To which family does rotan belong? Rotan fish photo and description. Taste qualities and interesting facts. Can you eat rotan fish

Rotana is usually attributed to the firebrands. Rotan, in addition to the main, well-known name, has many others. It is called firebrand, grass and firebrand-rotan. And in the 20th century, rotan was called the Amur goby (photo of the fish below).

Appearance

Rotan has a short, medium-sized body covered with dull scales. The fish does not have any particular color, as it can change. The predominant color in the coloration is gray-green and dirty brown tones, the belly, as a rule, is painted in grey colour. On the body, rotan has small spots and irregularly shaped stripes. With the onset of the spawning period, the entire body of the rotan turns black.

Rotan has a large head and a huge mouth, in which there are several rows of small, but rather sharp teeth, which can be clearly seen in the photo below (the first photo is a front view, the second photo is a side view). On the gill covers, rotan has a characteristic perch-like spike, which is directed backwards. However, in rotan it is quite soft. The fins of the fish are also soft and do not have sharp spines. There are 2 fins on the back, with the back one having a slightly longer length.

Rotan has a very short anal fin. But the pectoral and caudal fins are quite large and have a rounded shape. In general, this fish is similar to representatives of the goby family. Distinctive feature rotana - ventral fins. He has them in pairs, located very close to the head and, when compared with the size of the fish, they are disproportionately small, when, like representatives of the goby family, they have one ventral fin resembling a sucker.

Rotan can grow up to 25 centimeters, but there are also small ones, as in the photo. However, the sizes can be different and depend on the habitat. Trophy-sized fish are very rare. The maximum life expectancy is 7 years. Average individuals live up to 5 years.

Distribution and habitats

Initially, rotan began to live in the waters of the Amur River basin, the Far East. Also rotan met in the northern regions North Korea and northeast China. The appearance of rotan in the 20th century in the waters of Lake Baikal is considered by most scientists to be biological pollution. And in 1916, rotan began to be bred in the reservoirs of St. Petersburg. In the future, this fish from these reservoirs spread throughout Northern Eurasia.

Today, the river Volga, Dnieper, Don, Dniester, Danube, Irtysh, Ural, Stir, Ob are rich in rotan. Also, this fish is rich in stagnant ponds. In such water bodies, as a rule, there are no suitable conditions for other predators. Rotan is widely distributed in floodplain water bodies, during the flood of rivers. Rotan is actively settled by humans.

Rotan is one of the most unpretentious fish that survives even in the dirtiest waters. Not afraid of freezing at all. There were cases when fish were found when cutting ice. When thawing, rotan comes to life and begins to swim. Such survivability of rotan is explained by the fact that it has the possibility of partial gas exchange through the skin.

Diet

Rotan is a predator. As a fry, the fish feeds on zooplankton. Then, growing up, it begins to eat small invertebrates and benthos. The menu of adults includes caviar, fish fry, leeches, newts, amphibian larvae (tadpoles). Cannibalism is also considered quite normal among rotans.

Rotan breeds quickly enough. In small reservoirs, where there are no other predators, rotan quickly multiplies and exterminates other types of fish. Thus, if its population is not restrained, then irreparable harm is done to the reservoir. In larger water bodies, the population of rotan is kept in check by other predators that prey on them. Rotan is a special delicacy for perch.

Due to the presence of a wide mouth, rotan can swallow quite large prey. When catching rotan, he very often swallows the bait. Rotan is very voracious and often does not know a sense of proportion. When the fish is full, it becomes three times as thick as its normal state. Saturated rotan goes to the bottom, where it can sit up to 3 days and digest food.

Rotan is a weedy fish that either crowds out other fish species or drastically reduces their population. Today, a search is underway for ways to reduce its population. In pond farms, rotan causes great harm by eating eggs and juveniles of valuable fish. Large rotan is an object recreational fishing. It bites perfectly on large worms, pieces of raw meat, as well as on small spinners and mormyshkas.

reproduction

Rotan reaches puberty in the second year of life. Spawning starts between May and July. An average female can lay up to 1,000 eggs. During the spawning period, males turn black, and a growth appears on their forehead. Females, on the contrary, are colored in White color, since in this guise it is better seen in troubled waters.

Rotan eggs have an oblong shape and are colored in yellow. Each egg has a threaded leg, thanks to which it is very firmly attached to the bed. Since the eggs hang freely and are constantly washed with water, their viability is greatly increased. Caviar is constantly guarded by males, who are always ready to defend their offspring from other predators. Rotan successfully protects eggs from tops and ruffs, but it obviously cannot cope with perch.

When the larvae begin to hatch from the eggs, very often the male himself swallows them. Among the rotans, this is a common struggle for survival. Firebrands can also live in slightly saline waters. However, they always go to fresh water to spawn.

An interesting activity can be to observe the life and habits of rotan in an aquarium. Even in artificial conditions, rotan shows the habits of a predator. He constantly hides in the vegetation, and attacks extremely quickly. Can move along the wall of the aquarium, as if polishing the glass, long time is upside down, freezes completely for a while in order to watch for prey and rush after it in pursuit.

Rotan is a weedy fish. Grows up to 25 centimeters. It lives almost everywhere, in all reservoirs of the northern part of Europe, this fish comes from the Far East. You can find rotan in the grass and among the snags. Rotan is a predatory fish, cannibalism is also developed.

Rotan is a fish of the firebrand family, the attitude towards which changed in different times. It was caught for dog food, the attention of amateur fishermen was riveted to it, as the only catch object, in pond farms it was believed that this fish causes irreparable damage, eating fry and everything that comes in its path. Nevertheless, rotan dishes are very tasty, and you should not neglect the catch.

It is believed that in European part fish "migrated" from the Amur basin, perfectly settled down here, especially in reservoirs where there are no other predators. But how to distinguish it?

What is Amur rotan

The body shape of the rotan is bull-shaped, however, it is distinguished from these individuals by the presence of two small ventral fins located closer to the head. Gobies have only one, resembling a sucker. In males, they are colored brighter than in females. The body is rather dense, covered with dark scales.

The scales are medium in size. The head is large, flattened, making up one third of the length of the entire body, also characterized by a massive mouth and sharp teeth arranged in several rows, canine teeth are absent. The lower jaw is extended forward. The fins are quite soft. The chest ones are larger, rounded, the tail ones are also rounded, and the back one is short.

Coloring

The color of the fish depends mainly on the habitat. It can be brown or gray-green, and in mating season becomes black. Its coloration is spotted or in the form of strips of irregular shape. The belly is usually grey.

Dimensions

The largest rotan reaches 25 centimeters in length. In the most comfortable conditions there is a fish weighing up to 800 grams, but such a catch is almost impossible to get. The average weight ranges from 250-300 grams. Average duration The life of these representative fish is about 4-5 years.

