Their snout is protruding and pointed, like an anchovy; big eyes; a short dorsal fin is located above the anal. The back is light yellow-brown, the sides and belly are cast in silver. In water, they are almost transparent, except for a bright yellow tail. Engrauliciprises stay in flocks at the very surface of the water, feed on falling insects and their larvae living in the water. Insects at different stages of the life cycle and plankton are the main food of these interesting fish. Several species of engraulicipris are known. Of great interest are the blind cave barbels living in Africa (Coecobarbus - in one of the caves of the Congo, Eilichthys and Phreatichthys - in the underground water basins of Somalia). These fish are blind, their skin is completely colorless and devoid of scales.

Discognaths, garras, discolabeos and several other genera are very peculiar, distinguished by the presence of a special sucker in the form of a small disk on the lower jaw, directly behind the lower lip. These fish have adapted to life in fast mountain streams, in oxygen-rich water. They are common in Western, South and Southeast Asia and Northeast Africa. Discognaths (Discognathichthys) are small, up to 10 cm, fish with a peculiar biology. They have a lower mouth, semicircular or transverse; the lower jaw is pointed and covered with cartilage; the upper jaw also has a cartilaginous lining. The upper lip is thin, the lower one is more or less developed at the corners of the mouth, and a pair of antennae is also located there. The most characteristic sign is the presence on the chin of a kind of suction disk with a free rear edge. Thanks to the suction disk, these fish can live in very fast mountain streams. Among other adaptive features for life in such reservoirs, a small swim bladder can be noted. Species of this genus live in the mountain streams of Asia, Abyssinia. Garrs (genus Garra) are very close to discognaths, but have two pairs of antennae. The ventral fins are enlarged, fan-shaped, the ventral surface of the external rays is changed, which ensures the suction of fish to rocks, pebbles and other objects in mountain streams and rivers. The way of life is the same as that of discognaths.

A special group of split-bellied, or marinka-like, cyprinids includes marinki, osmans, nagortsy and several other genera, including about 30 species of fish. In fish of this group, the anus and the anterior part of the anal fin are bordered by folds of skin that form a slit or "cleft". The scales on the folds of the skin are enlarged compared to the scales on other parts of the body and form a kind of border on the sides of the "split". The bellies are found only in the waters of Central and Central Asia from Turkmenistan and Eastern Iran in the west to Yunnan. Scatter-bellies live in mountain rivers and lakes. Probably, many of the features that characterize these fish arose as important adaptations to life in mountain waters. It is assumed that "split" is important during spawning on fast currents and rocky ground, and the black peritoneum plays the role of a screen that protects the sex glands from excessive exposure to ultraviolet rays, which are so abundant in highland areas. Within the group, features of specialization are clearly visible, which are clearly manifested in species that have climbed higher into the mountains. Specialization goes in the direction of reducing the number of rows of pharyngeal teeth, antennae, and scale cover. The least specialized are marinkas. Marinka (Schizothorax) are common in the rivers flowing from the Kopetdag, the upper reaches of the Syrdarya and Amudarya basins, in the basin of Lake Balkhash, the river. Tarim, in the upper reaches of the rivers of India, Indochina, in the Yangtze and the lakes of Tibet. Although the marinkas rise quite high in the mountains, they do not reach the typical mountainous areas, but inhabit lakes, middle courses of rivers and foothills. Small scales completely cover the body, the lateral line is complete. The pharyngeal teeth are three-row. The last, unbranched ray in the dorsal fin in most species is a rather weak spine with barely visible denticles (denticles are more noticeable in young specimens). The color of the body varies greatly, but grayish-yellowish, olive-greenish tones, characteristic of bottom-dwelling fish, predominate. Ottomans (Diptychus) differ in the nature of the scale cover. The body of the Ottomans is covered with small, non-overlapping scales, sometimes so few and very scattered that they can be found only above the base of the pectoral fins. And only along the lateral line the scales are located throughout the entire length of the body. The pharyngeal teeth are two-row. Mouth lower, with one pair of barbels at the corners of the mouth. Within our country there are 2 species. Uplanders (Schizopygopsis) include about 20 species of fish, very close to the Ottomans, but differing from the latter in the absence of antennae. The body is almost naked, the scales are preserved only along the lateral line, at the base of the pectoral fins, framing the "split".

Quite a few species of carp fish belong to the group of bream-like. Almost all fish of this group have a keel not covered with scales on the belly: the anal fin is elongated, having from 10 to 44 branched rays; no jagged spiny ray in dorsal and anal fins; no antennae; intestine is short. In the composition of this group, predominantly demersal, usually more or less high-bodied benthic-eating and living mainly in the upper layers and in the water column, plankton-eating fish are distinguishable, which are distinguished by a lower purlin body. Benthivorous bream-like fish - inhabitants of the temperate waters of Europe, Central Asia, are also found in North America (American breams of the genus Notemigonus, close to European ones). In our waters, they are represented by European bream, silver bream, syrt and fish, razor. European breams (Abramis, in the genus 3 species - bream, white-eye, blue bream) are characterized by a laterally compressed body and a long anal fin containing from 15 to 44 branched rays. On the belly, between the anal and ventral fins, there is a keel, not covered with scales. Pharyngeal teeth single row, 5 on each side. The caudal fin is strongly notched, the lower lobe is longer than the upper one. Breams are common in Central and Northern Europe, in the Caucasus, in the Aral Sea basin and in Asia Minor.

