“Weed” fish. Karpovye - Encyclopedia of fish River fish of Siberia

Cyprinids. Carp fish. Carp family

Karpovye - the richest in the number of species of the family among freshwater and marine fish. In the family of cyprinids, there are more than 1700 species belonging to 275 genera, combined into nine subfamilies. Their body is covered with cycloid scales, but some are bare. The mouth of carp is usually retractable. On the lower pharyngeal bones of the crescent shape, there are well-developed pharyngeal teeth located in 1-3 rows. The antennae of carp fish are either absent or present, but not more than 1-2 pairs - the exception is the eight-pointed gudgeon. The carp bladder in carp fish is usually large, consisting of 2-3 chambers.

Cyprinids have a radial distribution, they are found in the tropical, temperate zones, cross the Arctic Circle. These are the waters of Europe and the British Isles, Asia and the islands of the western part of the Malay Archipelago, North America and Africa. Cyprinids are absent in the reservoirs of South and Central America, the Antilles, Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, and New Guinea. Currently, in the waters of Australia there are carp, tench, crucian carp, roach, brought from England at the end of the XIX century.
  In the reservoirs of the Murmansk region there are three species of cyprinids - ide, roach and bream.
  The ide has limited distribution. It is rare in Lake Imandra. He was the subject of fishing in Lake Ivanovsky (Vulyavr), in the Kovdozer system and Kanozero.
  Distribution of roach on the Kola Peninsula is mainly limited to the water bodies of the White Sea basin. She is absent in Umbozer. In Imandra and Kanozero, there are very few. There is a known case of roach capture in Lovozero. Significant quantities are available in Ivanovo (Vulyavr), in the Kovdozersky system of lakes.
  The Kovdozersky reservoir is still known as the northernmost body of water where bream is common. Its number is small. The bream was caught as by-catch along with other cyprinids in the area of \u200b\u200bTupya Bay, Lopskoye Zapani, the village of Severny; it is found in Mechozere, which communicates with the reservoir and Notozero.

Cyprinids are relatively thermophilic fish. The number of species toward the north is decreasing. 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 over the Arctic Circle in Eurasia - roach, dace, ide, crucian carp, minnow. The same picture is observed in North America.
  The living conditions in the water bodies are very different, and a huge variety of cyprinids is associated with this. Their length varies from 6-8 to 150-180 cm. The giant barbel can reach 3 m. Carp up to 10 cm long prevail in North America. In Europe, most of the fish have a length of 20-35 cm. The smallest rivers are numerous in Asia. up to 10 cm long, and the largest, over 80 cm long - common carp, Aral barbel, yolk, black and white cupids.
Many of the herbivorous fish of Southeast Asia - grass carp, white bream, cirrins, roha and other species reach a very large length, up to 60-120 cm, while the length of the largest herbivorous fish in Europe is about 40 cm.
  The body color of carp is monotonous, mainly limited by the tones of bright silver, golden and olive brown. Silver waters predominate in the waters of Europe. The fins are usually either grayish in color, or yellowish or reddish in various intensities.
  The coloring of Indian and African cyprinids is most vivid and diverse. Especially noteworthy are various puntiuses, painted in cherry, yellowish-orange and olive-green tones with stripes along the body, characteristic dark spots, cardinals, parsing, striped zebrafish and some other species. In many bright silver carps of North America, a dark stripe runs along the body, and spots can often be on the upper part of the body.

Coloring is closely related to the behavior and habitat of the species. Thus, fish that hold in the water column have a silver hue, while golden, olive-brown, spotty coloration is characteristic of fish living in the bottom layers. The strip along the body is found in many small fish leading a flocking lifestyle. In most, the color changes with age. In older fish, it usually becomes brighter. In many species, during the breeding season, the color also becomes brighter, sometimes completely changing. Individuals may appear that are colorless, the so-called albinos, and, conversely, brightly colored - chromists.
Artificial selection made it possible to derive special forms that differ from individuals of their type in color. An example is the golden orff, orange-red ide, golden tench. As a result of many years of breeding work with silver carp, it was possible to bring out decorative and so-called goldfish of various shapes and colors - telescopes, comets, veil tails, lion heads and others.
  The body shape of carp is mostly fish-shaped. For some, the body is quite high, squeezed from the sides - mustard, bream, booster. In bottom species, it is often slightly flattened in the dorso-abdominal direction, especially in the front of the body - an ordinary gudgeon, marinka. Most cyprinids have a rounded abdomen, but some have a compressed and even slightly pointed abdomen, so that the scales covering the body from the sides converge and form a small keel in this area, like the asp and top.
  The nature of nutrition and the structure of the oral apparatus, digestive tract, cyprinids are very diverse. Some of them have an upper mouth, numerous stamens on the first branchial arch, feed on either plankton and algae, or small invertebrates. In many species, the mouth is finite, they get food in the water column or among the thickets of plants, a similar position of the mouth is also characteristic of predatory fish. Fishes that fish at the bottom have a lower mouth. Around the mouth, to one degree or another, lips are developed. They are especially well formed in species with a lower mouth that feed in soft silty soil. Fleshy lips, covered with numerous papillae.
  In species scraping fouling from various substrata — stones, dense soil, twigs, the lower jaw is lined with cartilage and covered with a strong, suspended horn cover. These include podusts, temples, some types of marinkas, minnows, Vladislavia, living in the Amur basin, and others. These species adhere to dense, usually rocky soils, and live mostly in mountain rivers and streams.
In species that obtain food in soft soils, the mouth is able to strongly extend and resembles a tube that penetrates deep into the silt and sucks in various small invertebrates - larvae of the pusher mosquito, oligochaetes. Deeper than other fish of our fauna, carp is penetrated into silt - more than 12 cm, crucian carp - 11 cm, less deep tench - 7 cm, bream - 5 cm. In predatory fish, the mouth hardly extends, opening of the mouth increases due to lengthening of the jaw bones. Carp teeth have no jaw teeth. With their mouth they only capture food that is crushed in the throat when the food passes between the millstone and the pharyngeal teeth.

The digestive tract of carp fish is a tube, the stomach is absent, therefore, there is no gastric enzyme pepsin, which breaks down proteins. The stomach is a reservoir where food usually lingers for a fairly long time. Its disappearance in cyprinids is associated with the need to ensure the passage through the intestinal tract of a large amount of plentiful, but low-calorie food, which most cyprinids feed on. The length of the intestine varies in different species of cyprinids within wide limits. In predators and benthos-eating species, the intestines are shorter than the length of the body, in omnivores - it is equal to or slightly larger, in herbivores - 2-4 times the body length. A particularly long intestine, more than 10 times the length of the body, is in a silver carp.
  Carp eat a wide variety of food - bottom organisms from the surface and from the depths of the soil, water column organisms, higher vegetation, detritus, fish, as well as flying insects that accidentally fall into the water.
  The nature of the nutrition of individual species is very different. For each species, the composition of food varies with age, according to the seasons of the year, and depends on the food supply of the reservoir. Juveniles feed on zooplankton or, less commonly, small zoobenthos. Nutrition of vegetation and invertebrates inhabiting it is characteristic of cyprinids, close to the initial forms.
  In the waters of Europe, most cyprinids feed on invertebrate animals living in the ground and on various substrates, a minority on zooplankton and aerial insects. Many use a variety of animal and plant food sources. There are very few herbivorous or predatory fish.
  Among the predatory cyprinids of Southeast Asia, there are small species, for example, trogoda, up to 20 cm long and large species - spruce, up to 100 cm, yolks, up to 200 cm. In Europe, the asp is a typical predator. This is one of the largest fish among European cyprinids, it reaches 60-80 cm.
The ecology of reproduction in cyprinids is very diverse. The difference between individuals of different sexes in most species is manifested in the fact that females are larger than males. But in some species, males protect eggs, in which case they are larger than 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, usually they are milky white in color, they are called the "pearl rash", the wedding dress.
  Most cyprinids live in fresh waters, but some species can tolerate moderate salinity, and one species, Far Eastern rudd, is found even at oceanic salinity, but they all spawn in fresh water. Species living in brackish areas of the seas and spawning in rivers are called semi-passage. Some of them - roach, ram, bream, common carp, go to the lower sections of the rivers, others make significant movements. In the latter case, the mating attire of spawning producers is more pronounced.
  Cyprinids sweep a fairly large number of eggs. Viviparous cyprinids were not found. Carp temperate latitudes of the northern hemisphere spawn in the spring and summer. Females of some species lay eggs at the same time, while others in several stages. As you move to low latitudes, the percentage of portioned and spawning species increases, and spawning periods stretch.
  In most cyprinids, caviar has an adhesive shell; different species lay it on a different substrate: some on vegetation, others on stones, and others on sand. Some cyprinids spawn in rivers, and the caviar swept by them develops in the water column, carried by the current. The shell of such caviar is not sticky, transparent and quite dense. All mustard and one species of gudgeon lay eggs in the mantle cavity of bivalves.
  The plant substrate, flooded with hollow waters, is found in relatively calm, low-flowing or standing sections 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, they are called loans. Carp breeding in the hollows spawn eggs on vegetation, eggs are in a layer relatively rich in oxygen. A few days later, larvae hatch from the eggs. Vigorously moving their tail, they rise into the upper layers of water, stumble on leaves and twigs of plants, stick to them with the help of a secret secreted by "cement" glands located on the head of the larva.