They grow gradually, in the first year of existence their dimensions reach 4 cm, in the second - 7 cm, in the third - 11 cm, in the fourth and fifth 13-15 cm. Individuals lay eggs by the age of two. This requires a water temperature of about 20 degrees. Caviar is deposited on bottom objects, after which the male guards it and juveniles. The larvae are about 5.5 mm in size.

habitats

The predator lives in ponds, swampy lakes. His lifestyle is sedentary. Hunts, hiding in thickets of plants. The fish is omnivorous, feeding on caviar, fry, leeches, tadpoles, newts and larvae of amphibians. Cannibalism is found among representatives of rotan, they eat the weakest individuals of their species.

The fish is not picky about habitat conditions and can withstand both the complete freezing of the reservoir in frosts in winter, and a significant decrease in the water level due to drought in summer. It adapts to oxygen starvation by burrowing into the silt, and its competitors, other predators, do not survive in such conditions. Some believe that Amur rotan completely exterminates other types of fish, but this is not so.

Practice shows that cohabitation of rotan, carp and crucian carp is acceptable. Well, in small reservoirs, rotan regulates the number of carp and stimulates it to grow. The fact is that in the absence of predators, crucian carp reproduces rapidly, there is not enough food for it, so individuals become smaller in size over time.

Living in large reservoirs together with its enemies - pike, pike perch and perch, it reaches a weight of up to 200 grams. Its numbers are also small in such habitat conditions. But anglers, if they have never caught rotan, have heard about it.

We catch rattan on bait

The voracity of rotan ensures its successful catching. He bites in any weather, almost without choosing bait. The main thing is that it fits him in size. The fish also rarely breaks, a strong mouth reliably captures the bait, it swallows it greedily.

Rubber baits such as silicone worms, rubber bloodworms or twisters are suitable for fishing. You can also use "edible rubber" as fish rely on their taste buds to find prey. When choosing a bait, you need to consider the size of the intended catch. Of course, it is not advisable to use baits for pike, as they, as a rule, are larger than rotans.

It is preferable to choose microjig. Silicone baits are attached to the hook without a weight, but you can also use a small pellet. When choosing a place for fishing, you need to focus on the presence of aquatic vegetation. It can be both coastal windows and distant ones. We throw the bait and wait until it sinks. You can twitch the rod a little so that it “comes to life”. After a complete immersion, it can be re-raised and re-immersed. Such actions will attract fish, and if it is nearby, it will definitely react.

It is better to cast the rod, starting from the shore, moving to distant clearings. Otherwise, the fish may be afraid of the movement of the bait through the thickets. Also, this type of fish lives in desert waters.

These are small, but clean places, the bottom of which is clearly visible. But if the fish is not visually observed, this does not mean that it is not there. It is enough just to lower the silicone or live worm, as shadows appear in the water. The fact is that the fish belly merges with the water background, and it becomes almost invisible. For such fishing, minnow wobblers are suitable, which slowly float up to 5 cm in size.

The use of spinners, spinners or oscillators is not entirely justified. Experienced fishermen claim that these devices are not to the liking of the fish. Also, sharp turns of the bait can scare him, so sometimes you can leave it to hang out completely without movement, this will definitely interest the fish, and it will decide to taste the prey.

We catch rotan with gear

You can use any tackle for fishing, but the best choice- This is a three-meter spinning rod, preferably ultralight. It must be equipped with an ultralight reel and a braided line instead of fishing line. Sometimes fish have to be dragged, clinging to bunches of underwater plants, so strength does not hurt.

It is better to choose a float of white-red color, it is noticed that these colors lure this type of fish more. Spinning fishing is very exciting, but very often it takes a lot of time, and there is no bite at all. This is where great joy comes from catching such fish as rotan.

Most often, the fish lies at a depth of about two meters, near bushes, blockages, and thickets. In winter, it lives under the ice during the days of a long thaw, when atmospheric pressure decreases. The principle of winter fishing is the same as for perch. Within 3-5 minutes, you can decide whether to continue fishing or move to a new place.

If there is a fish, it will immediately make itself felt. It is better to make several holes along the coast at a distance of about three meters from each other, then the same holes are made across so that they go away from the coast to a depth, in total it should turn out about 20. This is enough for successful fishing, since in winter time years, the fish are grouped into schools. Even from one hole you can catch enough rotan. Small individuals do not need to be thrown away, as their relatives can happily eat them. For winter fishing of rotan, shallow reservoirs are selected, in which the water quickly freezes.

Rotans are active from morning to evening. In winter, beef meat can be the easiest and most affordable bait, although bloodworms can also be used. A piece of beef lasts all day, usually they peck at the nozzle until it turns white, then you need to replace it with a new piece. They also react to pieces of raw fish, such as gobies. But, at the same time, you need to make sure that the skin is planted, and not the meat itself. Otherwise, the piece of meat loses its shape.

As bait, protein formulations have proven themselves well. Although some anglers manage to use breadcrumbs or oatmeal. So, you can attract other types of fish. You can attach beef cut into ribbons to a stone and lower it into water. The meat is frozen first. Such bait will provide a successful biting throughout the day.

Winter fishing for rotan is gaining great popularity in our country. Fish feel great in any body of water, quickly gaining weight, so their number is constantly growing. It is quite easy to catch it at any time of the year, because this type of fish bites on everything that moves. An interesting fact is that a fish frozen into the ice does not die, but continues to exist after thawing. This is one of the few species that has good survival and adaptability.

What to cook from rotan?

Fish has a decent taste, its meat contains many useful substances that have a beneficial effect on life human body. These are vitamins of the PP group, as well as fluorine, chlorine, nickel, chromium, sulfur, zinc, and molybdenum. The calorie content of the product is low, so we answer the question of whether it is possible to eat rattan, we answer that it can not only be eaten, but also included in the diet.

Cold snacks

Cold appetizers will always complement the festive table, but what to cook from ratans to make it tasty and beautiful?

Rotan with onions and carrots

Boil about 400 grams of fish (we clean it first, gut it, decapitate it and wash it). Add a pinch of salt, onion, carrot, Bay leaf, black peppercorns, greens. Cook until cooked, use the broth to cook fish soup, clean the fish from the bones and put it beautifully in a dish.

A carrot-onion mass is superimposed on top, which is prepared in the following way. Carrots, cut into noodles, are fried over low heat. At the same time, the onion is fried, after these ingredients are ready, they are combined, a spoonful of tomato paste, salt and pepper to taste are added. Before serving, the dish is decorated with herbs.

Salad "Duty"

We wash gutted small fish, but do not clean them from scales.

Stew in a pan for about 15 minutes, the meat is separated from the bones and kneaded with a fork. Green onions, mayonnaise, salt, green peas are added to the mass. Everything is thoroughly mixed.