Shemai, bleaks, and bystrianka are predominantly planktivorous fish. The leathery keel on their belly, which is not covered with scales, is small and in shemai it usually does not reach half the distance between the anal fin and the base of the ventral fins. The lower jaw protrudes forward. Shemai (Chalcalburnus) are a bit like bleaks, but reach larger sizes, 22-40 cm. Several species with many subspecies belong to this genus, distributed in the basins of the Black, Caspian and Aral Seas, in Lake Van, in the Tigris and Euphrates basins and in Southern Iran. Bleaks (Alburnus) have an elongated, rather laterally compressed body and a relatively long anal fin (10-20 branched rays). Between the ventral and anal fins, the belly is pointed and bears a keel in the form of a thin leathery fold, not covered with scales. The lateral line has the form of a gentle arc. The pharyngeal teeth are two-row. The scales are relatively large, thin and delicate, with a light touch it falls off and sticks to the hands, which was the reason for their name. There are about 6 species distributed in Europe, the Caucasus, Asia Minor, Syria and Northern Iran. Quicksands (Alburnoides) are close to bleaks, but differ from them in a higher body, non-serrated pharyngeal teeth. This genus includes several species that live in the waters of Europe, Western and Central Asia. The chehon-like cyprinids have, like the bream-like ones, a keel on the belly not covered with scales. The coloration of most is silver; the lateral line is usually curved downwards, in some it is straight. Most have three-row teeth, a few have two-row teeth. There are no mustaches. The swim bladder is bifid or tripartite. The caviar is semi-pelagic. 24-25 genera and about 80 species belong to the chehon-like ones. Most live in the rivers of Southeast Asia, only one sichel is common in Europe and in the Aral Sea basin. Bleak, or skygazers (Culter, not to be confused with bleak - Alburnus), have a well-defined keel on the belly, not covered with scales, stretching from the pectoral fins to the anus. They have an upper mouth. Sharp belly (Hemiculter) - small fish found in the Amur basin, in the rivers of China, Vietnam, West Korea. The genus contains 4-5 species.

Very close to European sichel are Indian sichel (genus Oxygaster, Chela), up to 10 species of which live in the rivers of India, Pakistan, Burma, Indochina. They do not reach the size of sabrefish, usually up to 15-25 cm long. They are important as larvicidal fish, destroying mosquito larvae, and are valued as tasty fish. Blackbellies (Xenocypris) outwardly resemble the common podust, but differ in that the last unbranched ray of the dorsal fin is strongly thickened and turned into a smooth spike, flexible at the top. The pharyngeal teeth are three-row. The length of the black bellies does not exceed 30 cm. Four species of this genus are known in China. Yellowfin (Plagiognathops) is close to the black-bellies (which are often also called yellowfins), but its color is brighter. Skygazers (genus Erythroculter) have a keel on their belly behind their pelvic fins. Rasbora is common in East Africa, South and East Asia, the Philippines and Indonesia. In total, about 30 species of rasbor are known, with more than half from Indonesia. Danio and Brahidanio (genus Danio, Brachidanio) are distributed almost throughout India (except for the northern part), Burma, Malaysia and Indonesia. These are small, slender, very mobile schooling fish, usually equipped with two pairs of antennae. Many species are very beautiful and are popular with aquarists. These fast moving fish should be kept in elongated aquariums, well planted with plants, at a water temperature of 22-24°C, in winter at 18-21°C. Zebrafish species are distinguished by a slightly higher body, large sizes, up to 10-15 cm; a complete lateral line and a large number of rays in the dorsal and anal fins. Ezomus (genus Esomus) - small fish of heavily overgrown small fresh water bodies of India, Burma, Indochina. They are characterized by two pairs of very long thin antennae, the length of which in some species exceeds half the length of the body. There are about 5 species of esomus, reaching a length of 6 to 15 cm. These are small fish with a rather high, laterally compressed body, an elongated dorsal fin (8-14 branched rays) and a short anal fin. Their pharyngeal teeth are single row. There are 5 genera of mustards with 24 species. Only one of them is common in Europe, all the rest live in the waters of East Asia - in the Amur basin, in China, Korea, and Japan.

In carp-like cyprinids of our fauna, the dorsal fin is long (11-22 branched rays), the anal fin is short (5-8 rays). The last, unbranched ray in the dorsal and anal fins is notched. The intestine is long, 1.5-2 times longer than the body. This includes carp and carp. Carp (Cyprinus) are distinguished by a wide, thick body, covered with dense large scales, and a long, slightly notched dorsal fin. The dorsal and anal fins each have a jagged bone ray, and a pair of antennae each in the corners of the mouth and on the upper lip. The pharyngeal teeth are three-rowed, with flat, furrowed corollas. They easily grind plant tissues, destroy seed coats, and crush shells of mollusks. This genus includes three species: two live in the fresh waters of China, and the third species - carp - has a very wide range. Carp (Carassius) are represented by two species that, like carp, have a long dorsal fin, spiny rays in the dorsal and anal fins, but differ in the absence of antennae and single-row pharyngeal teeth. Quite apart from the groups (subfamilies) of cyprinid fish described above are the thick-browed ones. Silver carps differ from all other cyprinids in the shape of the head, with a wide, convex forehead and low-set eyes, shifted to the sides of the head below the middle of its height. They are also characterized by small scales, a short dorsal fin, and the absence of spiny rays in the dorsal and anal fins. This group includes the Amur silver carp, or tolbiga, the South Chinese motley silver carp, and, apparently, the tinnichts of India, Indochina, the islands of Kalimantan and Sumatra. Tinnichthys are common in India (one species), Thailand and Indonesia (3 species). Indian tinnicht, or sandkhol (T. sandkhol), is a silvery fish with a reddish head, reaching sexual maturity at a length of 30.5 cm and spawning in rivers when they become full-flowing during monsoon rains (June - September).