Larvae develop using the reserves of the yolk sac, and even before it is completely consumed, they switch to an active lifestyle. They are detached from the plants, the swimming bladder is filled with air, and the juveniles begin to feed on infusoria, rotifers, small crustaceans, gradually turning to food inherent in one or another species. With the beginning of the decline in the level of flood waters, the fry leave the hollow, enter the riverbeds, where they continue to feed and grow. Juveniles of semi-migratory fish roll into the estuaries of the sea, rich in food. In our waters, species that spawn on vegetation include semi-passable species - roach, ram, bream, common carp, lake and river - roach, silver bream, gley, pond - crucian carp, tench, and upper. In larvae, respiration is provided by a well-developed network of blood vessels in the fin fold and on the yolk sac. As larvae grow, these temporary respiratory organs are replaced by gills.
  Many river species of cyprinids spawn on stones located in places with a strong current. Caviar sticks to the stones, but usually after some time it comes off and flows into the gap between the stones, under the stones, where it develops. The fertility of these fish, as a rule, is less than that of fish that lay eggs on vegetation, the eggs are somewhat larger, the incubation period is longer, which is associated with lower temperatures. Hatched larvae are larger and more formed than larvae from eggs laid on vegetation, and in contrast to the latter they avoid light. They have no gluing organs; the circulatory system that performs the respiratory function is also less developed. After hatching from eggs, the larvae usually clog under stones or in other shaded places, well washed with water, with a high oxygen content. After suction of the yolk sac and filling of the swimming bladder with air, they begin to lead the same lifestyle as the larvae of eggs laid on the vegetation. This group of cyprinids includes semi-migratory fish that rise for spawning rather high into rivers - carp, fish or raw fish, sewn, as well as typically river fish - dace, chub, podust, marinka and many others. Most cyprinids do not care about offspring, but still there are a number of species among them that protect eggs and even juveniles.
The external fertilization of eggs, the close breeding times of species belonging to the same ecological group, facilitate interspecific and even intergeneric breeding of cyprinids in natural conditions. In the waters of Europe, hybrids of carp and goldfish, rudd and hive, rudd and bream, rudd and bream, roach and bream, etc. are quite common. Some of them are probably fertile, for example, a hybrid of roach and bream. Sometimes naturally occurring hybrids capable of reproduction are taken as independent species. Several of these species have been described from reservoirs in North America.
  The commercial value of carp fish is great in Russia, as well as in countries of Asia and Africa. In the USSR, predominantly semi-passable cyprinids are caught - roach, ram, common carp, bream, shemayu, fish, in the basins of the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov and the Caspian Sea.
In reservoirs, bream are hunted in large quantities. Bream and roach are the main fish catch in the lakes. Crucian carp is caught in ponds and small shallow lakes.
  The most common fish farming facility in Europe is carp, a breed bred by humans. The ancestor of the modern European carp is the Danube common carp. In addition to carp, in ponds grow tench, gold and silver crucian carp, and harp. Common carp, carp - the most popular pond fish in the world. They are bred in most countries of Asia, Australia, and acclimatized in the lakes of the United States and Canada.
  Of particular interest is the content of herbivorous fish in cooling ponds at thermal power plants. Such ponds are heavily overgrown with vegetation, and the water exchange in them is disturbed: a large mass of water stagnates, and a small amount of flowing water does not have time to cool. Herbivorous fish planted in such ponds eat all the vegetation and grow well. In the same way, herbivorous fish clear water channels held in the south of our country.
  Many cyprinids are caught by amateur anglers.

In the article I will consider fish of the cyprinid family. I will tell you about their features and their environment. I will dwell on the most popular representatives of the family. I will describe the appearance of the fish, the conditions of detention and purpose.

Description and characteristics of cyprinids

Cyprinids are cyprinids. It has about two thousand species. Represented by marine, freshwater and aquarium inhabitants. Within the family, more than 250 genera are distinguished, which are combined into 9 subfamilies.

The range of life of cyprinids is huge.

They are found all over the world, but the main habitat is Asia and Europe.

The body of the fish is covered with scales, the head is bare. The edge of the upper jaw is formed by intermaxillary bones, the belly is rounded without ossification. Adipose fins absent.

Types of cyprinids differ among themselves, coloring, habits, eating habits and lifestyle. The size of the fish, depending on the species, can vary greatly. Small members of the family grow to 6-7 cm, while some species can reach 1.5-2 m.

The largest cyprinid fish is considered a giant barbel, whose length reaches 3 meters. He lives in Thailand and Vietnam.

The body color of cyprinids can be the most diverse. The most popular of them:

• golden;
• silver;
• dirty green.

Family Features

The representatives of the family are united by the presence of the Weber apparatus and pharyngeal teeth. They are located on the lower pharyngeal bone in one, two or even three rows. Cyprinids ingest food by mouth, and grinding occurs already in the throat. For this reason, the fish have rather fleshy lips.

Fish are also characterized by a large swimming bladder and a specific digestive tract. The latter is not divided into compartments, but has the appearance of a tube. In predators, it can reach the length of the carp, and in herbivores exceed the body size by more than 2 times. The length depends on the nutrition of the fish.

Most popular list view representatives

There are several thousand fish in the cyprinid family. They have long taken a leading position in both commercial fishing and aquarium farming.

Below are described in more detail the most popular cyprinids in the form of a list.

River

  - a large fish of brown or yellow-green color. Grows up to 35 cm.

It lives in almost any, even in a polluted, pond. Heat-loving fish. Prefers lakes and backwaters of rivers with a small course and a moderately silted bottom.

River carp belongs to commercial species of fish.

The most popular fish among anglers. This species is considered the largest among carps; there were individuals weighing about 40 kg.

Scales acquire a different shade, depending on the color of the water and plants of the reservoir in which the fish lives. And although the scaly carp is thermophilic, it also perfectly adapts in the northern latitudes. It can be found in lakes, quarries or rivers. Omnivorous. Scaly carp - commercial fish.

One of the most unusual representatives of his family.

They are distinguished by a small amount of scales and increased requirements for the habitat. It occurs almost throughout Eurasia, but the reservoir should be well aerated with a large number of well-heated areas.

Carp is omnivorous. The length reaches 1 meter, body weight - 20 kg. Refers to commercial species.

Valuable commercial fish. It lives in lakes, ponds and muddy rivers. Prefers aquatic plants for food. Size reaches 1.2 m., Weight - 35 kg.

It adapts perfectly in any temperature mode. It lives in Asia, Europe, South America, Australia and South Africa. Often populated in ponds to control vegetation.

Another of the commercial species of carp. They differ from the rest with a wide forehead. The average size of an adult silver carp: length - 1m, weight - 20-25kg.

Silver carp prefers plant foods and is easy to acclimatize. It, like grass carp, is often populated in ponds to destroy plants. Inhabits freshwater bodies with a silty bottom and soft vegetation.

Distributed to almost all territories of Europe and Asia.

A medium-sized fish that lives both in estuaries flowing into the Caspian Sea and in the sea itself. It grows up to 40 cm, with a weight of up to 1 kg. It feeds on inactive invertebrates.

It is often referred to as one of the varieties of roach, although the fish is distinguished by both some external features and its habitat. Vobla refers to commercial species of cyprinids, mainly used in dried or smoked form.

Another common carp fish. It lives in fast and slow-flowing rivers, tributaries of rivers and reservoirs with running water. Needs a lot of oxygen. Distributed almost throughout Asia and Europe.

It has an elongated body of a cylindrical shape, covered with silver scales. Anal and abdominal fins are red, dorsal and caudal fins are orange or brown. Head with a wide flattened forehead and large eyes. It grows to 70 cm and weighs about 5-6 kg. The fish is omnivorous.

One of the few predators of the cyprinid family.

In length, an adult reaches 80 cm and weighs up to 4 kg. The body is elongated with large and thick scales. The belly of the fish is white, the sides are silver with a blue tint, the back is blue-gray.

It lives in fresh, flowing and clean reservoirs practically throughout Eurasia. Refers to commercial species of cyprinids.

A small fish of the cyprinid family, growing on average up to 12-15 cm. The body is elongated with large scales of dark gray color above and bluish below. On the sides are longitudinal stripes and bluish spots.

It lives in rivers and lakes with clean water and a sandy or rocky bottom in most of Asia and Europe. Prefers animal feed: insects and their larvae, mollusks, bottom invertebrates. Gudgeon is rarely regarded as a trophy, and is often used as bait for catching predators.

A small fish from the carp family. The body is elongated, covered with silver scales with a bluish stripe on its sides. Length - 4-5 cm, weight up to 7 gr.

Widely distributed in Europe and Asia, where it lives in rivers, quarries and small lakes. Fish feeds on larvae of insects and bugs, caviar of other fish. It is not commercial fish, but is often used as a bait for catching perch.

It is a low-value industrial fish due to the low palatability and bony meat. The body of the fish is oblong with a pronounced hump, flattened laterally. The scales are enlarged silver, the back is bluish-gray.

It lives in fresh water bodies of Europe and Asia, the bottom of which is rich in silt or clay. Size reaches 35 cm. And weight - up to 1.2 kg. It feeds on plants, mollusks, larvae of beetles and insects.

Refers to commercial species of cyprinids.

Small beautiful aquarium fish.

Length - 8-10 cm, although some species reach 35cm.

In the natural environment lives in Africa, South and Southeast Asia. All types of barbs are characterized by bright colors, many have transverse stripes. Fish are very active, unpretentious in content.

The disadvantage when kept with other species is very cocky. The optimum temperature in the aquarium is 21-25 degrees and a volume of 100 liters. with moderate lighting and water changes of 20-30%.

Schooling fish, it is advisable to keep from 4 pieces. Barbs are omnivorous, feed on both animal and vegetable feed.

A small aquarium fish that lives in the upper layers of water. The body length reaches 4.5 cm. It lives in nature in Southeast Asia.

Depending on the species, the color of zebrafish is diverse. The fish can be blue, pink, yellow, etc. flowers with longitudinal stripes on the body. It is considered a cold-blooded fish, but it feels great in an aquarium with a temperature of 26 degrees.

Labeo

Another species of aquarium representative of the cyprinid family, whose homeland is the rivers and lakes of Thailand. It lives in the lower and middle layers of the aquarium.

The body is oblong black with a red tail. It grows at home up to 12 cm, in nature it can - up to 30 cm. Perform the role of aquarium orderlies.

• aquarium from 300 liters
• temperature 24-26 degrees
• good aeration, filtration and substitution 25%

There are no problems with nutrition: the fish perfectly eat dry, live food and substitutes. Getting along with almost all aquarium fish.

The cyprinid family is one of the largest families of fish on the planet. They are found in almost any body of water and aquarium.

Vast expanses of water in Western Siberia, 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. There are sturgeon and sterlet, nelma and many whitefish: muksun, peled, vendace and others. In addition, in the Ob and its tributaries - and our Tom is also its tributary. Now in 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, loachother. In mountain rivers grayling. In our rivers to spawn from the lower reaches of the Ob sturgeon, nelma, muksun. All three species are found in Kii, they penetrate into Tom, and nelma and a small amount of sturgeon go through Chulym and Yaya.

