Neema fish. Types of perch: description, habitats and habits. Pictured is a rockfish

We present a list of the most common freshwater (river) fish. Names with photos and descriptions for each river fish: its appearance, the taste of the fish, habitats, fishing methods, time and method of spawning.

Pike perch, like perch, prefers only clean water, saturated with oxygen and conducive to the normal functioning of the fish. This is pure fish without any ingredients. The growth of pike perch can be up to 35 cm. Weight Limit can reach up to 20 kg. Pike perch meat is light, without excess fat both very tasty and pleasant. It contains quite a lot of minerals, such as phosphorus, chlorine, chlorine, sulfur, potassium, fluorine, cobalt, iodine, and also a lot of vitamin P. Judging by the composition, pike perch meat is very healthy.

Bersch, like pike perch, is considered a relative of perch. It can grow up to 45 cm in length, weighing 1.4 kg. It is found in rivers that flow into the Black and Caspian Seas. Its diet includes small fish, like a gudgeon. The meat is almost the same as that of pike perch, although a little softer.

Perch prefers reservoirs with clean water. These can be rivers, ponds, lakes, reservoirs, etc. Perch is the most common predator, but you will never find it where the water is turbid and dirty. To catch perch, fairly thin gear is used. Catching it is very interesting and entertaining.

The ruff has a peculiar appearance with the presence of very spiny fins, which protects it from predators. The ruff also loves clean water, but depending on its habitat it can change its color. It grows no more than 18 cm in length and gains weight up to 400 grams. Its length and weight directly depend on the food supply in the pond. Its habitat extends to almost all European countries. It is found in rivers, lakes, ponds and even seas. Spawning takes place over 2 days or more. The ruff always prefers to be at depth, as it does not like sunlight.

This fish is from the perch family, but few people know it, since it is not found in this area. It is distinguished by an elongated fusiform body and the presence of a head with a protruding snout. The fish is not large, no more than one foot long. It is found mainly in the Danube River and its adjacent tributaries. Its diet includes various worms, mollusks and small fish. The chop fish spawns in April with bright yellow eggs.

This freshwater fish, which is found in almost all bodies of water on the globe, but only in those that have clean, oxygenated water. When the oxygen concentration in the water decreases, the pike dies. Pike grows up to one and a half meters in length, weighing 3.5 kg. The body and head of the pike are characterized by an elongated shape. It’s not for nothing that it’s called an underwater torpedo. Pike spawning occurs when the water warms up from 3 to 6 degrees. It is a predatory fish and feeds on other species of fish such as roach, etc. Pike meat is considered dietary because it contains very little fat. In addition, pike meat contains a lot of protein, which is easily absorbed by the human body. Pike can live up to 25 years. Its meat can be stewed, fried, boiled, baked, stuffed, etc.

This fish lives in ponds, lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. Its color is largely determined by the composition of the water that is available in a given reservoir. In appearance it is very similar to the rudd. The roach's diet includes various algae, larvae of various insects, as well as fish fry.

With the arrival of winter, the roach goes to wintering pits. It spawns later than pike, around the end of spring. Before spawning begins, it becomes covered with large pimples. The caviar of this fish is quite small, transparent, with a green tint.

Bream is an inconspicuous fish, but its meat is characterized by excellent taste. It can be found where there is calm water or a weak current. Bream lives no more than 20 years, but grows very slowly. For example, a 10-year-old specimen can gain weight no more than 3 or 4 kilograms.

Bream has a dark silvery tint. The average life expectancy is 7 to 8 years. During this period, it grows up to 41 cm in length and has an average weight of about 800 g. Bream spawns in the spring.

This is a sedentary fish species with a bluish-gray color. The silver bream lives for about 15 years and grows to a length of up to 35 cm, with a weight of 1.2 kg. Silver bream, like bream, grows quite slowly. They prefer bodies of water with standing water or slow currents. In spring and autumn, the silver bream gathers in numerous flocks (dense flocks), hence its name. The silver bream feeds on small insects and their larvae, as well as mollusks. Spawning occurs at the end of spring or beginning of summer, when the water temperature rises to +15ºС-+17ºС. The spawning period lasts from 1 to 1.5 months. Silver bream meat is considered not tasty, especially since it contains a lot of bones.