Carp is the most famous, but far from the only species of fish from the carp family. There are more than 2 thousand species of cyprinids in the world, including aquarium ones. They are common in Russia, Africa, Asia, North America and Europe. The habitat of this large family includes both tropical and temperate zones and even the Arctic Circle. The carp family includes fish of commercial value.

There are over 2,000 species in the carp family.

General information

The carp family has a common distinguishing feature - the absence of teeth in the jaws. The teeth are located inside the pharynx on the pharyngeal bones. The process of eating food involves taking food and pushing it inward, where the grinding takes place. The oral cavity is mobile, the lips are flat, fleshy. Many individuals have one pair of antennae above the upper lip (except for the eight-whiskered gudgeon, it has 4). The swim bladder is very powerful, contains 2, rarely 3 sections. The body is covered with large scales or completely naked, which is not so common.

During spawning, the female lays her eggs on flat stones or algae leaves. Eggs usually have a viscous sticky structure with rare exceptions. For example, in white carp, future offspring drift in a stream of water.

The carp family is a commercial fish, even medium-sized species are popular with breeders and fishermen. About half of the known species are bred in artificial reservoirs for further sale. . These include:

• carp;
• rudd;
• vobla;
• silver carp, etc.

Barbs are aquarium fish from the carp family.

Ornamental aquarium fish are no less popular. The history of their breeding has been going on for more than a dozen years. It is known that the first mention dates back to the 1st century AD. For the first time, Japanese specialists took up the selection, and then the Chinese. The list of aquarium breeds includes:

• goldfish;
• brachydanio;

The sizes of natural inhabitants range from 6 to 300 cm in length. This spread is characterized by a variety of species of cyprinids. But large representatives (more than 80 cm) are not so common. The most common species are medium in size. Dimensions mainly depend on the continent of habitat. So, North America is inhabited by small representatives, while in the middle zone of Eurasia, larger fish with a length of about 20–150 cm predominate.

The color can be different, the most common are light greenish and golden hues. But breeding species, bred artificially, surprise with a variety of colors. Colored representatives of the natural environment are found in the tropical strip.

living conditions

Cyprinids are predominantly freshwater species. Although there are some varieties that tolerate the salt water of the Azov or Baltic Sea. And the Far Eastern rudd is able to live comfortably even in the waters of the ocean. But absolutely all cyprinids go to fresh waters for spawning.

Fish of this family are considered to be heat-loving., but some breeds adapt to climatic conditions, otherwise they could not spread beyond the Arctic Circle. And on the territory of Russia, where winters are often severe, they could not survive.

Fish of the carp family are considered to be heat-loving

The main condition for choosing a reservoir for living is the presence of a large amount of food. Cyprinids are predators for the most part, which means they have excellent appetite or even gluttony. Everything goes into the diet:

• small fish;
• insects;
• plants;
• cereals;
• larvae;
• crustaceans;
• various plankton.

The peak of gluttony falls on the warm season. With a sharp drop in temperature, the appetite of fish decreases. In the winter months, the intensity of nutrition drops to a minimum and returns to normal only with the advent of spring.

Varieties of freshwater fish

There are countless species of freshwater fish from the Karpov family, almost all representatives live in fresh water. But still, a list of varieties that are especially popular can be distinguished.

carps in nature

This group is of great interest to Russian fishermen and breeders. Fish meat is white, fatty, not bony. Suitable for frying and baking, as well as for drying and drying. There are three types:

Common features of carp are large size, similarity in appearance and omnivorous. There is active reproduction and catching of fish, often turning into poaching. An active struggle is being waged against him, but not always successful.

Large sizes are considered common features of carps.

Other species in the natural environment

Other species are also carp-shaped, differ in external characteristics and territory of residence:

Fish have different sizes, but everyone is subjected to mass fishing. Some are allowed on the ram, others on the bait. Some of them are bred in artificial reservoirs due to their pronounced taste and usefulness.

Aquarium cyprinids

Breeders managed to bring out a lot of aquarium "carps", which are also predators and have a pronounced temperament. But their size is modest, and they hunt only for live food, less often for small neighbors:

Of course, there are many more carp fish, but it is quite difficult to describe them all. The presented 15 species are popular among the Russian population and have characteristic features of the carp family.

Although cyprinids are considered the most common commercial fish, among them there are endangered species listed in the Red Book. To date, there are 8 of them: black Amur bream, black carp, Russian bystrianka, small-scaled yellowfin, yellow-cheeked, Dnepropetrovsk barbel, carp, Azov-Black Sea shenaya. Half of them are endangered.