Salad "Piquant"

It is prepared in the same way as the previous recipe, however, instead of peas and mayonnaise, hard-boiled eggs, pickled cucumber, vinegar and mustard are used.

Sprats

The fish cleaned from the insides and fins (there is no need to peel off the scales) are placed in layers in an enamel pan. Salt each layer, pour two tablespoons of vinegar and one tablespoon of vegetable oil, add a couple of bay leaves. Cook on the lowest heat for 5 hours, by which time the scales and bones should dissolve. Cool and put in glass jars, send them to the refrigerator.

What to cook first?

The first dishes from rotan are incredibly tasty and healthy, but what else can you cook besides fish soup?

ear

We clean the potatoes and carrots, cut into pieces, cook in a saucepan, in which we put black pepper, salt and bay leaf. After 10 minutes, add the cleaned and washed fish, sprinkle everything abundantly with herbs: parsley, dill and green onions. Cook another 10 minutes.

Soup

Cooked similarly to the previous recipe, but served with sour cream or vegetable oil.

Soup with cereal

We cook the broth from fish heads, filter it. Fry the pieces of rotan and lower them into the broth, add pearl barley. We cook until ready.

Soup garlic

Finely chop the onion, 4-6 cloves of garlic, add a few potatoes, carrots, diced. Fill everything with water, salt and cook. After 10 minutes, add the fish, bring to readiness. Serve with sour cream and herbs.

dumpling soup

For four servings of minced fish, we take one serving of chicken, add an egg, finely chopped onion, spices to taste. We make dumplings. We cook soup, in which, in addition to dumplings, we add potatoes, fish, carrots, bay leaves, greens. Dumplings can be boiled separately, then transferred to the broth.

Solyanka

Put the browned onions, fish, tomato paste, pickles, cut into pieces in a saucepan. Fill with water, cook until done. Add salt, spices, turn off the fire after a couple of minutes. Serve with olives, lemon wedge and herbs.

egg soup

We cook the fish broth, when everything is ready - pour in the beaten eggs in a thin stream, we constantly stir everything. Serve the dish with pieces of hard-boiled egg, sour cream and dill.

Hot dishes

How to cook rotan to surprise family and friends? Is it possible? Yes, if you use one of the following recipes.

Fried fish

We prepare the fish, clean, gut and rinse. It is preferable to choose small fish. Salt, roll in wheat or corn flour, fry on each side until a delicious crust. There is no need to cover the pan with a lid for this.

Serve on a platter garnished with parsley sprigs. The most fried fish can be eaten with the tail and fins, they are very tasty and crispy.

cutlets

Rotan makes very tasty meatballs. To do this, cleaned fish must be passed through a meat grinder several times. Add a few pieces of bread soaked in milk, an onion, an egg and a little butter. Salt, pepper and mix thoroughly.

Sprinkle the formed cutlets with breadcrumbs or flour, fry until cooked on both sides. Serve them with potatoes or other vegetables.

Fish bag

For this dish you will need the largest fish. Cut the fish fillet into pieces, fry, rolling each of them in flour or breadcrumbs. Arrange beautifully on a platter. At the same time, prepare the sauce.

We will need chopped walnuts, crushed garlic, pepper, salt. We breed boiled water all the ingredients, add a little vinegar and pour the sauce over the fish.

Ears

These are ordinary dumplings made from fish and mushrooms. Ushki are considered a national Belarusian dish, they are served with butter and cumin seeds. Minced meat is prepared by passing boiled fish without bones, fried onions, boiled mushrooms through a meat grinder. Add egg, pepper, salt.

We sculpt them by hand so that each copy resembles an ear in shape. We offer guests to taste fresh tomatoes for the dish.

Fish dumplings with cabbage

Shred fresh cabbage, fry over low heat, stirring constantly. Then, cool it, add the egg, salt, pepper and minced meat made from fish. We make dumplings, boil them in salted water. Season the dish with fried onions. You can also use salted cabbage instead of fresh cabbage.

Fish "From Grandma"

This home recipe know and cook all grandmothers. The fish is fried until half cooked over high heat, it is first rubbed with salt, pepper, breaded in flour. It is placed in a deep baking sheet, poured with sour cream and sent to the oven. Finely chop the onion and after 10 minutes put it on the fish. Simmer until ready. Serve fish with baked or boiled potatoes.

Dishes from rotan are varied: pies, dumplings, and much more. It's very tasty and useful product, which is perfectly exposed to frying, stewing, boiling. Cooking does not take much time, in just an hour you can cook delicious treats. But it is even more pleasant when the food is prepared from the fish of your own catch. Fishing - great vacation which gives strength and vivacity, charges with positive emotions. The time spent on the shore of the reservoir will be remembered for a long time. It is crystal clear air, pleasant gusts of wind, unity with nature and silence. What could be better?

Video

See our recipe video original dish from Chinese cuisine - deep-fried rotan.

: Invalid call: invalid keys, for example, too many keys were specified or the key was incorrect , or grass(lat. Perccottus glenii) - a species of ray-finned fish from the firebrand family, the only representative of the genus firebrands (Perccottus).

Erroneous Latin specific names in the literature (orth. var.): glehni, glenhi. The erroneous genus name is also used percottus.

In the second half of the 20th century, among aquarists, rotan was often called Amur goby.

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Description

The body is dense, short, covered with dull scales of medium size. The color is changeable, gray-green and dirty brown tones predominate, with small spots and irregular stripes. The color of the belly is usually grayish. During the mating season, rotan becomes black. The head is large, the large mouth is seated with small sharp teeth in several rows. The gill covers have a backward-pointing spine characteristic of perciformes, but in rotan it is soft. The fins are soft, without sharp spines. There are two dorsal fins, of which the back is longer. The anal fin is short. Pectoral fins large, rounded. The caudal fin is rounded. In general, rotan resembles representatives of goby fish. A characteristic difference are the ventral fins: in rotan they are paired, close to the head and disproportionately small, while in gobies the ventral fins grow together into one and resemble a sucker.

In length, rotan can reach 14-25 cm, depending on habitat conditions, however, fish of record sizes are not common. Life expectancy - up to 7 years, usually 4-5 years.

Sexual maturity occurs at the age of two. Spawning occurs in May-July. Fertility is about 1 thousand eggs. Rotan lays eggs on plants and on various items, after which the male guards the clutch. Feels best in stagnant reservoirs with well-developed higher aquatic vegetation.

Rotan withstands partial drying of the reservoir and complete freezing to the bottom in winter. Survives in polluted waters.

Rotan is a predator. Initially, the fry feed on zooplankton, then on small invertebrates, benthos.

Adult rotans eat small fish, leeches, newts, larvae of amphibians (tadpoles). Rotans do not eat caviar and carrion!

In rotan, cannibalism is widespread - eating smaller individuals of its own species. During fishing, rotan often swallows bait deeply.