Our rivers are beautiful - the Tom, Kia, Yaya, Golden Kitat, Mras-Su, Uryup, Teres ... The rocks of their banks, quiet reaches, quick rifts. They are beautiful and have always been rich in fish. If we give a brief “fish characterization” of the large rivers of Kuzbass, then we will make many discoveries.

In Kievfor example, from the salmon family lived and gave offspring of nelm, taimen, lenok, and from the sturgeon family - sturgeon and sterlet. Whitefish were also found here. In yayafish of the same breeds came to spawn.

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

In the rivers of Kuzbassused to be commercial pike, ide, burbot, roach, dace, crucian carp, tench. And from low-value and “weed” breeds, perch, ruff, gudgeon and minnow are found in abundance.

The place spawningmost of our fish are shallow coastal areas, covered with soft vegetation and well warmed by the sun. Caviar is laid on last year's vegetation, roots and other underwater objects. After fertilization, the eggs adhere tightly to the grass until fry emerge from them. The onset of spawning depends on the temperature of the water. Usually, in late April and early May, sometimes even under ice, spawning begins. She lays caviar at a depth of 30-70 centimeters. After 10-12 days, larvae up to a centimeter in size emerge from the eggs. An ide is spawning for the pike, which gathers in large schools and goes to the spawning places. The ide prefers to lay eggs on the slopes of the hollows, where there is a current. Immediately after the plague, and sometimes with it, the dace spawn. Ikrome takes place in areas of flooded floodplains with vegetation or on sandy, stony ground in the channel of the river itself. After the dace, the perch spawns. He hangs eggs in the form of gelatinous ribbons on the roots and last year's vegetation.

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

Thermophilic fish- mite, crucian carp, tench-spawning in June, when the water warms up to 14-15 degrees. The bream spawns and usually migrates in packs; spawning usually occurs in the same place. But crucian carp does not lay eggs immediately, but in portions, sometimes until August.

Valuable fish, such as sturgeon and sterlet, spawning is carried out in June, at a water temperature of 18-20 degrees. Sturgeon spawning continues until the end of July. He lays eggs on stony, pebble soil, in a fast flow. As a rule, the size of our Siberian sturgeon is 130-150 centimeters, weight is from 12 to 24 kilograms. And he feeds on bottom organisms, sometimes exterminates 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, eats mainly 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, pebble bottom, at a water temperature below 4 degrees. Its average weight is 1.6-1.8 kilograms and a length of 70-75 centimeters.

Weed fish- ruff, minnow, gudgeon - in the spring they mainly eat eggs laid by other fish.

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

For breeding fish, floodplain places are chosen - plots filled 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 motile fry. As soon as the recession begins, the grown and matured fry gradually slide into the main reservoirs.

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

In recent years, we have seen encouraging phenomena - in our reservoirs fish that have not lived here before have taken root. In Tomi, it’s not uncommon to catch zander, he now occurs much higher than Krapivinsky. In the same places bream and carp, and even whitefish with nelma, began to come across. But while in the area, new pond fish farms are mainly engaged in the acclimatization of new fish.

Into Belovskoye reservoir imported grass carp and silver carp. These fish are herbivores and at first will play the role of land reclamators, and in the future they will acquire commercial value. In addition to silver carp and grass carp, there will be over time in the Belovsky reservoir bream.

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

Tomi fish stocksuntil relatively recently, they were significant. In its cold clear waters, excellent conditions were found for breeding muksuns, who came from the Ob in large herds, nelma, peled, taimen, uskuch, grayling ... In other years, the total fish catch in Tomi approached 3000 centners, including more than 500 centners of salmon alone.

Now in the Kemerovo region fishingpractically no operations are carried out, not counting two or three fishing organizations that catch no more than 500 centners of fish per year. Most of this catch falls on Lake Big Berchikul, and now only about 50-70 centners are caught in Tom. The pollution of rivers by industrial effluents is affected. Sturgeon, sterlet, nelma, grayling have become a rarity.

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

Fish in the Kemerovo Region

Fish resources

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

Sturgeon family

In the region there are 2 species: Siberian sturgeon and Siberian sterlet. Both species are rare, need 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

Species Siberian sturgeon is listed in the Red Book of Russia

Species Siberian sturgeon is listed in the International Red Book

Siberian sturgeon forms semi-aisle and freshwater forms. It lives in the rivers of Siberia from the Ob to Kolyma and further to the Indigirka. Siberian sturgeon has a blunt-nosed (typical) and pointed-nosed shape. The age limit of Siberian sturgeon is 60 years. Siberian sturgeon feeds on crustaceans, insect larvae, mollusks, and fish. Siberian sturgeon forms a cross between a Siberian sterlet, the so-called bonfire.

Sterlet

View Sterlet listed in the Red Book of Russia

View Sterlet listed in the international Red Book

In Siberia, distributed in the Ob, Irtysh, Yenisei. In Pyasin, Khatanga, Lena and further east. Most rivers have a sharp-pointed (typical Berg form) and blunt-shaped sterlet form. The greatest weight of a sterlet is 16 kg and a length of 100-125 cm. A sterlet feeds on invertebrates, mainly insect larvae, sitting on sunken snags.

Salmon family

There are 5 species in the region. The most numerous taimen species living in Tomi, Kie and their tributaries.

Taimen

View Taimen listed in the Red Book of Russia

Taimen differs from the Danube in a smaller number (11 - 12) of gill, stamens. 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. 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 clean cold-water lakes. Spawn in May in small ducts. This large and beautiful fish is a welcome catch of an amateur fisherman.

Nelma

View Nelma listed in the Red Book of Russia

View Nelma listed in the international Red Book

Nelma or whitefish. Like whitefish, nelma have rather large scales, silver-colored scales and small caviar. But the mouth of Nelma is large, like that of salmon. Nelma is a large fish, up to 130 cm in length and 30-35 kg of weight. Fatty meat is very tasty. This fish does not like salt water and, going out to sea, adheres to the desalinated estuarine spaces of the Arctic Ocean and the north-eastern part of the Bering Sea. A significant part of our herd of nelma spends all his life in the great Siberian rivers, making migrations from the mouth to the upper

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

Lenok

View Lenok listed in the Red Book of Russia

Lenok is the only species of its kind, reminds whitefish more than other salmon. His mouth is relatively small, like whitefish. The eggs are also quite small. Lenok grows relatively slowly and extremely rarely reaches 8 kg of weight, usually it is much smaller (2-3 kg in the 12th year of life). The color of 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, it lives in Siberian rivers from the Ob to the Kolyma, it is in the Far East in the Amur River and in all rivers flowing into the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk and the Sea of \u200b\u200bJapan. Going south to Korea. Like taimen, lenok is a voracious predator. Large lenoks, in addition to small fish, can eat frogs and river mice across. He also eats large benthic invertebrates - spring larvae, caddis flies and mayflies. Like ordinary taimen, lenok is an object of amateur fishing.

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

Muksun

Muksun has from 44 to 72 stamens. This is a semi-aisle whitefish, walking in the desalinated coastal waters of the Arctic Ocean, from where it spawns to Kara, Ob, Yenisei, Lena and Kolyma, without rising, however. Muksun at sea eats 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 in front of ice formation, on rifts with a flagstone and pebble bottom. Muksun is one of the most important commercial fish of Siberia; its catches are measured by tens of thousands of centners.

Peled

View Pelyad listed in the international Red Book

Peled or curd cheese can be easily distinguished from other whitefish by the final mouth, the upper jaw of which is only slightly longer than the lower, and a large number of gill stamens (49-68). Coloring of peled is darker than that of other whitefish; small black dots on the head and dorsal fin. She does not go into the sea, only occasionally getting caught in the slightly salted water of the Kara Bay. If omul is a passing whitefish, and tugun is mainly river, then peled can be called lake

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

Grayling family

Siberian grayling

Siberian grayling differs from the European in large mouth sizes (the upper jaw reaches about the middle of the eye). The teeth on the jaws are more visible. The color is the same as that of European grayling, but varies greatly: in large rivers there are light-colored forms, in small taiga streams - dark. A typical Siberian grayling lives in the basins of the Kara River (where it lives together with the European), Ob and Yenisei. To the south it goes to the Altai mountain ponds and p. Kobdo in northwestern Mongolia. Black grayling feeds mainly on larvae of caddis flies, spring flies and amphibians, and, on occasion, diversifies its menu with flying insects that have fallen into the water and caviar of sculpin gobies. The East Siberian grayling differs from the typical form in that its dorsal fin is shifted to the front end and the body is covered with finer scales, reaching 44 cm in length. It inhabits the eastern part of Siberia, meeting in the rivers Pyasin, Taimyr, Khatanga, Lena, Yana, Indigirka, Alazey, Kolyma and the rivers of the Chukchi Peninsula ..

Siberian grayling - a widespread mass species, lives in Tomi, Kie and their tributaries. Needs protection. Sport fishing is allowed.

Pike family

Pike

Pike is common in the northern waters of Europe, Asia and America. Common pike are found in Russia in the basins of the Black, Azov, Caspian, Aral, Baltic, White, Barents Seas, the Arctic Ocean and the Sea of \u200b\u200bOkhotsk (Anadyr River, some rivers of the northwestern part of the Kamchatka Peninsula). It is not only in the 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, weight 35 kg and more. It is kept among thickets of aquatic vegetation. The 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, pike have a gray-greenish, gray-yellowish or gray-brown color, the back is dark, the belly is whitish, with gray dots. In some lakes, silver pike are found. Pike prefers slow-flowing rivers, lakes, tolerates the acid reaction of the environment well. Pike has an elongated, swept shape. The head is very elongated, the lower jaw protrudes forward, the teeth on the lower jaw have different sizes and serve to capture the victim

Pike is a widespread mass species. Valuable object for sports and amateur fishing.

Family of cyprinids.

The most numerous. In the region there are 15 species. 10 of them have economic value (dace, ide, roach, bream, crucian carp, crucian carp, carp, tench, grass carp, silver carp).