The expanses of water in Western Siberia are vast; they have long been famous for their fish wealth. None of the rivers of our country has such a wide variety of valuable fish as the Ob. Sturgeon and sterlet, nelma and many whitefish are found here: whitefish, peled, vendace and others. In addition, in the Ob and its tributaries - and our Tom is also its tributary. Now in the rivers, where natural conditions are favorable for the life and development of fish, their species composition is diverse: taimen, lenok, whitefish, dace, burbot, pike, chebak, ide,perch, ruff, gudgeon, char, loach and others. In mountain rivers grayling. They enter our rivers for spawning from the lower reaches of the Ob sturgeon, nelma, muksun. All three species are found in Kiya, they also penetrate into Tom, and nelma and a small number of sturgeons enter through Chulym and Yaya.

Our rivers are beautiful - Tom, Kiya, Yaya, Golden Kitat, Mras-Su, Uryup, Ters ... Their banks are rocky, the reaches are quiet, the rifts are fast. They are beautiful and have always been rich in fish. If we give a brief “fish description” of the large rivers of Kuzbass, then we will make many discoveries.

In Kiev For example, nelma, taimen, lenok lived and gave offspring from the salmon family, and sturgeon and sterlet from the sturgeon family. There were also whitefish here. To Yayu fish of the same breeds came to spawn.

And now we have in Tom occasionally there are taimen, lenok and, as an exception, whitefish.

In the rivers of Kuzbass used to be commercial pike, ide, burbot, roach, dace, crucian carp, tench. And from low-value and “weedy” species, perch, ruff, gudgeon and minnows are still found in abundance.

place spawning Most of our fish are shallow coastal areas covered with soft vegetation and well warmed by the sun. Caviar is deposited on last year's vegetation, roots and other underwater objects. After fertilization, the eggs stick tightly to the grass until the fry come out of them. The start of spawning depends on the water temperature. Usually at the end of April-beginning of May, sometimes even under the ice, pike spawning begins. She lays eggs at a depth of 30-70 centimeters. After 10-12 days, larvae up to a centimeter in size emerge from the eggs. The ide spawns behind the pike, which gathers in large shoals and goes to the spawning grounds. The ide prefers to spawn along the slopes of the hollows, where there is a current. Right behind the ide, and sometimes together with it, dace spawns. His spawning takes place in areas of a flooded floodplain with vegetation or on sandy, rocky soil in the channel of the river itself. After the dace, the perch spawns. He hangs eggs in the form of gelatinous ribbons on roots and last year's vegetation.

In the second half of May, the spawning of chebak (roach) begins, at a water temperature of 9-10 degrees.

heat-loving fish- bream, crucian carp, tench spawn in June, when the water warms up to 14-15 degrees. Bream spawns and usually migrates in flocks, spawning usually occurs in the same place. But crucian does not lay eggs immediately, but in portions, sometimes until August.

Valuable fish species, such as sturgeon and sterlet, spawning is carried out in June, when the water temperature is already 18-20 degrees. Spawning at the sturgeon continues until the end of July. He lays eggs on rocky, pebbly ground, in a fast current. As a rule, the size of our Siberian sturgeon is 130-150 centimeters, the weight is from 12 to 24 kilograms. And it feeds on bottom organisms, sometimes exterminating juveniles and eggs of other fish.

Nelma spawns before freezing, in the second half of September and early October, at a water temperature of 2-7 degrees. Lives up to 23 years, feeds mainly on fish. The average size of nelma is 55-110 centimeters, and the weight ranges from 3 to 12 kilograms. Muksun spawns even later - in October-November - on a sandy, pebbly bottom, at a water temperature below 4 degrees. Its average weight is 1.6-1.8 kilograms, length is 70-75 centimeters.

"Weedy" fish- ruff, minnow, gudgeon - in the spring they mainly eat caviar laid by other fish.

During spawning, fish lay a huge number of eggs. So, pike spawns up to 200 thousand eggs at a time, perch - up to 300 thousand, sturgeon - up to 700 thousand, but out of all this amount, single fish survive to adults. Imagine: in order for one bream to live to a commercial size, 16-50 thousand eggs are needed! Therefore, it is necessary to protect spawning grounds in every possible way.

For reproduction, fish choose floodplain places - areas flooded with water in spring. Here, in well-heated water, fertilized eggs begin to develop rapidly, and after 7-9 days larvae appear, which gradually turn into mobile fry. As soon as the water decline begins, the grown and strengthened fry gradually roll into the main reservoirs.

In our region, in the floodplains of the rivers Tom, Ini, Kiya, there are many small lakes that “burn” in winter, that is, the fish in them suffocate under the ice and die from lack of oxygen.

In recent years, we have observed encouraging phenomena - fish that have not lived here before have taken root in our reservoirs. It is no longer uncommon to catch in Tom zander, it is now found much higher than Krapivinsky. In the same places, bream and carp began to come across, and even whitefish with nelma. But so far in the region, pond fish farms are mainly engaged in the acclimatization of new fish.

In the Belovskoye reservoir they deliver white carp and silver carp. These fish are herbivorous and at first they will play the role of ameliorators, and in the future they will acquire commercial importance. In addition to silver carp and grass carp, in the Belovskoye reservoir, over time, there will be bream.