In a small reservoir, rotan becomes numerous and is able to completely exterminate representatives of other fish species.

In large reservoirs, the number of rotan is regulated by other predatory fish: pike, catfish, and especially perch. At home in Far East- if in the lake or in the pond, where only rotans previously lived, minnows start up, then they will regulate the number of rotans, actively eating their juveniles.

Rotan is unable to survive being completely frozen; however, when the water body freezes, glycerol and glucose released inside the fish bind free water, thereby increasing the specific concentration of salt in the tissues and surrounding water, which significantly lowers the crystallization temperature. After thawing of the reservoir, the rotan returns to normal life.

area

The original range of rotan is the Amur River basin, the Far East of Russia, the north of North Korea and the northeast of China.

The entry of rotan in the 20th century into the basin of Lake Baikal is considered by many scientists as biological pollution.

In 1916, rotan was released into the reservoirs of St. Petersburg. Subsequently, it spread throughout Northern Eurasia, in most of Russia and many European countries.

At present, rotan is noted in river basins

Firebrand rotan, or rotan, or grass, or firebrand (Perscottus glenii) is a species of ray-finned fish belonging to the firebrand family, and is the only representative of the firebrand genus (Perscottus). An erroneous Latin specific name is often found in the literature: glehni or glenhi. The name of the genus, Percottus, is also erroneous.

Description of rotan

Since the second half of the last century, among foreign and domestic aquarists, rotan has often been called the Amur goby, which is due to the very characteristic appearance of such a fish.

Appearance

Rotans, or grassworts, have a dense and short body, covered with dull and medium-sized scales.. The rotan firebrand is distinguished by a rather variable color, but still grayish-green and dirty brownish tones are predominant, with a clear presence of small spots and irregularly shaped stripes. Coloration of the belly, as a rule, nondescript grayish shades. With the onset of the mating season, rotans acquire a characteristic black color. The length of an adult varies depending on the basic conditions of the habitat, but is approximately 14-25 cm. Maximum weight adult fish - 480-500 gr.

The head of rotans is quite large, with a large mouth, seated with small and sharp teeth, which are arranged in several rows. The gill covers of the fish have a backward-pointing spike characteristic of all perciformes. The main difference between rotan is the formation of a soft spine-like process and soft fins without pointed spines.

It is interesting! In a sandy pond, the scales of golovach-rotan are lighter in color than those of individuals inhabiting swampy waters. By spawning, approximately in May-July, the male turns into a noble black color, and the female, on the contrary, acquires lighter shades.

There are a pair of fins in the back area, but the hind fin is noticeably longer. The species feature is represented by a short anal fin and large, rounded pectoral fins. The caudal fin of the fish also has a rounded shape. In general, rotans appearance very strongly resemble representatives of ordinary goby fish, but have a pair of disproportionately small ventral fins.

Behavior and lifestyle

Rotans are not able to survive when completely frozen, but when water freezes, due to glucose and glycerin, which are secreted by fish, the specific concentration of salts in tissues and water increases markedly, which contributes to a significant decrease in the crystallization temperature. Thus, immediately after thawing water, rotans can easily return to their normal life.

Perscottus glenii prefers stagnant water bodies, ponds and marshes. The fish of this species is very unpretentious to external conditions, including oxygen deficiency, but tends to avoid fast to moderate flowing waters. The only representative of the firebrand genus inhabits ponds, is found in small, overgrown and swampy lakes, as well as oxbow lakes.

It is interesting! Rotans are able to easily withstand the partial drying up of reservoirs and the complete freezing of water to the bottom in winter period, and also survive perfectly even in polluted water elements.

A sedentary fish, actively hunts along with other typical ambush predators - hiding in dense underwater thickets. In the last ten days of December, fish form significant concentrations in ice cavities, which are filled with air-ice wet masses. In this state of stupor, the fish hibernate until the onset of spring. In the water bodies near Moscow, rotan firebrands, as a rule, do not hibernate.

Lifespan

The average life span of rotan under the most favorable conditions is within fifteen years, but a significant part of individuals live for about 8-10 years.

Range, habitats

Initially, the area of ​​rotan was the basins of the Amur River, as well as the Far Eastern part of Russia, northern regions North Korea and Northeast China. The appearance of this only representative of the firebrand genus in the last century in the Baikal basin is considered by many scientists as the result of biological pollution.

It is interesting! To date, the presence of rotan is noted in the basins of such rivers as the Volga and Dnieper, Don and Dniester, Danube and Irtysh, Ural and Styr, as well as the Ob, where this fish prefers stagnant and floodplain water bodies.

At the very beginning of the twentieth century, rotans were released into the reservoirs of St. Petersburg, but subsequently quickly spread almost everywhere in Northern Eurasia and Russia, as well as many European countries. In water bodies with established fish communities and a large number of predatory species, there are practically no free food resources. In such reservoirs, rotan firebrands modestly live mainly near the coastal zone, in vegetation, therefore, a noticeable negative impact on the composition of the ichthyofauna is not found.

Diet, food

Rotans are aquatic predators. If initially fry use zooplankton for food, then after a while small invertebrates and benthos serve as food for fish. Adults actively eat small species of fish, leeches and newts, as well as tadpoles. Golovachs are able to eat caviar of other fish and even carrion. The species has excellent eyesight, thanks to which it sees prey from afar, after which it slowly, “rushes” approaches the victim, working at such a moment exclusively with ventral fins. The movements of the hunting rotan are very slow and calm, and the fish itself is characterized by quick wit, which allows it to difficult situations make nontrivial decisions.

It is interesting! In rotan, cannibalism is widespread in the form of large fish eating smaller individuals belonging to their own species, due to which the bait is swallowed very deeply during fishing.

In small reservoirs, rotan firebrands very quickly become numerous, therefore they are able to completely and quite easily exterminate almost all representatives of any other species of non-predatory fish. Rotans are very gluttonous and often do not know the sense of proportion in nutrition. When the fish is fully fed, it becomes almost three times thicker than its normal state. Saturated rotans quickly go to the bottom, where they can sit for up to three days, trying to completely digest food.

Reproduction of rotan

The rotan firebrands reach full sexual maturity approximately in the second or third year of life. The active spawning period starts from May to July. The average female of the only representative of the firebrand genus is capable of spawning up to one thousand eggs. At the spawning stage, males not only turn into a characteristic black color, but also acquire a kind of growth that appears in the frontal zone. On the contrary, females of Phercottus glenii are characterized during the spawning period by a light, white coloration, due to which sexually mature individuals become very clearly visible in turbid waters.