The ide lives in the waters of Central Europe and Siberia right up to the Kolyma. An inexperienced fisherman can easily confuse the ide with roach or chub. But ide differs from roach in finer scales, greenish-yellow iris; from the chub - a higher body, relatively shorter head, crimson-red ventral and anal fins. In young ides, the coloration is more silver than in older ones; with age, the ide's back darkens very much, but the sides and belly remain silver, 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. Young ide feeds on zooplankton and algae; older fish feed on higher vegetation, mollusks, insects falling into the water, sometimes fish fry. The ide's food is very diverse. The ide grows quite quickly. In some pond farms, ides of yellow-red color, the so-called harp, are bred. Orff is very beautiful, and it is often kept as ornamental fish in large bodies of water, for example, in pools with fountains or in large aquariums.

Gudgeon

Gudgeon 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, and in the Amur basin, but is absent in other rivers along the Pacific coast. An ordinary gudgeon lives in rivers with a weak or medium speed current on sandy or pebble ground, in streams and flowing ponds. It reaches a length of 22 cm, but larger than 15 cm is rare. This is a small fish that differs well from other fish due to its appearance: its body on top is greenish-brown in color, silvery on the sides and covered with bluish or blackish spots, which sometimes merge into a continuous dark strip, the abdomen is silver, slightly yellowish; dorsal and caudal fins dotted with dark dots, others grayish. The antennae are in the corners of the mouth. Such coloring well masks the gudgeon, typical bottom; inhabitant, the color of the bottom.

Goldfish

Golden crucian carp differs from another species, silver crucian carp, with a smaller number of branchial stamens on the first arch (gold crucian carp 23-33, silver carp 39-50). The crucian back 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 ponds, in floodplain lakes, it is rare in rivers, keeps in areas with a slowed flow. Karasi are distinguished by a special attachment to waters with silty soils. In winter, crucian carp are buried in or survive even when small standing reservoirs freeze to the bottom in cold, snowless winters.

Silver crucian

Silver crucian carp differs from common crucian carp in a large number of branchial stamens, silver coloring of sides and abdomen. Silver crucian carp was brought to North America, to the ponds of Western Europe, Thailand, and India. Recently, he took root perfectly and became a commercial fish in Russia, in the lakes of Kamchatka. Compared to goldfish, it is more attached to large lakes, found in large rivers. It usually grows slightly faster than ordinary goldfish, reaches 45 cm in length and weighs more than 1 kg. In nutrition, zoo- and phytoplankton are of rather great importance. Silver carp is bred in ponds where carp cannot live, or planted in carp ponds.

Dace

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 Kolyma in the east, numerous in the lakes Zaysan, Teletskoye, Baikal. Siberian dace reaches 33 cm in length and weight 350 g. It eats bottom animals, and its food composition varies significantly depending on the composition of benthos in different water bodies. For the winter, he enters masses in unimportant rivers, and in the spring, even under the ice, he begins to descend into the Ob.

Bream (a valuable commercial fish distributed wider than other species of this genus. In the north, the bream reaches the basin of the White Sea and the eastern part of the Barents Sea (Pechora River), is acclimatized in the water bodies of Siberia (Lake Ubinskoe, River Ob), Kazakhstan (Lake Balkhash etc.). The bream prefers calm warm water with a sandy-silt and clay bottom and is therefore common in river bays, in lakes. The color of the bream changes depending on the age of the fish, the color of the soil and the water in the pond. The small bream is gray-silver, in darkens and acquires a golden ebb in older age. yanyh lakes bream has a brown color.

Tench

Lin 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. His thick, rather wide body is covered with tight-fitting small scales, small bright red eyes are located on his head. The mouth is very small, in the corners of the mouth by a short antenna. Pharyngeal teeth single row, elongated in 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. Lin prefers to stay in the bays of rivers and lakes, overgrown with reeds or soft underwater vegetation - urut. Usually he keeps alone. Before wintering, it gathers in schools and hibernates in deep places, sometimes burrows in silt. Tench feeds on small invertebrates.

Roach

Roach is found throughout Europe east of South 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. It is easy to distinguish roach 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, in reservoirs, and quite often in each of these reservoirs occupies one of the first places among other species. Most of the food consists of 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 of weight. The color of the back is greenish or yellowish-gray, the sides are dark golden. On 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 others are lighter. The rainbow is golden. The peritoneum is dark brown. Amur in its adult state almost exclusively consumes higher vegetation, both underwater and terrestrial, going 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, grind food well. The intestinal tract is long, 2-3 times the body length. The places where grass carp feeds can be easily noticed by the abundance of floating feces, reminiscent of the excrement of geese and ducks. Cupid grows quickly, about 10 cm each year. Grass carp during pond cultivation is an omnivorous fish: it eats soft underwater vegetation, cuts off young shoots of hard vegetation - reeds and cattail, eagerly consumes top dressing from various terrestrial vegetation, plant leaves, vegetables; he uses animal food - small fish, worms, insect larvae, and artificial feeds such as bran and oilcake. Particularly 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.

Amur and silver carp are acclimatized in the Belovsky reservoir, but are not found in other reservoirs. Are objects of sports and recreational fishing. Species that do not have economic value are widespread: gudgeon, verkhovka, minnow, Siberian char, Siberian pinch.

Catfish family

Som 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. Catfish goes north to the south of Finland, 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, white belly, spots on the sides of an irregular shape. The small reed form that lives in the southern part of the Aral Sea is intensely black. The catfish dorsal fin is tiny, barely noticeable, there is no adipose fin. The upper jaw carries two long antennae, the lower - four shorter. The huge mouth of the catfish gives out a predator in it. Indeed, the catfish is a gluttonous predator eating small fish, frogs, large bivalve mollusks. There have been cases of catfish attacking waterfowl and dogs crossing rivers. Nevertheless, the voracity of the catfish is greatly exaggerated. Usually catfish stay in deep places, under snags, in whirlpools near dams. Large catfish is a welcome prey for an angler-athlete. Usually catfish are caught in the summer, during the period of intense feeding, on bottom fishing rods acquired by a frog or crayfish neck, or on the track.

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

Chukuchanov family.

Representatives of this family are buffalo black and buffalo bold, also acclimatists of the Belovsky reservoir. Both species are of great economic value. Rare and protected species.

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 Siberian rivers, 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. They become sexually mature at 5-6 years old. Spawning occurs in May - June. Caviar is quite large, with a diameter of about 2 mm. The mating outfit of males in the form of small epithelial tubercles on the rays of the anal fin. Young feed on small invertebrates and diatoms, adults - on larger benthos.

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

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

Sports and recreational fishing have developed in the region; fishing was carried out only on Lake Big Berchikul and the Belovsky reservoir.

In the 80s, bream and pike perch were quite rare in ichthyological gatherings (observation point-kurya of the Lachinovskaya River Tom), now their number in Tomi has increased sharply.

According to the Kemerovo Fish Protection Inspectorate, over the past few years, the number of taimen and grayling has increased in the region as a whole.

In Tomi, cases of the capture of sturgeon, sterlet, and nelma are quite common, although, of course, these species remain in the rare category.

Perch

Perch is one of nine genera of the perch family.

The common perch on top is dark green in color, the sides are greenish-yellow, the belly is yellowish, 5 to 9 dark stripes stretch across the body, sometimes there are dark irregular spots instead; 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 stays mainly in places with a quiet course, small and medium in summer - mainly at a shallow depth, 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 kinds of animals that they can do: small fish, fish eggs, insects, worms, tadpoles, crustaceans, especially amphipods, and large ones - and river crayfish.

Burbot

Burbot is the only species from cod that has passed from seawater to freshwater. The burbot has two dorsal fins, the first 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 the coulter are armed with bristle teeth. The body is heavily covered with small cycloid scales that sit deep in the skin, releasing copious mucus. Body color varies greatly; usually the dorsal side is green or olive-green, mottled with black-brown spots and stripes. The burbot throat and belly are gray. Burbot retained the cold-loving nature of the cod family. 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 enters the estuary spaces of rivers. Burbot breeds in winter under ice.

/ Cyprinids
Osteichthyes / Perciformes / Percidae / Stizostedion volgensis

  CARP family (Cyprinidae) Karpovye - the richest species family of the suborder Cyprinidae. Their mouth opening is bordered from above only by the maxillary bones, which are movably connected to the maxillary. Retractable mouth. 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 pillow-shaped protrusion, called a millstone, which, together with the pharyngeal teeth, serves to grind food. The antennae or not, or one or two pairs (the exception is the eight-armed 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-branching ray (usually in the dorsal fin) can 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 front of the bladder is not enclosed in a bone capsule (with the exception of some genera of minnows living in the waters of the Amur and rivers of China). Scales in Cyprinidae are cycloid, in some species it is completely absent (body naked). The cyprinid family includes more than 1,500 species belonging to 275 genera. Cyprinids inhabit the fresh waters of Africa, North America, Europe and Asia to the “Wallace line” - a zoogeographic border that extends between the islands of Bali and Lombok in the Malay archipelago. In Australia, cyprinids were introduced by humans at the end of the 19th century. There are no cyprinids in South America. Carp are very numerous and diverse in Europe and Asia, especially in Southeast Asia, less diverse in Africa and North America. Cyprinids are relatively thermophilic fish. The number of species toward the north is decreasing. For example, 142 species of cyprinids are known in the Yangtze, 50 in the Amur River, and only 10 in the Lena Basin. A small number of species pass over 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 river basin. Colombia -16 species, in the upper reaches of the Yukon (the northern border of the distribution of cyprinids in America) -1 species. Karpovs can be divided into two large groups: the first group combines fish lacking antennae and having single 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. The fish of the first group (dwarfs, roaches, minnow, asps, podusts, breams, etc.) are distributed mainly in Europe, in Asia north of the mountain ranges of Central Asia and the Amur basin. In North America, all cyprinids there, with the exception of imported crucian carp and common carp, belong to this group (notropis, hibopsis, campostomy, etc.). The fish of the second group (carp, crucian carp, barbel, barbeque, marinka, Amur bream, woodhog, yellowfish, etc.) are found mainly in Southeast Asia, Africa and few species in Europe. If we proceed from the widely accepted position that the center where this group appears is the region where this group is represented by the largest number of species, then for cyprinids this center is the southeastern part of Asia. Probably cyprinids with multirow pharyngeal teeth are a more primitive group. The largest number of cyprinids with three-row pharyngeal teeth occurs in India (68% of the total number of cyprinids living in this area), then in East Asia (19%), Africa (37.5%), and Europe (9%) . The 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). The living conditions in the fresh waters of continental reservoirs are very different, and a huge morpho-ecological diversity of cyprinids is associated with this. 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 number, such as, for example, spruce, yolks, common carp, white and black cupids, American poultry hailus, some African labeos, Indian Katlya and some others. In North America, cyprinids up to 10 cm long predominate, and therefore they are called there minnow (minnow). In 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-pointed gudgeon, nosed gudgeon, mustard, discognate, etc.) are numerous, more than 80 cm length (carp, Aral barbel, yolk, black and white cupids, etc.).