Some types of fish get along well in rivers, and in lakes, and in ponds - pike, chebak, ide, perch, ruff. Tench, crucian live only in lakes and ponds.

Tom's fish stocks were significant until relatively recently. In its cold clear waters, excellent breeding conditions were found for muksun, which came from the Ob in large herds, nelma, peled, taimen, uskuch, grayling ... In other years, the total catch of fish in Tom came up to 3,000 centners, including more than 500 centners of salmon alone.

Now in the Kemerovo region fishing practically not carried out, except for two or three fish procurement organizations that catch no more than 500 centners of fish a year. Most of this catch falls on Lake Bolshoy Berchikul, and now only about 50-70 centners are caught in Tom. Rivers are polluted by industrial effluents. Sturgeon, sterlet, nelma, grayling have become a rarity.

Recently, pond farming has been developed in the Kemerovo region, where a valuable breed of fish is bred - carps, which feed on aquatic plants and grow rapidly. Some carps grow up to five kilograms.

Fish of reservoirs of the Kemerovo region

Fish resources

The main fish resources of the Kemerovo region are concentrated in the rivers Tom (with tributaries), Kiya, Yaya, Chumysh, Belovskoye reservoir.

Sturgeon family

On the territory of the region there are 2 species: Siberian sturgeon and Siberian sterlet. Both species are rare, in need of enhanced protection, are listed in the Red Book of the Kemerovo region. The main habitat is the Kiya River. Fishing of both species is completely prohibited.

Siberian sturgeon

View Siberian sturgeon is listed in the Red Book of Russia

The species Siberian sturgeon is listed in the International Red Book

Siberian sturgeon forms semi-anadromous and freshwater forms. It lives in the rivers of Siberia from the Ob to the Kolyma and further to the Indigirka. The Siberian sturgeon has blunt (typical) and sharp-snouted forms. The maximum age of the Siberian sturgeon is 60 years. The Siberian sturgeon feeds on crustaceans, insect larvae, molluscs, and fish. The Siberian sturgeon forms a cross with the Siberian sterlet, the so-called bonfire.

Sterlet

The Sterlet species is listed in the Red Book of Russia

The Sterlet species is listed in the International Red Book

In Siberia, it is distributed in the Ob, Irtysh, and Yenisei. In Pyasina, Khatanga, Lena and further to the east. In most rivers there are sharp-snouted (typical form according to Berg) and blunt-snouted forms of sterlet. The largest weight of sterlet is 16 kg and length is 100-125 cm. Sterlet feeds on invertebrates, mainly insect larvae, sitting on sunken snags.

salmon family

There are 5 species in the area. The most numerous species is the taimen that lives in the Tom, Kiya and their tributaries.

Taimen

View Taimen is listed in the Red Book of Russia

Taimen differs from the Danube in a smaller number (11 - 12) of gill rakers. Small specimens have 8-10 dark transverse stripes on the sides of the body; small x-shaped and semilunar dark spots are common. During spawning, the body is copper-red. Taimen can reach 1.5 m and more than 60 kg of weight. The taimen is very widespread - it can be caught in all Siberian rivers, up to the Indigirka. Taimen never goes to sea, prefers fast, mountain and taiga rivers and clear cold-water lakes. Spawns in May in small channels. This large and beautiful fish is a desirable prey for the amateur fisherman.

Nelma

Nelma species is listed in the Red Book of Russia

Nelma species is listed in the International Red Book

Nelma or white salmon. Like whitefish, nelma has rather large, silvery scales and small caviar. But the nelma's mouth is big, like salmon's. Nelma is a large fish, up to 130 cm in length and 30-35 kg of weight. Its fatty meat is very tasty. This fish does not like salt water and, going out to sea, sticks to the desalinated estuarine spaces of the Arctic Ocean and the northeastern part of the Bering Sea. A significant part of our herd of nelma spends its whole life in the great Siberian rivers, making migrations from the mouth to the upper reaches.

Nelma lives in the basin of the Kiya River and its tributaries. Cases of capture in Tom are rare. A rare species in need of protection.

Lenok

View Lenok is listed in the Red Book of Russia

Lenok is the only species of its kind, it resembles whitefish more than other salmonids. His mouth is relatively small, like whitefishes. The eggs are also quite small. Lenok grows relatively slowly and rarely reaches 8 kg of weight, usually it is much less (2-3 kg in the 12th year of life). The color of the lenok is dark brown or blackish, with a golden tint. The sides, dorsal and caudal fins are covered with small rounded dark spots; during the spawning period, large copper-red spots appear on the sides. Lenok does not go to sea, he lives in the Siberian rivers from the Ob to the Kolyma, he is in the Far East in the Amur River and in all the rivers flowing into the Sea of ​​​​Okhotsk and the Sea of ​​​​Japan. Goes south to Korea. Like taimen, lenok is a voracious predator. Large lenoks, in addition to small fish, can eat frogs and mice swimming across rivers. He also eats large benthic invertebrates - larvae of stoneflies, caddisflies and mayflies. Like common taimen, lenok is an object of recreational fishing.

Lenok inhabits the small mountain rivers of the Kuznetsk Alatau and Mountain Shoria, preserved in the upper reaches of the Kiya. The species, which is on the verge of extinction, is listed in the Red Book of the Kemerovo Region. Needs enhanced protection. Fishing is completely prohibited.