Rotan eggs are distinguished by their oblong shape and yellow coloration. Each egg has a threaded leg, due to which it is very strong and reliable fixation on the bed. Since all the eggs hang freely and are constantly washed by the water, their viability indicators are greatly increased. All eggs laid by the female are constantly guarded by the male, who is ready to defend his offspring and actively protect him from any other aquatic predators. However, if rotans can quite successfully defend themselves against the encroachments of the upper or ruff, then such an aquatic predator has unequal chances with a perch and very often loses.

After rotan larvae begin to hatch en masse from the eggs, quite often the offspring is swallowed by the male himself - this is a kind of struggle of individuals of different ages for survival. The firebrands are able to live even in lightly salted water, but the spawning process can be carried out exclusively in fresh water. It is very interesting to observe life, as well as the reproduction and habits of rotan in aquarium conditions. In captivity, the habits of a typical predator appear, which hides among the vegetation and attacks its prey with lightning speed.

Important! The optimal conditions for active reproduction of the only representative of the firebrand genus are the presence of a water temperature regime in the range of 15-20 ° C.

Or rotan, or firebrand, or grass (lat. Perccottus glenii) is a fish of the firebrand family, a representative of the firebrand genus lat. Perccottus or lat. Eleotris.
In the second half of the 20th century, rotan was often called the Amur goby among aquarists.
Erroneous Latin specific names in the literature (orth. var.): glehni, glenhi. The erroneous genus name Percottus is also used.

"For the first time it was discovered by Benedict Dybovsky, a participant in the uprising of 1863 in Poland, exiled by the tsarist secret police to the distant Amur region," writes M. Dmitriev. wonderful land. Under the terms of the exile, he could not freely travel around the Amur region, and even more so publish the results of research, if it were not for the patronage of the then governor of this region, a man of very progressive views, Colonel Alexander Glen. When in 1877, with his assistance, the work of B. Dybowski "The Fishes of the Amur Water System" was published, the colonel's name was immortalized in the species name Perccottus gleni Dybowski. In it, the author reflected a curious combination of features of perch - Reps and goby (Cottus)".

In rotan, the shape of the body is bull-shaped. The body is dense, short, covered with dull scales of medium size. The color is changeable, gray-green and dirty brown tones prevail, with small spots and irregularly shaped stripes. The color of the belly is usually grayish. During the mating season, rotan becomes black. The head is covered with scales up to the middle of the forehead, the sides of the head are also covered with scales. There are no seismosensory canals and pores on the head, but there are three rows of infraorbital neuromasts. The head is large, flattened, its length fits no more than 3 times in the length of the body, a large mouth is seated with small sharp teeth in several rows. The lower jaw protrudes forward, the upper jaw reaches the posterior margin of the eye. There are teeth on the vomer, on the jaws they are bristle-like and somewhat curved, there are no canine-shaped teeth. The gill covers have a backward-pointing spine characteristic of perciformes, but in rotan it is soft. The fins are soft, without sharp spines. There are two dorsal fins, of which the back is longer. The anal fin is short. The pectoral fins are large and rounded. The caudal fin is rounded. In general, rotan resembles representatives of goby fish. A characteristic difference is the ventral fins: in rotan they are paired, close to the head and disproportionately small, while in gobies the pelvic fins grow together and resemble a sucker. In males, the dorsal fins are closer together, higher and brighter colored than in females. Dorsal fins without spines. There is a swim bladder.

In length, rotan can reach 14-25 cm, depending on habitat conditions, however, fish of record sizes are not common. Life expectancy - up to 7 years, usually 4-5 years. By the end of the first year, it reaches 3-4 cm and weighs 0.8 g, the second year - 6-7 cm and 4 g, the third year - 9-11 cm and 11-12 g, the fourth year - 12 -13 cm and 13-15 g. In comfortable living conditions, large rotan reaches a weight of up to 800 grams, but such specimens are very rare, its usual weight is 250-300 grams. Sexual maturity occurs at the age of two. Portion spawning occurs in May-July at a water temperature of 15-20°C. Fertility is about 1 thousand eggs. It lays eggs on bottom objects (rhizomes of plants, snags, stones), on the lower surface of objects floating in water and on leaves of aquatic vegetation. The male guards the clutch and juveniles. Caviar elongated shape, size 3.8 x 1.3 mm. Like other goby-shaped fish, at one end of the egg there are sticky villi with which it sticks to the substrate. Eggs are laid in a single row, usually near the surface of the water. The hatched larvae are 5.5 mm in size. The swim bladder is filled with air even in the embryos in the shell, which prevents the larvae from sinking to the bottom, in unfavorable oxygen conditions. The larvae initially lead a pelagic lifestyle. They begin active feeding on the second day after hatching, consuming the smallest planktonic organisms, and then larger invertebrates.

Rotan feels best in stagnant reservoirs with well-developed higher aquatic vegetation. It is very unpretentious to environmental conditions, especially to oxygen deficiency in water. Rotan withstands partial drying of the reservoir, burrowing into silt, and complete freezing to the bottom in winter. Inhabits ponds, small, overgrown and swampy lakes, oxbow lakes. It leads a sedentary lifestyle, hunts like a typical ambush predator, hiding in dense thickets of underwater plants.
Rotan is a predator. Initially, the fry feed on zooplankton, then small invertebrates, benthos. Despite its small size, rotan is very voracious and almost omnivorous.
Adult rotans eat eggs and fry of fish, leeches, newts, amphibian larvae. Favorite food in early summer are tadpoles.
In rotan, cannibalism is widespread - eating smaller individuals of its own species. During fishing, rotan often swallows bait deeply.

There is an opinion that in small reservoirs, rotan completely exterminates other representatives of fish. But time shows that this is not the case. In many small ponds where rotan lives, for more than a dozen years, varieties such as crucian carp and carp feel quite comfortable. The problem of small ponds, where there are a lot of crucian carp, has always been its degeneration. In the absence of predators, there were a lot of fish and there was not enough food for it. Over time, it began to degenerate and become very small. Rotan successfully thinning out livestock carp, regulates its population and stimulates its growth. Accordingly, on a good food base, the rotan itself reaches a fairly decent size, which makes anglers very happy. In large reservoirs natural enemies act pike, zander and especially perch. Its number in such conditions is usually very small, and in its size it most often reaches up to 200 grams.
Rotan is a weedy fish that crowds out other species or reduces their numbers.

Rotan is a non-commercial species; earlier in its natural habitat it was caught for food for dogs. In urban and suburban water bodies of the European part of Russia, rotan is often the only object of recreational fishing, its numbers are increasing here, and its range is expanding.
In pond farming, rotan harms fish farming by eating fry of valuable fish species.
Large rotan bites well on earthworm and pieces of raw meat or bacon, as well as various mormyshkas and medium-sized spinners, it is enough to attach a bunch of red threads to the hook. Being caught in a pond, rotan withstands well transportation in a bucket of water to another body of water, where it can be used as a live bait for fishing predatory fish, which, however, may contribute to its resettlement.
If you just want to quickly and easily catch some (or a lot) of fish, then yes, rotan is well suited for such events. But if we talk about sports fishing, when the meaning is not so much in fish as in the very process of fishing, that is, hunting for fish, then rotan is not very good. interesting object- not shy, not fastidious, eats everything. Fish is only for children or lazy people who are too lazy to bother with fishing tactics and bait.