The body color is pretty monotonous, mainly limited by tones from bright silver to golden and olive-brown. Silver waters predominate in the waters of Europe. The fins are usually grayish in color or colored (usually abdominal and anal) in yellowish or reddish tones of varying intensity. The coloring of Indian and African cyprinids is most vivid and diverse. Of particular note are the various Puntius (Puntius), painted in cherry, yellowish-orange and olive-green tones with stripes along the body, cardinals, parsing, 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 strip along the body, which can be accompanied by a bright strip of a different color (red, yellow, blue) along the upper edge, and spots are often present on the upper part of the body. Coloring is closely related to the behavior and habitat of a particular species. Thus, fish that hold in the water column have a silver color, and a golden, olive-brown, spotty color is characteristic of fish living in the bottom layers. The strip along the body is found in many flocks of fish. 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 it completely changes its character (“mating color”). Sometimes cyprinids meet color deviations: for example, individuals that are colorless, the so-called albinos, and, conversely, brightly colored chromosomes, may appear. Artificial selection of chromists made it possible to deduce special forms that differ from individuals of their type in color. An example is the golden orff - an ide of orange-red color, a golden tench. The body shape of cyprinids is mostly typically fish-like. But for some, the body is quite tall, squeezed laterally (mustard, bream, bream), and in bottom species it is often slightly flattened in the dorsal-abdominal direction, especially in the front of the body (ordinary gudgeon, marinka). In most cyprinids, the abdomen is rounded, squeezed, and even slightly pointed, so that the scales covering the body from the sides form a small keel in this area, covered with scales (asp, top). In others, the abdomen ends with a thin leathery outgrowth in the form of a keel, uncovered by scales. Such a keel can stretch along the entire lower edge of the body (sabrefish, white bream, ukley) or from the abdominal fins to the anus (bream, silver bream, upper guard). As a result of long breeding work with silver crucian carp, many decorative, so-called goldfish (telescopes, comets, veil tails, lion heads, etc.) of various body shapes and colors have been hatched. Goldfish bred in China and Japan are especially diverse. The nature of nutrition, and hence the structure of the oral apparatus, digestive tract, cyprinids are very diverse. Some of them (sabrefish, hive, stellate 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 final mouth and produce food in the water column or among the thickets of plants; This position of the mouth is also characteristic of predatory fish. Fish that feed on the bottom have a lower mouth. In cyprinids, lips around the mouth are more or less developed around the mouth. They are especially well developed in species with a lower mouth that extract food from soft silty soils. These fish have fleshy lips, with well-developed lobes, covered with numerous papillae. Such lips have, for example, a sponge-horse, Dabri gudgeon, some species of the labeo genus from water bodies of Southeast Asia, etc. In species that scrape fouling from various kinds of substratum - stones, dense soil, twigs, etc., the lower jaw lined with cartilage and covered with a durable, pointed horn cover. Such fish include podust, temramula, some species of marinka, gudgeon Vladislavia that lives in the Amur basin, etc. These species adhere to dense, usually rocky soils and live mostly in mountain rivers or streams.

The mouth opening is especially peculiar in species of the genus Osteochilus that live in the water bodies of Burma and the Malay Archipelago. In these fish, the mouth is directed forward and somewhat downward. 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 has the appearance of a transverse protrusion with a sharp, hard edge. Thus, Osteochilus has 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 dense soils. In species that obtain food on soft soils, the mouth is able to extend and resembles a tube that penetrates deep into the silt and sucks in various small invertebrates: larvae of the pusher mosquito (bloodworm), oligochaetes. In our fauna, bream, tench, common carp, gudgeon and some others have such a mouth. Deeper than others, silt (more than 12 cm), crucian carp (11 cm), less deep tench (7 cm), bream (5 cm) penetrate the silt. Many predators (asp, Mongolian rudd, trogoda, yolk, etc.) on the top of the lower jaw develop a tubercle that enters the corresponding recess located on the upper jaw. This device helps predators to capture and hold prey. In predatory species, the mouth extends very weakly, while in the yellow cheek it does not extend at all. As already mentioned, carp teeth have no jaw teeth. Carp mouths only capture food, and its grinding occurs in the throat 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 eating different foods. In asp, overshoot and other predatory cyprinids, the teeth at the end of the crown have a hook, which helps to seize and tear the victim's tissues. The teeth of husters, roaches, and especially black grass carp are characterized by the presence of a chewing pad, which contributes to crushing of mollusk shells, chitin of insect larvae, and also tissues of higher plants. Knife-shaped teeth of the podust, silver carp help compress small feed - detritus, algae, various fouling - into a dense lump. In rudd and grass carp, the crowns of the pharyngeal teeth are serrated and slightly resemble a saw. These species feed on underwater and, during the spill, flooded ground vegetation. In young cyprinids, 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. Pharyngeal teeth are replaced annually. The digestive tract in carp has the appearance of an undifferentiated tube, the stomach is absent, and, therefore, there is no gastric enzyme pepsin, which breaks down proteins. Food proteins are processed under the influence 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 benthos-eating species, the intestines are shorter than the length of the body, in omnivores it is equal to or slightly larger, in detritivorous ones 2-3 times as long as the body. Especially long (more than 10 times the body length) intestines in silver carp.

Carp eat a wide variety of foods: bottom organisms not only the surface, but from the depths of the soil more than 10 cm; water column organisms (zooplankton, phytoplankton); higher vegetation; detritus (surface film of soil, consisting of decaying remains of animal and vegetable origin); fish, as well as airborne insects that accidentally fall into the water. Juveniles feed on zooplankton or, less commonly, small zoobenthos. As the fish grow, they switch to another feed. In general, the nature of the nutrition of individual species is very different. In addition, for each species, the composition of food varies with age and with the 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 invertebrate animals living both in the ground and on various substrates (plants, stones, soil); some (bleak, sabrefish, common carp, hurricane, verkhovka) feed on zooplankton and aerial insects; there are also those (chub, minnow, roach, ide, etc.) that eat both animal and plant foods. There are very few herbivorous or purely predatory fish among the cyprinids that inhabit the waters of Europe. The number of species of herbivorous and predatory cyprinids significantly increases in the reservoirs of Southeast Asia. A relatively constant light regime, fairly 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 monsoon rains, the water level in the rivers rises and huge expanses of floodplain, covered with grass and shrubs, are flooded with water. As a result, herbivorous fish get an extra huge supply of food. And it is not surprising that the number of its consumers is great in these places: first of all, baby-eating, then phytoplankton-eating and, finally, species that eat higher plants. The relatively high temperature of the water contributes to the rapid digestion of large quantities of plant foods. Many of the herbivorous fish of Southeast Asia (grass carp, white bream, cirrins, roha, and other species of the Labeo genus) reach very large sizes, up to 60-120 cm in length, while the length of the largest herbivorous fish in European water bodies ( rudd) - about 40 cm. The variety and a large number of peaceful fish, probably, to some extent determine the presence of a large number of predators. Predatory cyprinids cannot, however, capture large prey due to lack of teeth and stomach. At low latitudes, there are many small species, their breeding period is extended, since the eggs in males and the sperm in males do not ripen all at once, but in portions. Therefore, in a reservoir there are always many juveniles of the most diverse 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, troglubka (up to 20 cm), and large ones - Upper-eye (up to 100 cm), yolks (up to 200 cm). In the waters of Europe, a typical predator is asp. This is one of the largest fish among European cyprinids; it reaches 60-80 cm in length.

In South Asia and Africa, predatory carp fish are species of the genus Barilius. In North and Central America, the distribution pattern of ecological groups of cyprinids, differing in nutrition, is similar: at higher latitudes, zoobenthophages prevail, and when moving south, the number of phytophages (herbivorous) increases. The ecology of reproduction in 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 sandpiper, Amur chebachok and some others), males protect the eggs; in this case they are larger than females. Among cyprinids, there are species with pronounced sexual dimorphism in which it is not difficult to determine whether an individual belongs to a particular sex. For example, in a male tench, the external rays of the ventral fins are greatly thickened; in males of some labeos (for example, Labeo dero), the dorsal fin is higher and stronger excised than in the female; in males of some Puntius (Puntius), the lateral black spot is different in form 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), they are usually milky-white in color, and they are called a pearl rash, a nuptial outfit. It is believed that the mating outfit has functional significance during the spawning period. For example, during skirmishes between males or mating games, in this case tubercles develop mainly on the head; contact between individuals of different sexes is served by bent back tubercles on the pectoral fins and along the body, which is especially important when spawning in fast currents. But this question has not been studied enough.