Muksun

Muksun has from 44 to 72 stamens. This is a semi-anadromous whitefish, fattening in the desalinated coastal waters of the Arctic Ocean, from where it goes to spawn in the Karoo, Ob, Yenisei, Lena and Kolyma, without, however, rising high. Muksun in the sea feeds on amphipods, mysids and sea cockroaches. Occasionally, it reaches more than 13 kg of weight, its usual weight is 1-2 kg. Spawns in October - November before freeze-up, on rifts with flagstone and pebble bottom. Muksun is one of the most important commercial fish in Siberia, its catches are measured in tens of thousands of centners.

Pelyad

Peled species is listed in the International Red Book

The peled or syrka is easily distinguished from other whitefish by the terminal mouth, the upper jaw of which is only slightly longer than the lower, and a large number of gill rakers (49-68). The coloration of the peled is darker than that of other whitefishes; there are small black dots on the head and dorsal fin. It does not go out to sea, only occasionally getting caught in the slightly salty water of the Kara Bay. If the omul is a passing whitefish, and the tugun is mostly river, then the peled can be called lake

Muksun and peled are rare species that come from the Ob. Fishing is completely prohibited.

grayling family

Siberian grayling

The Siberian grayling differs from the European in the large size of the mouth (the upper jaw reaches approximately the middle of the eye). The teeth on the jaws are more visible. The coloration is the same as that of the European grayling, but varies greatly: light-colored forms are found in large rivers, and dark ones in small taiga streams. A typical Siberian grayling lives in the basins of the Kara (where it lives together with the European), Ob and Yenisei. To the south, it goes to the Altai mountain reservoirs and the river. Kobdo in North-Western Mongolia. The black grayling feeds mainly on the larvae of caddisflies, stoneflies and amphipods, and on occasion diversifies its menu with flying insects that have fallen into the water, and caviar of sculpins. The East Siberian grayling, which differs from the typical form in that its dorsal fin is shifted to the anterior end and the body is covered with smaller scales, reaches 44 cm in length. It inhabits the eastern part of Siberia, meeting in the rivers Pyasina, Taimyr, Khatanga, Lena, Yana, Indigirka, Alazeya, Kolyma and the rivers of the Chukotka Peninsula.

Siberian grayling is a widespread mass species that lives in the Tom, Kiya and their tributaries. Needs protection. Sports fishing is allowed.

pike family

Pike

The pike is common in the northern waters of Europe, Asia and America. The common pike is found in Russia in the basins of the Black, Azov, Caspian, Aral, Baltic, White, Barents Seas, the Arctic Ocean and the Sea of ​​Okhotsk (the Anadyr River, some rivers in the northwestern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula). It is absent only in lakes Issyk-Kul, Balkhash, in the reservoirs of the Crimea and the Caucasus, the Amur basin. The common pike reaches a length of more than 1.5 m, a weight of 35 kg or more. Keeps among thickets of aquatic vegetation. Body color is spotty, light stripes are located across and along the body. Depending on the nature and degree of development of the vegetation of the coastal zone, the pike has a gray-greenish, gray-yellowish or gray-brown color, the back is dark, the belly is whitish, with gray speckles. In some lakes there is a silver pike. Pike prefers slow-flowing rivers, lakes, tolerates acidic environment well. Pike has an elongated, arrow-shaped shape. The head is strongly elongated, the lower jaw protrudes forward, the teeth on the lower jaw are of different sizes and serve to capture the victim.

Pike is a widespread mass species. A valuable object for sports and recreational fishing.

Carp family.

The most numerous. There are 15 species in the region. 10 of them have economic value (dace, ide, roach, bream, silver carp, golden carp, carp, tench, white carp, silver carp).

The ide inhabits the waters of Central Europe and Siberia up to the Kolyma. An inexperienced fisherman can easily confuse the ide with roach or chub. But ide differs from roach in smaller scales, greenish-yellow iris; from the chub - a higher body, a relatively short head, crimson-red ventral and anal fins. In young ides, the color is more silvery than in older ones; with age, the back of the ide darkens greatly, but the sides and belly remain silvery, and the fins acquire a brighter color. The ide lives in large flat rivers, lakes and reservoirs. It is especially numerous in rivers with floodplain lakes. IDE juveniles feed on zooplankton and algae; older fish feed on higher vegetation, mollusks, insects falling into the water, and sometimes fish fry. The food of the ide is very diverse. The ide grows quite quickly. In some pond farms, an ide of yellow-red color, the so-called orfu, is bred. The Orff is very beautiful and is often kept as an ornamental fish in large bodies of water, such as pools with fountains or large aquariums.

