Our planet has been inhabited by millions of different animals for millions of years. Among them, a special type stands out - fish. They filled the rivers, lakes, seas and oceans. These animals play a large role in the natural food chain, as well as in the human environment. 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, because all living organisms on Earth are necessary links in nature.
Fish of the rivers of Russia
The most common fish that live in the rivers of Russia are beluga, pike, burbot, catfish, sturgeon, stickleback, crucian carp, salmon, carp, perch, carp, and rudd. And this is not a complete list of them. The fastest river fish include salmon, dace, podust, asp and sabrefish, and the most brisk ones are rudd, bream, roach, scavenger, tench and crucian carp. These aquatic vertebrates are divided into predatory and peaceful inhabitants. The fact that river fish eat directly depends on this division. The former eat smaller representatives of this class, while the latter spend most of their time in search of plankton and plant foods. In water bodies of Russia, especially in the summer, various algae grow rapidly, which are a haven for crustaceans and mollusks. And this is not just food, but a kind of delicacy for fish. Predators (for example, pike, zander, perch), in turn, feed on smaller fish.
The largest representatives of river fish
Nowadays, any river fish with a length of more than 1.80 meters and a weight of at least 90 kg is considered a large individual. The record-holders in size are several species of these aquatic vertebrates. One of them is beluga. Its weight reaches 1400 kg, and its length is about five meters. Keeps up with the size of the beluga and pike. Its largest representatives are found in the northern rivers of Russia.
European (ordinary) catfish is about 350 kg in weight and up to 4.5 meters long. It lives in almost all large rivers of both Russia and the CIS. 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. For example, a female caught in the Tikhaya Sosna River, whose weight is 1227 kg, produced 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 especially valuable commercial fish. For example, in the seventies in the Volga River Delta, the catch of carp was at least ten thousand tons per year.
Fish of Primorye rivers
Russia has a vast territory, in the reservoirs of which many different species of fish live. So, considering the inhabitants of fresh water bodies of the Primorsky Territory, we 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 Primorsky Krai can boast of the most unusual names - for example, snakes, horse-gubar, yolks and upper marsh. In addition to the fish mentioned, Amur pikes, catfish, crucian carp, common carp, salmon, lenok, sesame and grayling live in local fresh waters. One of the unpretentious and common fish of the Primorsky Territory itself is the rudd. And although many locals consider her too bony, she is gorgeous in terms of taste. The rudd is of two types: finely scaly and coarse. Usually this fish grows up to half a meter in length and weighs up to one and a half kilograms.
Fishing in the suburbs
For lovers of fishing for many years, Moscow region remains a favorite place for a relaxing holiday. Amazing nature, quiet evenings, clean air and plenty of fish in ponds - all that is needed for Russian fishing. The rivers Pakhra, Severka, Ruza, Istra, Nerskaya, Protva, Nara, Besputa, Dubna, Sister and others hide various popular and tasty fish in their waters. This is perch, and carp, and crucian carp, and roach, and pike, and gudgeon, and bream, and chub, and scavenger, and asp, and bleak. River fish near Moscow are caught both with fishing rods, and with the help of a spinning rod, fly fishing, boat and balkan.
Pike - the queen of Russian rivers
Speaking about the fish that are found on the territory of Russia, one cannot but mention the heroine of Russian fairy tales - pike. She 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 determined by the food base: the larger the average size of the fish in the river, the more the pike can grow. It is rightfully considered 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 intimidating. Many river fish became prey for this nimble predator. The color of pikes is mainly gray-green, with dots. Thanks to the slippery cylindrical body, they move quickly and swiftly. Pikes feed mainly on smaller fish (roach, perch and others), but there are often cases of eating and individuals of their own species. In addition, the diet of these predators includes amphibians, reptiles, large insects, various debris, small mammals, and even chicks of waterfowl.
Rare and endangered fish
Today, many river fish are needed in human participation and care on the territory of Russia, the list of which is increasing every year. These include the Azov beluga, sterlet, Volga herring, Volkhov whitefish, grass carp, Baikal white grayling, Baikal sturgeon, common sculpin, Kamchatka salmon and others. All these fish are on the verge of extinction. Take, for example, the Volkhov whitefish, which, before the construction of the Volkhov hydroelectric power station (1925), played a large role in fishing and was found in huge numbers in the Volkhov, Syaz, Svir rivers.
The catch of the Baikal sturgeon in the nineteenth century reached three thousand centners, and in the nineties of the twentieth century it was reduced to two hundred centners. Today, most often these river fish are found in Lake Baikal and the rivers flowing into it - the Angara, Kitoy, Belaya, Selenga, Barguzin and Khamar-Daban. A similar fate befell Baikal white grayling, also previously widespread in these waters.
Another endangered species is grass carp. 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, grass carp is found in Lake Khanka, as well as in the Amur and Ussuri rivers.