Most cyprinids live in fresh waters, but some species can tolerate salinity of 10-14 ° / 00, and one species, Far Eastern rudd, is found even at oceanic salinity (32-33 ° / 00). But they all spawn in fresh water. Species living in brackish areas of the seas and spawning in rivers are called semi-passage. Some of them (roach, ram, bream, carp) go to the lower sections of the rivers, while others (Aral barbel, carp, fisherman) make significant movements. In the latter case, the mating attire of spawning producers 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 males. Cyprinids sweep a fairly large number of eggs. Viviparous cyprinids were not found. The assumption of the existence of a live-bearing species of the genus Puntius (Puntius viviparus) was refuted as a result of careful observation of its reproduction in aquariums. Carp temperate latitudes of the northern hemisphere spawn in the spring-summer season. Females of some species lay eggs at the same time, while others - in several stages, in portions. As you move to low latitudes, the percentage of portioned and spawning species increases, and spawning periods stretch. Most cyprinids have bottom sticking eggs. Some species lay their eggs on vegetation, others on stones, and others on sand; finally, there are species that lay eggs in the shells of bivalve mollusks. In some species, non-sticking caviar. It rolls along the bottom or floats in the water column. Plant substrate (usually last year or young vegetation), flooded with hollow waters, is found in relatively calm, low-flowing or standing sections 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, they are called loans. Usually, at the hollows or in loans, the depth varies from 20-30 to 50-100 cm. Most often, the tops of grassy vegetation and its individual clusters (curtains) rise above the water. Under the rays of the spring sun, the water in the hollows quickly warms up, and its temperature is much higher than the temperature of the water in the channel. So, if in the Volga channel the water temperature is 6-7 ° С, then in 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 initially the smallest algae (phytoplankton), and later of zooplankton (ciliates, rotifers, small crustaceans that feed on phytoplankton). In turn, zooplankton organisms provide excellent food for juvenile fish. The oxygen content in the water at the hollows varies greatly depending on the time of day. In daylight, due to the photosynthesis of phytoplankton organisms and higher vegetation, oxygen is sufficient, especially in the upper layers of water. In the dark, due to the absorption of oxygen during breathing, as well as the decomposition of organic residues, the oxygen content in the water decreases, and a deficit is often formed in the bottom layer and at the bottom. Carp breeding in the hollows spawn eggs on vegetation, eggs stick to it at a certain distance from the bottom and therefore are in a layer relatively rich in oxygen. Within a few days, larvae hatch from the eggs, which possess a positive phototaxis (tend to light) and, moving their tail vigorously, rise into the upper layers of water, stumble on branches 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. After this, the larvae are separated from the plants, their swimming bladder is filled with air, and they begin to actively feed on infusoria, rotifers, small crustaceans, gradually turning to food inherent in a particular species. With the beginning of the decline in the level of flood waters, the fish fry leave the hollow and enter the river beds, where they continue to feed and grow. Juvenile semi-migratory fish - roach, bream, common carp, etc. - roll into the estuarine areas of the sea, where they find plentiful food and grow rapidly.

The species that spawn on vegetation include semi-passages in our waters - roach, ram, bream, common 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, breathing is ensured by a network of blood vessels in the fin fold and on the yolk sac. As larvae grow, these temporary respiratory organs are replaced by gills. Many river species of cyprinids spawn on stones located in places with a strong current. Caviar sticks to the stones, but usually after some time it comes off and is drifted into the gaps between the stones and under the stones, where it develops. Fertility in these fish, as a rule, is less than that of fish that lay eggs on vegetation, and caviar is larger and its incubation period is longer, which is associated with lower temperatures. Hatched larvae are larger and more formed than 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 are usually clogged under stones or in other shaded places, well washed with water with a high oxygen content. After suction of the yolk sac and filling of the swimming bladder with air, they begin to actively feed on small animal organisms (ciliates, rotifers, small crustacean larvae), passing from small forms to larger ones as they grow. This group of cyprinids includes semi-migratory fish that rise rather high for spawning into rivers: carp, fish, or raw, sewn, as well as typical river fish: dace, chub, podust, marinka and many others. Many types of minnows lay eggs on the sand. The caviar is small, sticky, encrusted with grains of sand and completely invisible against the background of the bottom. Sometimes eggs stick to stones or to washed roots of coastal vegetation. Then hatched larvae possess large pectoral fins and lower mouth. They are located on sandbanks, relying on pectoral fins, and after some time they begin to feed on microscopic bottom organisms: conch root roots - diflugy, arcella, rotifers. This type of feeding is found only in rivers where plankton - the food of juvenile fish - is less developed than in lakes. Some cyprinids spawn 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 caviar is transparent, and it is very difficult to notice in the water column, where it undergoes its development. The circulatory system of larvae in such fish is usually less developed than in other groups of fish. Red blood cells and pigmented formations appear late, while the swim bladder is filled early. Thus, larvae from floating eggs for a long time maintain body transparency and lead a pelagic (in the water column) lifestyle. Carps of this group are most numerous in the Amur basin and in the rivers of Southeast Asia. The monsoon climate prevails in these areas. In winter, winds blow mainly from colder land to a 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 melting snow are low. On the contrary, summer-autumn floods as a result of monsoon rains are very large and cause a significant rise in water level. The conditions for spawning of spring-spawning fish in the monsoon rivers are unfavorable: not every spring the coastal vegetation is filled with hollow waters, and there are years when these fish cannot spawn. In this flood regime, fish with floating eggs have an advantage over those that lay eggs on vegetation or stones. In European rivers only Cheshack lays floating caviar from cyprinids, and in Southeast Asia there are a number of species: spaghetti, sturgeon, Amur bream, white and black cupids, silver carp, many minnows, Indian river carps. In the mollusk shells, caviar is almost exclusively laid by mustard. The number of species of mustard also increases in the rivers of Southeast Asia. Fishes of this group lay eggs in the mantle cavity of bivalves, where it finds a reliable shelter from various predators and moves with its “mobile spawning substrates” during fluctuations in water level. The development of caviar takes place in an exceptionally peculiar environment, and a number of amazing adaptations are associated with this. The eggs of mustard are elongated, oval, with a highly concentrated yolk, development takes place in an environment with a low oxygen content and is very slow. 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. Larvae are afraid of light, and this protects them from premature exit of mollusks from the shell. Mustard swallows a small number of eggs: Asian spiny mustard is about 600, and ordinary mustard is even smaller - no more than 100.

Most cyprinids do not care about offspring, but still there are a number of species among them that protect eggs and even juveniles. Such, for example, are false sandbags, pseudo-parsing in the Amur basin and in the rivers of China and Korea. Many species, such as roaches, specifically prepare spawning sites. Spawning behavior in North American cyprinids is fairly well understood. So, the males of the campostomy (Campostoma apomalum pullum) dig up the bottom, move stones, clean the spawning area from silt, build nests and actively protect them. A large male is kept in the nest, and small ones are near the nests. Females defend nearby, in deeper areas, and then head to the nests. Individuals of both sexes pass from nest to nest, females leave nests before males, males linger, but then also leave. A typical group spawning has been described for rhinitis (Rhinichthys osculus). Males of this species build nests about 30 cm in diameter. Among the males, a hierarchy is noted: 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 there with a group of males. It is known that at notropis (Notropis analostanus) during spawning males emit percussive sounds - threat signals; sounds of a different kind — frequent blows and “purrs,” probably occur 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 males guard the laid eggs. Species of the genera Hybopsis, Semotilus, Campostoma, and others leave the nests immediately after laying eggs. The spawning behavior of fish is amazing in perfection, in the exact consistency of all its details. Observing it, studying it is interesting not only to an ichthyologist, but also to every lover of nature. External fertilization of eggs, close breeding times of species belonging to the same ecological group facilitate interspecific and even intergeneric breeding of cyprinids in natural conditions. In the waters of Europe, hybrids of carp and goldfish, rudd and hooded hybrids, rudd and hibernas, rudd and bream, roach and hiberners, roach and bream, hooded and hooded hybrids, etc. are quite common. Some of them are probably prolific, such as a hybrid of roach and bream . Sometimes hybrids found in natural conditions capable of reproduction are taken as independent species. Several of these species have been described from reservoirs in North America. A very large number of hybrids were artificially obtained, which made it possible to study many family ties, since the ability to cross is usually considered as a sign of close relationship between species. The juveniles of many cyprinids and most species of small and medium sizes are kept in packs. For peaceful flock of carp fish, the so-called fright reaction is described. This reaction manifests itself in the fact that if a representative of a given species or even other cyprinid fish is drawn from the skin into a flock, then the flock breaks up. By the degree of manifestation of the fright reaction, researchers judge the relationship between different species. It is interesting to note that in predatory fish, often eating individuals of their species, a fright reaction is observed only in young individuals feeding on benthos (the experiment was carried out with the North American species Ptychocheilus oregonensis). The fright reaction has an important biological significance, since the death of one individual is a signal of an impending flock of danger, and the flock instantly disperses.

The commercial importance of cyprinids is especially great in the countries of the former USSR and China, as well as in India, Burma and Africa. In the countries of the former USSR, predominantly semi-passing cyprinids are harvested: roach, ram, common carp, bream, shemayu, fish, mainly in the basins of the Azov, Caspian and Aral seas. A lot of crucian carp are mined 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-migratory fish. To maintain their stocks, fish-breeding farms (fish farms) have been established in the lower reaches of the rivers, and shallow bays are separated by dams with locks from the main reservoir in the reservoirs, creating areas with favorable conditions for spawning of fish. The most important commercial fishing fish in China are carp, common and spotted grass carp, common and motley silver carp, crucian carp, bream, woodpecker, rudd, yellowfish, etc .; India - Katla, Labeo, Cirrins, Torus, Puntiuses, etc .; African countries - barbel (Barbus, different species), labeos, barilia (Barilius), etc. Many cyprinids are caught by amateur anglers. Small cyprinids are a good bait for fishing 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 humans. The ancestor of the modern European carp is the Danube common carp. Common carp, carp - the most popular pond fish in the world. They are bred in Europe, in most Asian countries (in Vietnam, China, Korea, India, Cambodia, Thailand), Ceylon, Malacca, the Philippines, and Australia; acclimatized them in the lakes of the USA. In China, in addition to carp and crucian carp, four species of fish are bred: white and black grass carp, common and motley silver carp. They are called home fish. Usually young fish of these species are planted in ponds, which are mined 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, manufacturers are caught, which are kept until spring. To produce mature reproductive products, manufacturers are stimulated by pituitary injection. During the summer, juveniles are transplanted several times from the pond to the pond. Ponds are fertilized, and thereby a high yield is achieved - up to 1500-2000 kg / ha. In India, many species are bred in ponds, mainly herbivorous species of barbel (Barbus), labeo (Labeo), cirrina (Cirrhina) and catla (Catla catla). In Europe, carp, carp, tench, silver and gold carp, and harp are bred. At present, the cultivation of herbivorous fish: grass carp, silver carp, and others has been mastered. Young fish caught in the rivers of China, as well as in Amur, have been brought to fish hatcheries: Goryachiy Klyuch, Krasnodar Territory, to Karamet-Niyaz on the Karakum Canal, and some others. In hatcheries they were reared, and then released into ponds and natural reservoirs and reservoirs. Now in many areas of our country, nurseries have been created where cupids and silver carp 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 mass of water stagnates, and a small amount of flowing water does not have time to cool sufficiently. Herbivorous fish planted in such ponds eat all the vegetation and grow well. In the same way, herbivorous fish clean the canals carried out in the south of our country from vegetation, and do this very effectively. Some brightly colored tropical species are popular with aquarium enthusiasts. Various puntiuses, brachiodanio, zebrafish, cardinals, parsing, etc. are widely known. But there is no species more popular than a goldfish - a form created by man. The initial species of various forms of goldfish is crucian carp.