Rotan takes willingly for spinning. Of all the variety of spinning lures generously thrown onto the market by many manufacturers, rubber lures are best suited for catching bigmouth. All kinds of twisters, silicone worms or rubber bloodworms, all this perfectly attracts rotan, but catching rotan on spinning becomes more effective if the so-called "edible rubber" is used, because rotan in hunting, more than most other fish, relies on taste buds.
Silicone bait is chosen based on the size of the intended prey, that is, it makes no sense to put pike twisters here, because they often exceed the size of many rotans. Best of all in our case would be microjig. Silicones can simply be hooked without a load, or loaded with a small pellet.

Fishing is mainly carried out in windows, among aquatic vegetation and resembles vertical winter lure, that is, they lowered the bait into the hole, chatted for 10-15 seconds, and if there is no bite, then we go to the next place. In such places, a short and plump silicone worm works well - if it is not loaded, it slowly sinks and moves seductively, attracting the attention of the fish.
In addition to fishing in coastal windows, you can also fish in windows further away, which is even more interesting, because you need to throw a bait with not the best flight characteristics into a plate-sized window. After casting, we let the bait sink, sometimes during the dive it is worth twitching the tip of the rod, somewhat reviving the bait. If the size of the window allows, then the bait, after diving, can be raised to the surface again and lowered again, but usually rattan, if any, bites immediately. After that, we pull the bait out of the grass, and throw it into a new window.

To cast the bait, it is better to move from the shore. That is, first the near glades, then the far ones, because on the way back, when the bait is often dragged right through the bushes, the fish get scared, and by catching from the near "hole" to the far ones, this can be avoided, that is, the bait will be dragged where you are already caught, and not where you are going.
Sometimes rotan is also caught in "deserts", that is, in completely clean, small places, which are often viewed to the very bottom. If you do not see rotan in such places, this does not mean at all that it is not there. It is worth throwing a worm there, at least alive, at least rubber, and you can notice how a shadow casts on it, or vice versa, something bright. This is the back, or the belly of the rotan - the mimicry of this fish is surprisingly well developed, and, merging with the background, it becomes almost invisible.
In such open places 3-5 centimeter, slowly pop-up, minnow wobblers are well suited for fishing. Although the rotan does not take them so confidently: you can often see how the rotan, following the wobbler, suddenly stops a few centimeters from it, as if thinking. If at such a moment you pull the wobbler, then the rotan can simply wash off, but if you give the wobbler a few more seconds to hang out without moving, then the rotan will most often take it, even though the wobbler hangs motionless like a knot - it just remembers that not so long ago it something showed signs of life and decides to taste it just in case.

Spinners (both spinners and spoons) for catching rotan are not the best The best decision. It will probably be funny to talk about playing rotan. Rotans rarely reach at least 200-300 grams of weight. Such a trifle can be dragged as you like - rotan rarely breaks. His mouth is huge, allowing you to securely capture the bait, the greed of the rotan also plays a significant role in this, and strong lips allow you not to be afraid that the fish will break.
Almost any rod can be used for catching rotans. It is better to have a 3-meter ultra-light spinning rod. It can be shorter, or longer, but with a shorter one, it is more difficult to catch coastal windows, and with the fact that it is more authentic, it is not so easy to get into small clearings. So 3 meters is the golden mean.
Any ultralight reel is suitable for such fishing, and instead of fishing line it is better to put a braided cord, because, despite the small size of the rotan, strength is still needed, since you often have to drag heaps of underwater grass on the bait.
In general, catching rotan on spinning is a rather exciting task - the fishing itself is active and not boring, you don’t have to wave spinning for half a day for the sake of a single bite, but in the absence of fish, as they say ... and rotan is a fish.
In the reservoir, rotan is located on the shallows, near aquatic vegetation, blockages, shrubs, more often at a depth of 1.5-2.0 m. But in winter it is periodically caught not only from the bottom, where it is usually searched for, but also in the water, and directly under the ice. This happens when atmospheric pressure decreases during prolonged thaws. The principle of searching for rotan is exactly the same as for perch.

If there is fish, the bite will not keep you waiting, so you don’t need to sit on one hole for a long time and grind out mormyshka or lure: 3-5 minutes are enough to decide on fishing in a particular place and move on.
Ideally, in a new place, you need to make about a dozen holes that go, as it were, from the shore to a depth. I immediately make a row of four holes along the shore, the holes are at a distance of 2-3 meters from each other, and the distance between the rows is 2 meters. As a result, I get 4-5 rows, i.e. 16-20 holes. As a rule, this is enough. Rotan is a schooling fish, moreover, in winter it is grouped, so you can catch a sufficient amount of this tasty fish from one hole. If you caught a small rotan, do not rush to throw it away: remember that rotan is perfectly caught on the meat of its relatives. They don’t stand on ceremony with playing the rattan, if he pecked, it’s reliable.
Often rotan fishing becomes the first winter fishing, because shallow ponds with stagnant water, where it is full, usually freeze first. And the depth here, as a rule, is such that, having failed due to too thin ice cover, it is difficult to drown. All this makes for many the threshold of the first ice the time of rotan fishing. At other times, winter roads do not catch them.

During the day, rotans peck from morning until late evening.
Bloodworms in winter are the simplest and most successful bait. But more affordable and cheaper - beef meat is used more often. A small piece is enough for the whole fishing trip. Rotans peck at the same nozzle until it loses its “meaty” appearance and turns white. Only then you need to plant a new piece.
Pieces of raw fish meat, including gobies themselves, are also quite effective. But it is more difficult to work with sharp fish in the cold. It is necessary to ensure that not meat is planted on the sting, but the skin, otherwise the bait will quickly go astray.
In winter, rotan reacts only to protein bait. However, often the angler feeds the fish with breadcrumbs and oatmeal hoping to attract other fish as well.
Some use regular beef. After freezing it in the refrigerator, the fishermen lower into the water at the place of fishing a stone with a piece of meat cut into small ribbons. Such bait holds rattan reliably, and you can catch it here in kilograms.
With a winter rod, rotan is caught on small mormyshkas, usually from a depth of no more than 2 m and, as a rule, in places with clay or sandy soil.