This fish has a dark yellow-golden hue. It can live up to 30 years, but already at 7-8 years its growth stops. During this time, the carp manages to grow up to 1 meter in length and gain a weight of 3 kg. Carp is considered a freshwater fish, but it is also found in the Caspian Sea. Its diet includes young shoots of reeds, as well as eggs of spawned fish. With the arrival of autumn, its diet expands and begins to include various insects and invertebrates.

This fish belongs to the carp family and can live for about a hundred years. May eat undercooked potatoes, bread crumbs or cake. A distinctive feature of cyprinids is the presence of a mustache. Carp is considered a voracious and insatiable fish. Carp lives in rivers, ponds, lakes, and reservoirs where there is a muddy bottom. Carp likes to pass pliable silt through its mouth, in search of various bugs and worms.

Carp spawns only when the water begins to warm up to a temperature of +18ºС-+20ºС. Can gain weight up to 9 kg. In China it is a food fish, and in Japan it is a decorative food.

A very strong fish. Many experienced fishermen fish for it, using powerful and reliable gear.

Crucian carp is the most common fish. It is found in almost all bodies of water, regardless of the quality of the water and the concentration of oxygen in it. Crucian carp is able to live in reservoirs where other fish will immediately die. It belongs to the carp family, and in appearance it is similar to carp, but does not have a mustache. In winter, if there is very little oxygen in the water, crucian carp hibernate and remain in this state until spring. Crucian carp spawns at a temperature of about 14 degrees.

Tench prefers ponds with dense vegetation and covered with thick duckweed. Tench can be caught well from August, before the onset of real cold weather. Tench meat has excellent taste characteristics. It’s not for nothing that tench is called the king’s fish. In addition to the fact that tench can be fried, baked, stewed, it makes an incredible fish soup.

The chub is considered a freshwater fish and is found exclusively in rivers with fast currents. It is a representative of the carp family. It grows up to 80 cm in length and can weigh up to 8 kg. It is considered a semi-fat fish, since its diet consists of fish fry, various insects, and small frogs. It prefers to be under trees and plants hanging over the water, since various living creatures very often fall into the water from them. It spawns at temperatures from +12ºС to +17ºС.

Its habitat includes almost all rivers and reservoirs of European countries. Prefers to stay at depth in the presence of a slow current. In winter it is as active as in summer, as it does not hibernate. It is considered a fairly hardy fish. It can have a length from 35 to 63 cm, with a weight from 2 to 2.8 kg.

Can live up to 20 years. The diet consists of both plant and animal foods. Ide spawning occurs in the spring, at water temperatures from 2 to 13 degrees.

It is also a representative of the family of carp fish species and has a dark bluish-gray color. It grows up to 120 cm in length and can reach a weight of 12 kg. Found in the Black and Caspian Seas. Selects areas with fast currents and avoids stagnant water.

There are saberfish with silver, grayish and yellow colors. It can gain weight up to 2 kg, with a length of up to 60 cm. It can live for about 9 years.

Chekhon grows very quickly and gains weight. Found in rivers, lakes, reservoirs and seas such as the Baltic Sea. At a young age it feeds on zoo- and phytoplankton, and with the arrival of autumn it switches to feeding on insects.

It is easy to confuse rudd and roach, but rudd has a more attractive appearance. Over the course of 19 years of life, it is able to gain weight of 2.4 kg, with a length of 51 cm. It is found, for the most part, in rivers that flow into the Caspian, Azov, Black and Aral seas.

The basis of the rudd's diet is food of plant and animal origin, but most of all it likes to eat caviar of mollusks. Enough healthy fish with a set of minerals such as phosphorus, chromium, as well as vitamin P, proteins and fats.

The podust has a long body and chooses areas with fast currents. It grows up to 40 cm in length and weighs up to 1.6 kg. The podust lives for about 10 years. It feeds from the bottom of the reservoir, collecting microscopic algae. This fish is distributed throughout Europe. Spawns at a water temperature of 6-8 degrees.

Bleak is a ubiquitous fish, known to almost any person who has fished with a fishing rod in a pond at least once. Bleak belongs to the family of carp fish species. It can grow to small sizes in length (12-15 cm) with a weight of about 100 grams. Found in rivers flowing into the Black, Baltic and Sea of ​​Azov, as well as in large reservoirs with clean, non-stagnant water.

This is a fish, the same as bleak, but slightly smaller in size and weight. With a length of 10 cm, it can weigh only 2 grams. Able to live up to 6 years. It feeds on algae and zooplankton, but grows very slowly.