Gudgeon

The minnow is the most famous species. It is found in almost all of Europe, except for its northern and southern parts, up to the upper reaches of the Lena, it is also found in the Amur basin, but is absent in other rivers along the Pacific coast. The common minnow lives in rivers with low or medium speed on sandy or pebbly soil, in streams and flowing ponds. It reaches a length of 22 cm, but is rarely larger than 15 cm. This is a small fish, well distinguished from other fish due to its external appearance: its body is greenish-brown above, silvery on the sides and covered with bluish or blackish spots, which sometimes merge into a continuous dark strip, the abdomen is silvery, slightly yellowish; the dorsal and caudal fins are dotted with dark dots, the others are greyish. Mustache at the corners of the mouth. This coloring well masks the gudgeon, a typical benthic; inhabitant, the color of the bottom.

golden crucian

The golden crucian carp differs from another species, the silver carp, by a smaller number of gill rakers on the first arc (for golden carp 23-33, for silver carp 39-50). The back of a crucian is usually dark brown, with a greenish tint; the sides are dark golden, sometimes with a copper-red tint; paired fins are slightly reddish. It is distributed in Central and Eastern Europe, as well as in Siberia to the river. Lena. Common crucian lives in swampy, overgrown reservoirs, in floodplain lakes, it is rare in rivers, keeps in areas with a slow current. Carp are distinguished by a special attachment to waters with silty soils. For the winter, crucian carp burrow into or survive even when, in cold, snowless winters, small stagnant ponds freeze to the very bottom.

Silver carp

Silver carp differs from ordinary crucian carp in a large number of gill rakers, silvery coloration of the sides and abdomen. Silver carp was introduced to North America, to the ponds of Western Europe, Thailand, and India. Recently, it has taken root perfectly and has become a commercial fish in Russia, in the lakes of Kamchatka. Compared to golden carp, it is more attached to large lakes and is found in large rivers. It usually grows somewhat faster than the common golden carp, reaches 45 cm in length and weighs more than 1 kg. In nutrition, zoo- and phytoplankton are quite important. Silver carp are bred in ponds where carp cannot live, or planted in carp ponds.

Dace

The common dace is distributed throughout Europe east of the Pyrenees and north of the Alps, in the Crimea, the Caucasus and the lower Volga, as well as throughout Siberia, except for the rivers of the Pacific Ocean basin. Yelets lives mainly in rivers, flowing lakes Siberian dace, also called chebak and megdym. Lives in rivers and flowing lakes from the Ob basin in the west to the Kolyma in the east, numerous in lakes Zaisan, Teletskoye, Baikal. The Siberian dace reaches 33 cm in length and weighs 350 g. It feeds on benthic animals, and the composition of its food varies significantly depending on the composition of benthos in different water bodies. For wintering, it enters massive rivers in bulk, and in the spring, even under ice, it begins to descend into the Ob.

Bream (a valuable commercial fish, more widespread than other species of this genus. In the north, the bream reaches the White Sea basin and the eastern part of the Barents Sea (Pechora River), acclimatized in the waters of Siberia (Lake Ubinskoye, Ob River), Kazakhstan (Lake Balkhash etc.). The bream prefers calm warm water with a sandy-silty and clay bottom and therefore is common in the bays of rivers, in lakes. The color of the bream varies depending on the age of the fish, the color of the soil and water in the reservoir. The small bream is gray-silver, in in older age it darkens and acquires a golden tint.In peat lakes, the bream has a brown color.

Tench

Tench got its name from the word "molt", as taken out of the water, it immediately changes color. Tench is distributed almost throughout Europe, in Siberia it is found in the middle reaches of the Ob and Yenisei. Its thick, rather wide body is covered with tightly fitting small scales, small bright red eyes are located on the head. The mouth is very small, with a short antennae at the corners of the mouth. Pharyngeal teeth single row, elongated into a small hook. The color of the tench depends on the color of the water of the reservoir where it lives; usually his back is dark green, his sides are olive green, with a golden sheen, in rivers and clear lakes he is always yellower than in shady, heavily overgrown ponds. Tench reaches 60 cm in length and 7.5 kg in weight. Tench prefers to stay in the bays of rivers and lakes, overgrown with reeds or soft underwater vegetation - urutya. He usually keeps alone. Before wintering, it gathers in flocks and hibernates in deep places, sometimes buries itself in silt. Tench feeds on small invertebrates.

Roach

The roach is found throughout Europe east of Southern England and the Pyrenees and north of the Alps; in the rivers and lakes of Siberia, in the basins of the Caspian and Aral Seas. Roach is easy to distinguish from other species by the orange color of the iris and the red spot in its upper part. Residential roach is found both in small rivers, almost streams, in ponds, and in large rivers, lakes, reservoirs, and quite often in each of these reservoirs it occupies one of the first places among other species in terms of numbers. Most of the food is algae, higher plants, larvae of various insects, mollusks and other organisms.

Cupid white

Amur white - a large fish, reaches more than 120 cm in length and 30 kg in weight. The dorsal coloration is greenish or yellowish-gray, the sides are dark golden. Along the edge of each scale (except those located on the belly) there is a dark rim. The belly is light golden. The dorsal and caudal fins are dark, all the rest are lighter. The rainbow is golden. The peritoneum is dark brown. Amur in adulthood almost exclusively consumes higher vegetation, both underwater and terrestrial, going out to floods and floodplain lakes (for which it is called grass carp). Two-row pharyngeal teeth, strongly serrated, with a longitudinal groove on the chewing surface, crush food well. The intestinal tract is long, 2-3 times the length of the body. Places where grass carp feed can be easily seen by the abundance of floating feces, reminiscent of the excrement of geese and ducks. Grass carp grows quickly, about 10 cm each year. When grown in ponds, grass carp is an omnivorous fish: it eats soft underwater vegetation, cuts off young shoots of hard vegetation - reed and cattail, willingly consumes top dressing from various terrestrial vegetation, plant leaves, vegetables; he also uses animal food - small fish, worms, insect larvae, and artificial food such as bran and cake. Especially promising is its cultivation in cooling ponds at thermal power plants, which are usually heavily overgrown with aquatic vegetation.