In the cyprinid family, there are distinguished groups of genera characterized by common characters and sometimes considered as subfamilies. These groups differ in the nature of distribution. So, chub-like genera are widespread in East and North Asia, in North America and in Europe, but are absent in Africa. Barbel-like births 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. Sand-like and cheshneopodobnye are numerous in Southeast Asia and are represented in Europe. Thick-headed 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 in Europe and Asia roaches, dace trees, chubs, grass carp, mountain dace trees, minnow, rudd, asp, tops, tench, podust. In North America, they are represented along with dace trees and American roach by a number of American genera, of which the largest (up to 150 cm in length and 36 kg in weight) reaches the West American poultry heychus (Ptychoche-ilus), and the genus Shiner is represented in the largest number (about 100 species) , or Notropis (Notropis), widespread east of the Rocky Mountains.

The genus Roach (Butilus) is widespread in fresh and brackish water bodies in Europe and North Asia, and in America it is replaced by American roach (Hesperoleucus). Roach is characterized by a terminal or semi-low mouth, single row pharyngeal teeth. It contains 7 or 8 species. We belong to the family of elts (Leuciscus), actually, elts, chubs, 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 European-Asian), western and partly eastern North America (22 species). The most widely distributed dace, chub and ide, represented in different regions of Europe and Asia, in addition to the main form, local forms - subspecies. The genus Mountain dace (Oreoleuciscus), or, as they are also called, Altai Ottomans, close to roach, is a kind of group of cyprinids. They are of limited distribution, inhabit the inland waters of North-Western Mongolia, the closed lakes of the Mongolian Gobi, Southeast Altai, some lakes of the Autonomous Republic of Tuva and the upper Ob (Chuya, a tributary of Katun, and the Biya basin). In fish of this genus, sexual dimorphism is well pronounced; in addition, the appearance of mountain spruce trees varies greatly with age: for example, the relative size of the head increases (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 is in the final or lower position, but individuals with an upper mouth are found. Single-row pharyngeal teeth. Gill stamens 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 that inhabit a particular lake, for example Lake Terehol. Locals call this lake Ottoman. The largest size of mountain dace is -61 cm (lakes in the basin of the Chui River). Five species are distinguished in this genus, but some researchers consider them to be forms of the same species. The genus Golyany (Phoxinus) contains a number of small (up to 20 cm) river and lake species. The body of minnow is covered with very small scales, the anal fin is short, the pharyngeal teeth are two-row. The genus of minnow unites about 10 species distributed in the fresh waters of Europe and North Asia. There are 8 species in Russia. Minnow lifestyle 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 Krasnoperki (Scardinius) contains two species: the rudd (within Russia) and the Greek rudd (S. graecus) in the lakes of southern Greece. The genus White Cupid (Ctenopharyngodon, with one species C. idella) is widespread in East Asia from the river. Cupid to South China. Asp (genera Aspius, Aspiolucius, Pseudaspius) - predatory cyprinids belonging to different genera. They all have much in common in body shape and lifestyle. The body is elongated, covered with rather small, tight-fitting scales. These 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. Two species belong to the pike-shaped asp (genus Aspiolucius): bald (A. esocinus) - a typical river species that lives in the low reaches of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya, and Vietnamese bald (A. harmandti) living in the rivers of Vietnam. It differs from an ordinary asp in a very flattened head, small eyes. Lysach Verkhovka (Leucaspius) - small fish, with relatively large scales, an incomplete lateral line. There are 2–3 species of Upper Rivers living in water bodies of Central and Eastern Europe and Transcaucasia. Lin (genus Tinea, with one species T. tinea) got its name from the word “molt”, since, taken out by the water, it immediately changes color. Podlike-like cyprinids are usually characterized by a transverse lower mouth; the lower jaw in many genera is suspended and covered with a cartilaginous lining. Dorsal and anal fins small (7-12 branching rays), usually without spines. No antennae. The intestine is long, its length is 2-5 times greater than the length of the body of the fish. Podiforms 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 podust. In European gusts (Chondrostoma), the mouth has the appearance of a transverse gap. The lower jaw is lined with cartilage and slightly pricked. Pharyngeal teeth are single-row, but »cheviform, located 6 on each pharyngeal bone. The body cavity is lined with black epithelium. 18 species belong to the genus of podust. 8-9 genera with 25 species belonging to the group of podusts live in North America. Of these, the genus Hibognatha (Hybognathus, 9 species) is especially rich in species, in which the length of the intestine exceeds the body length by 3-10 times. The remarkable American genus Campostoma adjoins this group. The intestinal length of the campostomy is 6–9 times the length of the body of the fish; the intestine is surrounded by a swimming bladder and gonads (ovaries) with spiral turns, like a coil of a solenoid around the core. A similar structure of the viscera is observed among fish only at the campostomy. Sand-like cyprinids are small fish, with a galloping body, a short anal fin, without spines in the fins, with a short intestine. Most species have antennae. This includes pseudo-parsing and several genera of minnows. Sand-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, 11 genera and 20 species of sand-like fish, of which 11 genera with 14 species only in the Far East.

Pescari (genera 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 easily accessible for observation, beautifully painted and may be of interest to aquarists. Real minnows (Gobio) are most common. They are found in Europe, in the rivers and some lakes of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Siberia, in the Amur basin, in the rivers of China and Korea. Representatives of other genera are found in the Amur basin, in the rivers of China, Korea, Japan, and in the lakes of Mongolia. In this genus, about 20 species. 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 jagged spine in the dorsal fin: most have antennae; the mouth is usually lower or lower, and in many species the lower lip is covered with a cartilaginous lining. Three-row pharyngeal teeth. This group includes horses, barbel, marinka, labeos, puntiuses, cirrins, Katla, and others. Some reach a large size, more than 1 -1.5 m. Hemibarbus horses look like barbel but look even more like minnows grown to prohibitively large sizes. In the corners of the mouth they have one pair of antennae; the dorsal fin has a smooth spine. In this genus, 4 species are common in Mongolia (Lake Buir-Nur), in the Amur basin, in Korea, Japan, China, including Taiwan. Within Russia, in the Amur basin, two species of horses live. Barbel has two pairs of mustaches: one in the corners of the mouth, the other in the upper jaw. The dorsal fin has a jagged or, more rarely, smooth spine; three-row pharyngeal teeth are characteristic. This genus is the most extensive in the number of species; its representatives are found in the tropical fresh waters of Africa, Asia, and to a lesser extent in temperate waters of Europe. Large representatives are of commercial importance. Some, for example 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, passage and lake species. The Khramuli (genus Varicorhinus) are also close to barbel. They are distinguished by the fact that the oral opening is in a lower position and has the form of a transverse gap. The lower jaw is suspended, often covered with a horn cover and serves to scrape off plant fouling. Pharyngeal teeth are three-row, their crowns are strongly compressed, spade-shaped. There is a spine in the dorsal fin, often serrated along the posterior margin. 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, in North India, and South China. Puntiuses (genus Puntius) are very close to the barbel, not recently separated from the barbel. Unlike barbel, most species of puntiuses do not have antennae in the corners of their mouths and are small in size, no more than 10 spruce in length. Puntiuses are widespread, diverse and numerous in the fresh waters of Africa, India, Ceylon, China, Indochina and Indonesia.

In a special genus of Barbodes (Barbodes) secrete four-armed Puntius. They are close to barbel and numerous in Africa, India and Burma Labeo, also common in Syria, China, Indochina and Indonesia. In body shape, species of this genus are similar to barbel, from which they are well distinguished by the structure of the mouth. The mouth of the labeo is usually lower, transverse or lunate. The lips are thick, lined on the inside with a small 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 laborers dig in soft silt, absorbing organic residues along with the organisms in it. The snout is usually protruding, often covered with papillae. Cirrins (Girrhina) have similar to the labeo features and lifestyle. This genus includes 8-10 species, common in India, Burma, China, Indochina. Zirrins have a wide transverse mouth with poorly developed lips. The lower jaw is quite sharp, with a small tubercle in the middle, devoid of any horn cover. The antennae are small, 1-2 pairs, but may be absent. Scales are large, medium, small. Gill stamens short. It is also necessary to mention the widespread in the waters of South Asia and Africa, but mainly predatory cyprinids, barillas, absent in our waters. Barilia (genus Barilius) differ from barbel in large end mouth and low sideline. Most species have laterally elongated dark spots or stripes on their sides. Barilians prey on 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 nutrition of predatory fish in Africa; local fishermen widely use them as good bait. Purely pelagic planktonivorous fish are Engraulicypris (Engraulicypris) living only in African lakes. These are small fish, up to 10 cm long, somewhat reminiscent of the appearance of an anchovy or hamsa, which is reflected in their Latin name. Their snout is protruding and pointed, like an anchovy; eyes are big; the short dorsal fin is located above the anal. The back is light tan, the sides and belly are cast in silver. In water, they are almost transparent, except for a bright yellow tail. Engraulicyprises keep in packs 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 types of engraulicypris are known. Of great interest are blind caveman barbel 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.

Discognates, garra, disco labeo and several other genera are very peculiar, characterized by the presence of a special suction cup in the form of a small disc on the lower jaw, directly behind the lower lip. These fish adapted to life in fast mountain streams, in oxygen-rich water. They are common in Western, South and Southeast Asia and in Northeast Africa. Discognathichthys - small, up to 10 cm, fish with a peculiar biology. They have a lower mouth, semicircular or transverse; the lower jaw is suspended 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 in the corners of the mouth, a pair of antennae is also located there. The most characteristic feature 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 traits for life in such reservoirs, a small swimming bladder can be noted. Species of this genus live in the mountain streams of Asia, Abyssinia. Garra (genus Garra) are very close to discognates, but have two pairs of antennae. The abdominal fins are enlarged, fan-shaped, the abdominal 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 discognates.

