River fish of Russia: list and description of species

Our planet has been inhabited for millions of years by many different animals. Among them stands a special type - fish. They filled themselves with rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. These animals play a big role in the natural food chain, as well as in the human habitat. Both sea and river fish serve for people as a source of food, medicines and fertilizers for agriculture, as well as raw materials for light industry. What are these inhabitants of the rivers of our country, how do they survive and what do they eat? This question deserves due attention, for all living organisms on Earth are necessary links of nature.

Fish of the rivers of Russia

The most common fish inhabiting the rivers of Russia are beluga, pike, burbot, catfish, sturgeon, stickleback, crucian carp, salmon, carp, perch, carp, rudd. And this is not a complete list of them. The fastest river fish include salmon, dace, podost, asp and sheep, and to the most brisk fish - rudd, bream, roach, scion, tench and crucian carp. These aquatic vertebrates are divided into predatory and peaceful inhabitants. From this division, the fact that they eat river fish also directly depends. The former feed on smaller representatives of this class, while the latter spend most of their time looking for plankton and plant foods. In the reservoirs of Russia, especially in the summer, various algae are rapidly growing, which are a haven for crustaceans and molluscs. And this is not just food, but a kind of delicacy for fish. Predators, for example, pike, pike perch, perch, in turn, eat smaller fish.

The largest representatives of river fishes

Nowadays, any river fish, whose length is more than 1.80 meters, and weight not less than 90 kg, is considered a large individual. Records of magnitude are several species of these aquatic vertebrates. One of them is the beluga. Its weight reaches 1400 kg, and the length is about five meters. It does not lag behind the size of the beluga and pike. Its largest representatives are found in the northern rivers of Russia.

European (common) catfish weighs about 350 kg and lengths up to 4.5 meters. It lives in almost all large rivers of both Russia and the CIS. The catfish is unusual in that its body consists of a huge head and a huge tail.

The most valuable freshwater fish

River fish of Russia have their most valuable specimens. The most expensive of them is the Russian beluga. So, for example, a female, caught in the Tikhaya Pine River , weighing 1227 kg, gave 240 kg of very high-quality caviar. Its cost today is about two hundred thousand dollars.

The second most expensive is carp. It belongs to the category of particularly valuable commercial fish. For example, in the seventies in the delta of the Volga River, the carp crop was no less than ten thousand tons per year.

Fish of Primorye rivers

Russia has a huge territory, in the waters of which many different kinds of fish live. So, considering the inhabitants of fresh water bodies of Primorsky Krai, you can count about one hundred and fifty of their varieties. Some, such as the Sakhalin taimen, are even listed in the Red Book. Other river fish of Primorye boast the most unusual names - for example, snakes, horse-gubar, yellow-cheeked and top-eyed. In addition to these fish, Amur pike, catfish, carp, carp, salmon, lanki, kunshi and grayling live in the local fresh waters . One of the most unpretentious and common fish of the Primorye Territory is the rudd. And although many locals consider it too bony, but taste characteristics it is gorgeous. The redfish is of two types: finely scaly and coarse-scaly. Usually this fish grows to a length of up to half a meter and weighs up to one and a half kilograms.

Fishing in the suburbs

For lovers of fishing for many years, the suburbs remains a favorite place for a relaxing holiday. Amazing nature, quiet evenings, clean air and plenty of fish in the reservoirs - all you need for Russian fishing. The rivers Pakhra, Severka, Ruza, Istra, Nerska, Protva, Nara, Besput, Dubna, Sister and others hide in their waters a variety of popular and delicious fish. This perch, and carp, and crucian carp, and roach, and pike, and minnows, and bream, and chub, and podleschik, and asp, and bleak. River fish of the Moscow region are caught with the help of fishing rods, and with the help of a spinning rod, fly fishing boat, boat and bales.

Pike is the queen of the rivers of russia

Speaking about fish that are found on the territory of Russia, it is impossible not to mention the heroine of Russian fairy tales - the pike. It lives not only in the reservoirs of our country, but also in the rivers of Europe, as well as Asia and the United States of America. The size of the pike is predetermined by the forage base: the larger the average size of the fishes in the river, the larger the pike may grow. It is considered to be one of the most predatory freshwater fish. Her appearance fully testifies to this: a long, flattened head with a huge mouth and a large number of sharp teeth looks awesome. Many river fish became prey for this agile predator. The color of the pike is mostly gray-green, with speckles. Thanks to a slippery cylindrical body, they quickly and swiftly move. Pikes feed mainly on smaller fish (roach, perch and others), but often there are cases of eating and individuals of their own species. In addition, the diet of these predators includes amphibians, and reptiles, and large insects, and various scum, and small mammals, and even chicks of waterfowl.

Rare and Endangered Fish

Today, in the territory of Russia, many river fish need human participation and care, the list of which is increasing every year. These include the Azov beluga, sterlet, Volga herring, Volkhov whitefish, black cupid, Baikal white grayling, Baikal sturgeon, common stump, Kamchatka salmon and others. All these fish are on the verge of extinction. Take, for example, the Volkhov whitefish, which earlier, before the construction of the Volkhov Hydroelectric Power Station (1925), played a large role in the fishery and was produced in huge quantities in the rivers Volkhov, Syaz, Svir.

The catch of the Baikal sturgeon in the nineteenth century reached three thousand centners, and in the nineties of the twentieth century it shrank to two hundred centners. Today, these river fish are most often found in Lake Baikal and the rivers flowing into it - Angara, Kitoy, Belaya, Selenge, Barguzin and Khamar-Dabane. A similar fate befell the Baikal white grayling, also earlier widespread in these waters.

Another species that is endangered is the black cupid. Due to a sharp decrease in the number of this fish in the seventies of the last century, a ban on its catch was established. Today, a black cupid is found in Lake Khanka, as well as in the Amur and Ussuri rivers.

Influence of ecological situation

Unfortunately, today the ecological situation affects many river systems. Quite often there are cases of pollution of rivers by the emissions of factories and industrial enterprises, storm sewage, which includes various hazardous chemicals. River fish, crayfish, turtles and other inhabitants under such circumstances not only change the habitual way of life, but also become victims of mutations or even disappear altogether. And it's not a secret for anyone that the lack of attention on the part of human society can lead to an irreparable ecological disaster.