All species, except silver carp and grass carp, are widespread and numerous. They are the main objects of amateur and sport fishing.

The grass carp and silver carp are acclimatized in the Belovskoye reservoir, they are not found in other water bodies. They are objects of sports and recreational fishing. Species that have no economic value are widespread: gudgeon, verkhovka, minnow, Siberian char, Siberian loach.

catfish family

Catfish is a large fish, reaching 5 m in length and 300 kg in weight, inhabiting the rivers and lakes of Europe from the Rhine to the east. To the north, the catfish goes to the south of Finland, to the south to Asia Minor, the Caspian and Aral Seas and the rivers flowing into them. The color of the catfish is variable, usually olive green, almost black on the back, the belly is white, with irregularly shaped spots on the sides. A small reed form that lives in the southern part of the Aral Sea, intense black in color. The dorsal fin of the catfish is tiny, barely noticeable, there is no adipose fin. The upper jaw has two long antennae, the lower one has four shorter ones. The huge mouth of the catfish betrays a predator in it. Indeed, the catfish is a voracious predator that eats small fish, frogs, and large bivalves. There have been cases of attacks by catfish on waterfowl and dogs swimming across rivers. Yet the voracity of catfish is greatly exaggerated. Usually catfish stay in deep places, under snags, in whirlpools near dams. Large catfish is a desirable prey for an athlete fisherman. Usually catfish are caught in the summer, during a period of intensive feeding, on bottom fishing rods baited by a frog or crayfish neck, or on a track.

American channel catfish - acclimatized, lives in the Belovskoye reservoir.

Chukuchan family.

Representatives of this family - black buffalo and large-mouthed buffalo are also acclimatizers of the Belovsky reservoir. Both species are of great economic value. Rare species in need of protection.

Chukuchan

Chukuchan inhabits the waters of the Arctic Ocean basin in Eastern Siberia from Indigirka to the east and throughout North America, in the Bering Sea basin to the river. Anadyr. In the rivers of Siberia, it forms a Siberian subspecies (Chukuchan lives in fast rivers with a rocky bottom. It reaches a length of 60 cm. Males are smaller than females. It becomes sexually mature at 5-6 years. Spawning occurs in May - June. Caviar is quite large, about 2 mm in diameter. The nuptial attire of males is in the form of small epithelial tubercles on the rays of the anal fin.Juveniles feed on small invertebrates and diatoms, while adults feed on larger benthos.

Since ancient times, the rivers of Siberia have served as spawning grounds for valuable salmon and sturgeon. Currently, most spawning grounds in the Kemerovo region have lost their former importance for the reproduction of salmon and sturgeon herds due to pollution by industrial waste, gold mining, and gravel development.

The Kiya River remains the cleanest, as evidenced by the composition of the ichthyofauna (nelma, sturgeon, taimen, pike perch, burbot, in addition to the ubiquitous roach, dace, perch, pike).

Sports and recreational fishing have been developed in the region; Fishing was carried out only on Lake Bolshoi Berchikul and the Belovskoye reservoir.

In the 1980s, bream and pike perch were quite rare in ichthyological collections (observation point-kurya Lachinovskaya on the Tom river), now their numbers in Tom have increased dramatically.

According to the information of the Kemerovo fishery inspection, the number of taimen and grayling has increased in the region as a whole over the past few years.

In Tom now, cases of catching sturgeon, sterlet, nelma are not uncommon, although, of course, these species remain in the rare category.

Perch

The perch is one of nine genera of the perch family.

The common perch is dark green above, the sides are greenish-yellow, the belly is yellowish, 5-9 dark stripes stretch across the body, instead of which sometimes there are dark irregular spots; the first dorsal fin is gray with a black spot, the second is greenish-yellow, the pectorals are red-yellow, the ventral and anal are red, the caudal, especially below, is reddish. The color changes significantly, depending on the color of the soil;

Perch keeps mainly in places with a quiet current, shallow and medium in summer - mainly at shallow depths, in places heavily overgrown with aquatic plants, from where they rush to small fish, large perches always stay in deeper places. Perches are extremely predatory and voracious and eat all sorts of animals that they can only: small fish, fish eggs, insects, worms, tadpoles, crustaceans, especially amphipods, and large crayfish.

Burbot

Burbot is the only cod species that has moved from sea waters to fresh waters. The burbot has two dorsal fins, the first is small (9-16 rays), the second dorsal and anal reach the caudal fin, but do not merge with it. The head is somewhat flattened. The upper jaw protrudes forward. On the chin, the burbot has a well-developed antennae. The jaws and vomer are armed with bristle-like teeth. The body of the burbot is covered with small cycloid scales, deeply seated in the skin, secreting abundant mucus. Body color varies greatly; usually the dorsal side is green or olive-green, dotted with black-brown spots and stripes. The throat and belly of the burbot are grey. Burbot retained the cold-loving characteristic of the cod family. The burbot is especially numerous in the rivers of Siberia, where its industrial fishing exists. Burbot loves clean and cold waters, usually found on rocky soils. Sometimes it goes into the pre-estuary spaces of the rivers. Burbot breeds in winter under ice.