Rotanya winter fishing gaining immense popularity in the country. Not only has this fish populated almost all water bodies (in this regard, we can agree that rotan is a weedy fish), it has excellent survival, quickly gains weight, literally feeds on everything that only moves. Hence the conclusion that catching rotan is quite simple, both in summer and in winter. Often you can observe rotans frozen into the ice. This is observed on those lakes and ponds that completely freeze through in winter. But if any other fish would end their life path, for rotan - this is just a period to survive the frost. If you don’t believe me, you can take home rattan from ice yourself, it will thaw, and you will see how this fish will come to life in an incredible way. By the way, most often rotans freeze into the ice in a colony of a certain number of fish, single specimens are rather rare.
The fact is noticed that in some reservoirs the adult rotan does not exceed 5-10 centimeters in length, although the food supply seems to be excellent. In other lakes, the size of this fish is pleasing, especially when you drag the rotan from the ice, and it keeps pecking and pecking.
Advice
Rotan is very fond of the red and white float. For some reason, it is he who attracts the attention of a small nimble fish.

As with any fish from rotan, you can cook a lot of different dishes. Starting from regular fried or dried fish ending with more complex dishes such as meatballs or bage. Many have the opinion that this fish is weedy and therefore not tasty. I would like to remind you that rotan is a predator and has nothing to do with weed varieties. Skillfully cooked rotan can compete in taste with the most exquisite dishes. It is worth noting that the calorie content of rotan fish differs quite a bit. low level, so 100 g of fish meat contains no more than 88 kcal.
Worthy consumer and taste qualities of rotan fish are supplemented by a number of useful properties. What is primarily due to chemical composition fish meat, the individual components of which ensure the normal functioning of a living organism. For example, it includes a huge amount of vitamin PP, as well as minerals and elements such as zinc, sulfur, molybdenum, fluorine, chlorine, nickel and chromium.
The most popular are dried and stewed rotan, their taste is incomparable.

Soup from rotans
This soup tastes soft, fragrant, especially on the second day. First in cold water put diced potatoes, carrots, peppers, bay leaves, parsley, celery. Then 12-15 small gobies with heads (without gills) are lowered into the boiling broth. Boil 20 minutes. The fish boils quickly, the meat is white, reminiscent of sturgeon and only slightly inferior to it in taste. Vegetable oil, sour cream and herbs can be added to soup bowls.
Soup with cereal
A spiced decoction is boiled from fish heads, bones and tails, then filtered. Pieces of rotan and groats (preferably pearl barley, but in general - any) are lowered into the boiled broth. For more flavor, fish pieces can be pre-fried in vegetable oil.
Fish soup with garlic
400 g of fish, 2 potatoes, 6 large cloves of garlic, onion, “carrots, half a tablespoon of sour cream, dill.
Put finely chopped onions, carrots, grated on a coarse grater, potatoes in a saucepan. Add garlic. Fill everything with water and salt. Put the fish in the pot and boil. Sour cream and herbs are placed in plates.

Soup dumplings with small pieces of fish
Filling for dumplings: 200 g minced bull, 50 g minced chicken, 1 onion, pepper, salt. In addition to dumplings, put in the soup: 200 g of fish, onion, 2 potatoes, large carrots, 2-3 bay leaves, greens.
Dumplings are first dipped in boiling water for 20-30 seconds, then transferred to fish broth. At the end of cooking add salt and pepper.
Rassolnik
Pieces of fish or fish meatballs, pickles and roots are added to the fish broth. After laying the chopped cucumbers and potatoes, the soup is boiled until tender. Served with sour cream, herbs, dill.
fish soup
Rotanov clean, rinse, put in a pan with cold water along with roots, onion, pepper and bay leaf. Salt. When the water boils, add coarsely chopped potatoes. Cook over low heat. Serve the finished fish soup with chopped parsley or dill.
Solyanka fish
Take 400 g of fish, 4 onions, 2 pickles, 40 g of butter, 80 g of olives, 4 tablespoons of tomato puree, one and a half liters of fish broth, 4 lemon slices. Cleaned fish, browned onions, tomato puree, cucumbers are placed in a bowl and poured with fish broth. Cook for 15 minutes, then add spices and salt, and after 3 minutes turn off the fire. Shortly before serving, olives, a slice of peeled lemon are put on the table and sprinkled with finely chopped greens (olives, lemon and greens can be served separately).

Fish soup with egg mash
Cook soup from rotans. At the end of cooking, in a thin stream, stirring constantly, pour in the mash of well-beaten eggs. Season fish soup in bowls with sour cream, dill and coarsely chopped boiled egg. Products: 350 g of fish, 1 potato, 2 carrots, 1 parsley root, 6 eggs (three of them for mash), sour cream, dill, salt.
Goby under the marinade
Cleaned, decapitated and well-washed fish (300-400 g) are dipped in salted boiling water. An onion head, carrots and spices are added to it: peppercorns, parsley, celery, dill. Cook for 45-60 minutes. Then throw it all into a colander. The broth can be used for fish soup. The fish is dismantled, freed from bones and placed in a porcelain or ceramic dish, poured with marinade.
The marinade is prepared as follows: 1-2 carrots are chopped on a coarse grater. Stew in a small amount of water (carrot mass should be only slightly covered with water) for 10-15 minutes. Then fry finely chopped onion in a frying pan and. add fried carrots. Here they also put 3 tablespoons of tomato paste, a tablespoon of vinegar, 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, salt and sugar - to taste. Marinated fish is soaked for several hours. Before serving, you can decorate with herbs.

Salad
Gut small rotans without peeling the scales, stew in a tightly closed frying pan for 15 minutes. Separate the meat from the bones, mash it with a fork, add finely chopped onions or green onions, a little green peas, and mayonnaise.
Salad with egg and cucumber

You will need 500 g of fish, onion, pickled cucumber, two hard-boiled eggs, 3 tablespoons of mustard, the same amount of vegetable oil, vinegar, salt, pepper.
Stew rotana, remove skin and bones, cut into small pieces. Chop onion, cucumber, eggs. Mix everything. Pour seasoning.
Rattan cutlets
To prepare minced meat you will need: - 1 kg of gutted fish (the head and fins are removed); - 2 onions; - 2 hard-boiled eggs. Pass all this 2 times through a meat grinder, then add one a raw egg and 2 tablespoons of semolina. Salt and spices to taste. Blinded cutlets are best rolled in cornmeal and fried in sunflower oil.
Cutlets can be consumed immediately after frying, but it is better to prepare a separate sauce and stew them in it for about 15 minutes.
Sauce: - 2 fried onions; - 6 tablespoons of tomato paste; - 1 glass of water; - 1 teaspoon of sugar. - salt and spices to taste. The dish is very tasty and original.