Marinka, Ottomans, Nagorny and several other genera, including about 30 species of fish, belong to a special group of split-bellied, or pick-like, cyprinids. In fishes of this group, the anus and the anterior part of the anal fin are bordered by folds of skin that form a fissure, or “split”. The scales on the folds of the skin are larger in comparison with the scales on other parts of the body and form a kind of border on the sides of the “splitting”. Slag-bellied are found only in the reservoirs of Central and Central Asia from Turkmenistan and Eastern Iran in the west to Yunnan. Slap-bellied live in mountain rivers and lakes. Probably, many of the signs characterizing these fish arose as important adaptations to life in mountain water bodies. It is believed that “splitting” is important during spawning on fast currents and rocky ground, while the black peritoneum plays the role of a screen that protects the sex glands from excessive exposure to ultraviolet rays, so abundant in high mountain regions. Within the group, specialization features are clearly visible, which are clearly manifested in species that have risen higher in the mountains. Specialization is in the direction of reducing the number of rows of pharyngeal teeth, antennae and scaly cover. The least specialized are marinka. Marinka (Schizothorax) are common in rivers flowing from Kopetdag, the upper reaches of the Syr Darya and Amu Darya basins, in the basin of Lake Balkhash, p. Tarim, in the upper reaches of the rivers of India, Indochina, in the Yangtze and the lakes of Tibet. Although marinka rise quite high in the mountains, they do not reach typically mountainous areas, but inhabit lakes, the middle course of rivers and foothills. Small scales completely cover the body, the lateral line is complete. Three-row pharyngeal teeth. The last, unbranched ray in the dorsal fin in most species is a rather weak spine with barely noticeable denticles (in young specimens, the denticles are more noticeable). The body color varies greatly, but grayish-yellowish, olive-greenish tones prevail, typical for fish leading a bottom lifestyle. Ottomans (Diptychus) are distinguished by the nature of the scaly cover. The body of the Ottomans is covered with small scales that do not overlap each other, sometimes so few and very fragmented, that they can be found only above the base of the pectoral fins. And only along the lateral line are the flakes located throughout the entire length of the body. Pharyngeal teeth are two-row. The mouth is lower, with one pair of antennae in the corners of the mouth. Within our country there are 2 species. The Uplands (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 bare, the scales are preserved only along the lateral line, at the base of the pectoral fins, surrounds the "splitting".

Quite a few species of cyprinids belong to the group of streak-like. Almost all the fish of this group have an uncovered keel on their belly: the anal fin is elongated, having from 10 to 44 branched rays; there is no serrated spiny ray in the dorsal and anal fins; antennae not; the intestines are short. As a part of this group, predominantly benthic, usually more or less tall, benthos-eating animals are distinguished, and planktonivorous fish living mainly in the upper layers and in the water column are distinguished by their lower body. Bentose-eating fish-like fish - inhabitants of temperate waters of Europe and Central Asia, are also found in North America (American bream of the genus Notemigonus, close to European). In our waters they are represented by European bream, silver bream, raw fish and raw fish, ostrilochka. European bream (Abramis, in a genus of 3 species - bream, white-eye, blue) 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 abdominal fins there is a keel not covered with scales. Pharyngeal teeth are single-row, 5 on each side. Caudal fin strongly cut, lower lobe longer than upper. Bream are common in Central and Northern Europe, the Caucasus, the Aral Sea basin and Asia Minor.

Shemai, bleak, hurricane are mainly planktonivorous fish. The skinny keel on their belly, which is not covered with scales, is small and in Shemai usually does not reach half the distance between the anal fin and the base of the abdominal. The lower jaw protrudes forward. Shemai (Chalcalburnus) slightly resemble bleak, but reach a larger size, 22-40 cm. This species includes several species with many subspecies common in the basins of the Black, Caspian and Aral Seas, in Lake Van, in the Tigris and Euphrates and Southern Iran. Bleachers (Alburnus) have an elongated, rather laterally compressed body and a relatively long anal fin (10-20 branched rays). Between the abdominal and anal fins, the abdomen is suspended and carries a keel in the form of a thin leathery fold, not covered with scales. The lateral line has the form of a gentle arc. 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. Bimbo (Alburnoides) are close to bleak, but differ from them in a higher body, indented pharyngeal teeth. This species includes several species that live in water bodies of Europe, Western and Central Asia. Coelike-like cyprinids have, like scallop-like, uncut keel on the belly. The color of most silver; the lateral line is usually curved down, in some straight. Most have three-row teeth, and a few have two-row teeth. No antennae. The swim bladder is bifid or tripartite. Semi-pelagic caviar. 24-25 genera and about 80 species are related to the unshaped. Most of them live in the rivers of Southeast Asia, only one Chekhon is widespread in Europe and in the Aral Sea basin. Ukley, or upper eyes (Culter, not to be confused with bleak - Alburnus), have a pronounced keel on the abdomen, not covered with scales, extending from the pectoral fins to the anus. Their mouth is upper. Ostrobryushki (Hemiculter) - small fish found in the Amur basin, in the rivers of China, Vietnam, West Korea. The genus contains 4-5 species.

Indian sabrefish (genera Oxygaster, Chela) are very close to the European sabrefish, up to 10 species of which live in the rivers of India, Pakistan, Burma, Indochina. They do not reach the size of sabrefish, usually have a length of up to 15-25 cm. They are important as larvicidal fish that destroy mosquito larvae and are valued as tasty fish. Black-bellied (Xenocypris) outwardly resemble an ordinary podust, but differ in that the last unbranched ray of the dorsal fin is very thickened and turned into a smooth spike, flexible at the apex. Three-row pharyngeal teeth. The length of black-bellied animals does not exceed 30 cm. Four species of this genus are known in China. The yellowfin (Plagiognathops) is close to black-bellied (often also called yellowfin), but its coloration is brighter. Upper-eyes (genus Erythroculter) have a keel on their belly behind the ventral fins. Rasbora are common in East Africa, South and East Asia, the Philippines and Indonesia. In total, about 30 species of parsing are known, more than half from Indonesia. Danio and Brahidanio (genera Danio, Brachidanio) are distributed almost throughout India (except the northern part), Burma, Malaysia and Indonesia. These are small, slender, very mobile flocking 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. Types of zebrafish have a slightly higher body, large sizes, up to 10-15 cm; full lateral line and a large number of rays in the dorsal and anal fins. Esomus (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. About 5 species of ezomus are known, reaching a length of 6 to 15 cm. A group of cyprinids that are peculiar in their reproduction and development features are Mustard-like. These are small fish with a rather high, laterally compressed body, elongated dorsal fin (8-14 branching rays) and short anal. Their pharyngeal teeth are single-row. There are 5 genera of mustard 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, Japan.

In the carp-like carp fish of our fauna, the dorsal fin is long (11-22 branching rays), anal short (5-8 rays). The last, unbranched ray in the dorsal and anal fins is jagged. The intestines are long, 1.5-2 times longer than the body. These include carp and crucian carp. Carps (Cyprinus) are distinguished by a wide, thick body, covered with dense large scales, and a long, slightly notched dorsal fin. In the dorsal and anal fins there is a serrated bone ray, in the corners of the mouth and on the upper lip - a pair of antennae. Three-row pharyngeal teeth, with flat furrowed corollas. They easily rub plant tissue, destroy the shell of seeds, crush the shells of mollusks. Three species belong to this genus: two live in the fresh waters of China, and the third species, carp, has a very wide range. Carassius is represented by two species, which, like the common 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. Very apart from the above groups (subfamilies) of cyprinids are thick-billed. Silver carp differ from all other cyprinids in the shape of their heads, with a wide, convex forehead and low-sitting 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 prickly rays in the dorsal and anal fins. This group includes the Amur silver carp, or the mob, the South Chinese motley silver carp and, apparently, the Tinnichts of India, Indochina, the islands of Kalimantan and Sumatra. Tinnichthys (Thynnichthys) are common in India (one species), Thailand and Indonesia (3 species). Indian Tinnicht, or sandkhol (T. sandkhol), is a silver fish with a reddish head, reaching puberty at a length of 30.5 cm and spawning in the rivers when they become full-flowing during monsoon rains (June - September).

White Amur (Ctenopharyngodon idella) General Information: White Amur (Ctenopharyngodon idella) is a fish of the cyprinidae family. Homeland of the White Cupid (Ctenopharyngodon idella) - East Asia, where it is distributed from the river. Cupid to South China. In the reservoirs of the USSR, the introduction of the White Amur (Ctenopharyngodon idella) began in the first half of the 60s, when it was acclimatized in order to clean water from water [...]

African barbus Despite the existence of numerous species of African barbel, 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 long. Males are smaller than females, slimmer, with more expressive orange sections on the fins. Fish willingly spawn in pairs, [...]

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

White-eye (sopa) (Abramis sapa) Description: White-eye (Abramis sapa) (sopa) - 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, dull, swollen. The eyes are large (up to 30% of the length of the head) with a white-silver iris (hence the name). Gill stamens long, dense. [...]

Bystryanka (Alburnoides bipunctatus) Description: Bystryanka (Alburnoides bipunctatus) - this little-known fish is very similar to ordinary 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 hunchier than it. This blackish streak starts from the eyes and, at [...]

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

Verkhoglyad (Erythroculter erythropterus) - 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. It prefers the upper eagle to be kept mainly in the water column. Reaches a length of about 102 cm and a mass of 9 kg. Predatory fish. It feeds [...]

Vladislavia (Ladislavia taczanowskii) is distributed in the upper and middle reaches of the Amur basin, mainly in small rivers and streams of the foothill type, preferring open shallow areas with a fairly fast flow, pebble or sand and gravel soil, sometimes overgrown with sparse vegetation. It easily scrapes diatoms and detritus from stones and compacted soil with its pointed, jaw-covered cartilage. The 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 roach. It differs from river roach in larger size (up to 30 cm or more) and in some minor morphological characters (fins of gray color with a black rim and an iris of silver eyes with dark spots over the pupils). The distribution of Vobla is endemic [...]

The oriental belly (Hemiculter leucisculus) is distributed throughout the range of the genus, with the exception of West Korea; forms a number of subspecies (in the Amur basin, three: typical, Buirnor, Khankai). The length of the gastric abdomen is up to 18 cm. This small silver fish looks and lifestyle similar to the bleak in European rivers. Vostrobryushka - a flock of pelagic fish, lives both in lakes and in [...]