Stewed rotan
To prepare this simple dish, you need to gut the carcasses. Separate the heads from them and, in a deep frying pan, shift them with layers of carrots, tomatoes and onions. Add bay leaf, salt and spices to taste. Simmer everything until the bones soften. The dish is easy to prepare and the taste is incomparable.
Bage
To prepare this original dish, you must use rotan large sizes. Cut 600 grams of rotan fillet into pieces and fry in sunflower oil, after rolling them in breadcrumbs.
The finished product is laid out on a plate and poured with sauce. The dish is ready.
Sauce: - 3-4 cloves of garlic; - 150 gr of walnuts; - 2 tablespoons wine vinegar; - herbs and spices to taste. Nuts and garlic are passed through a meat grinder, diluted with boiled water and vinegar, greens and spices are added to them.
Rotan fried
Clean the fish, gut, decapitate, rinse in three waters. Roll in flour (preferably dark), mixed with salt (1.5 teaspoons of salt per 3 tablespoons of flour), and put in a heated pan with vegetable oil. When ready, the gobies are turned over. To keep the fish crispy, cover the pan with a lid for no more than 5 minutes. Then the fish is laid out on a dish and decorated with sprigs of greens. The most fried firebrands are the most delicious, they are eaten with bones, tails and fins. For frying, of course, it is better to take small fish.

Fish under the "scales"
We need large rotans, potatoes, onions, hard-boiled eggs, sour cream, salt, black pepper, greens.
Gut the fish, clean, separate the meat from the bones, roll in flour mixed with salt, fry on both sides. Potatoes also need to be fried on both sides, pre-cut into circles. Cut the onion into circles, roll in flour, fry, salt. Eggs are also cut into circles.
A layer of potatoes is placed on a baking sheet, a layer of fish is placed on it, potatoes, onions, and eggs are placed on the “scaled” fish. Salt and pepper to taste, pour sour cream and bake in the oven until golden brown. Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley before serving.
firebrand balls
500 g large rotan meat, 600 g potatoes, 1 egg, 1 tablespoon butter, pepper, salt, flour for breading, fat for frying. If rotan is small, you can take half doses.
Peel the boiled fish from the skin, remove the bones and mash with a fork (can be passed through a meat grinder). Mix with boiled potatoes or mashed potatoes, add the egg and melted butter, season with salt and pepper and form balls from the resulting mass. Then roll the balls in flour and fry in a pan. Serve them with tomato sauce or horseradish sauce.

Fish at home
Home-style fish is prepared from large rotans.
Clean, remove gills, rinse. Put in salted milk for 20-30 minutes, remove, dry slightly on a napkin. Grate the rotans inside and out with pepper, sprinkle with sugar and salt, breaded in flour and fry until half cooked. Then put the fish in a deep frying pan, pour sour cream and put in a heated oven. After 10 minutes, you need to put finely chopped onions in the pan, put it back in the oven and simmer until tender. Fish is served with boiled or baked potatoes.
Dumplings with fish
Prepare minced meat. Add onion, salt, pepper, cream or milk, stir. The dough is prepared, as for any dumplings. Cook for 15-20 minutes. Serve with butter, sour cream or mayonnaise.
Vareniki with fish and fresh cabbage
300 g of rotan without heads and fins, 400 g of cabbage, butter, onion, pepper.

Chop the cabbage, salt, sprinkle with sugar, mix, let stand to get the juice out, squeeze and fry in oil (butter or vegetable) along with chopped onion. Add boiled or fried fish passed through a meat grinder, ground black pepper. Mix well. Make dumplings and boil in salted water.
Fresh cabbage can be replaced with salted.

Ears with fish and mushrooms
300 g of rotan meat, 1.5 cups of mushrooms, 2 onions, butter, cumin, salt.
Ushki are Belarusian dumplings. Boiled fish without bones is passed through a meat grinder with fried onions and boiled mushrooms, pepper is added. Dumplings are made so that each resembles an ear. When serving, pour over with melted butter, sprinkle with crushed cumin seeds. Fresh tomatoes are served with the ears.
Fish dumplings
300 g of rotan meat, 1 onion, 0.5 beets, 50 g of oil, parsley root, garlic clove, a piece of white bread, bay leaf, salt, pepper.
The meat is passed through a meat grinder twice along with onions and white bread soaked in milk. Minced meat is seasoned with an egg, crushed garlic, salt, pepper. Boil finely chopped vegetables: beets, onions, carrots, parsley root and mix with minced meat. Dumplings are formed, boiled for about an hour. Usually served with cold beetroot juice and horseradish.

Ratan omelette

400 g of large rattan meat, 4 eggs, 8 tablespoons of milk, 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 tablespoon of flour, herbs, salt.

Bread the fish in flour, fry, cut into small pieces. Beat the eggs, add milk, salt, finely chopped greens and pour this mixture over the fish. The omelette is fried over low heat so that the fat is distributed evenly in the pan.

Kulebyaka fish
For the dough: a glass of wheat flour, 2 eggs, salt.
For filling: minced fish, onions, carrots, ground black pepper, a tablespoon of butter, salt.
Flour is poured onto the table, a hole is made, eggs, water are poured into it, salt is added and the dough is mixed until it stops sticking to the hands. The dough is left to lie down in a bowl for an hour, from this it becomes more tender. For the filling, finely chop onions, carrots and mix with minced meat. Add salt, pepper, stir. The dough is rolled out into a thin sheet. Put minced meat on it and pinch the edges. Bake in the oven, brushing with butter.

Fish juicers
The dough is prepared in a steamless way (you can find the recipe in any cookbook). Divide it into pieces of 70 g, roll into balls. Let stand 5 minutes. Put minced rotan in the middle of the tortilla. If the minced meat was cooked with bones, pass it through a meat grinder twice. Add raw onion and salt. Bake in the oven.
Belyashi with fish
The dough is prepared as usual, rich. For minced rotan meat, pass through a meat grinder. Put browned flour, onion, spices. For one belyash - 50 g of dough and 40 g of minced meat.
Pie with fish and vegetables The dough is prepared with the usual yeast. Having rolled out the sheet, they put mugs of potatoes on it, on them pieces of fish, chopped onion rings. Watered with vegetable oil. Pinch the edges. Bake, pre-lubricated with oil.
Sprats
The fins and entrails are removed, the scales are not removed. Wash the fish, put in rows in an enamel pan. Slices of onion and 2-3 bay leaves are placed between the rows of rotan. Each row is lightly salted and watered with two tablespoons of table vinegar and a spoonful of sunflower oil. Usually the pan is reported to the top, then oil and vinegar are added and put on low heat. Cook for 5 hours under the lid, then the scales and bones will completely dissolve. When the fish has cooled, put it in glass jars and refrigerate.

According to scientists, while fishing, the pulse decreases by 5-7 beats per minute. Pulmonary ventilation increases by 12-15%, clean air makes a person breathe deeper. The stagnation of blood in the lower parts of the lungs is eliminated, which increases efficiency, preventing diseases of the cardiovascular system. And silence restores the autonomic nervous system.