It also belongs to the family of carp fish species, and it has a spindle-shaped body shape. It grows in length up to 15-22 cm. It is carried out in reservoirs where there is a current and there is clean water. The gudgeon feeds on insect larvae and small invertebrates. It spawns in the spring, like most fish.

This type of fish also belongs to the carp family. It feeds practically on food of plant origin. It can grow up to 1 m 20 cm in length and weigh up to 32 kg. It has high growth rates. Grass carp is distributed throughout the world.

The diet of silver carp consists of microscopic particles of plant origin. It is a large representative of the carp family. This is a heat-loving fish. The silver carp has teeth that are capable of grinding vegetation. It is easy to acclimatize. Silver carp are grown artificially.

Due to the fact that it grows quickly, it is of interest for industrial breeding. Can gain up to 8 kg of weight in a short time. It is mostly distributed in Central Asia and China. Spawns in the spring, loves water areas where there is an intense current.

This is a very large representative of freshwater bodies, capable of growing up to 3 meters in length and weighing up to 400 kg. The catfish is brown in color but has no scales. Inhabits almost all reservoirs of Europe and Russia, where appropriate conditions exist: clean water, the presence of aquatic vegetation and suitable depth.

This is a small representative of the catfish family that prefers small reservoirs (canals) with warm water. In our time, it was brought from America, where there is quite a lot of it and most fishermen fish for it.

Its spawning occurs in conditions when the water temperature reaches +28ºС. Therefore, it can only be found in the southern regions.

This is a fish from the family of river eels and prefers freshwater bodies of water. This is a predator, similar in appearance to a snake, which is found in the Baltic, Black, Azov and Barents Seas. Prefers to be in areas with a clay bottom. Its diet consists of small animals, crayfish, worms, larvae, snails, etc. Capable of growing up to 47 cm in length and gaining weight up to 8 kg.

This is a heat-loving fish that is found in reservoirs located in large climatic zones. Its appearance resembles that of a snake. A very strong fish that is not so easy to catch.

It is a representative of the codfish and is similar in appearance to a catfish, but it does not grow to the size of a catfish. This is a cold-loving fish that leads an active lifestyle in winter time. Its spawning also occurs in the winter months. It hunts mainly at night, while leading a bottom-dwelling lifestyle. Burbot is an industrial fish species.

This is a small fish with a long body covered with very small scales. It can easily be confused with an eel or a snake if you have never seen one in your life. It grows up to 30 cm in length, or even more if growth conditions are favorable. Found in small rivers or ponds with a muddy bottom. It prefers to be closer to the bottom, and can be seen on the surface during rain or thunderstorms.

Char belongs to the salmon family of fish species. Due to the fact that the fish does not have scales, it got its name. Grows to small sizes. Its meat does not decrease in volume under the influence of low temperatures. Characterized by the presence of fatty acids, such as omega-3, that can resist inflammatory processes.

It lives in rivers and feeds on various types of fish. Distributed in rivers of Ukraine. Prefers non-deep water areas. It can grow up to 25 cm in length. It reproduces by caviar at water temperatures within +8ºС. After spawning, it can live no more than 2 years.

The lifespan of this fish is considered to be about 27 years. It grows in length up to 1 m 25 cm, gaining weight up to 16 kg. It is distinguished by its dark gray-brown color. In winter, it practically does not feed and goes into the depths. It has valuable commercial value.

This fish lives only in the Danube arm basin and is not common anywhere else. It belongs to the family of salmon fish species and is a unique representative of the fish fauna of Ukraine. Danube salmon is listed in the Red Book of Ukraine and fishing for it is prohibited. It can live up to 20 years and feeds mainly on small fish.

It also belongs to the salmon family and prefers rivers with rapid currents and cold water. It grows in length from 25 to 55 cm, while gaining weight from 0.2 to 2 kg. The trout diet includes small crustaceans and insect larvae.

It is a representative of the Eudoshidae family, reaches a size of about 10 cm, while gaining a weight of 300 grams. It is found in the basins of the Danube and Dniester rivers. At the first danger, it buries itself in the mud. Spawning occurs in March or April. Likes to feed on fry and small invertebrates.

This fish is caught on an industrial scale in Edver and the Urals. Spawns at temperatures no higher than +10ºС. This is a predatory fish species that loves fast-flowing rivers.

This is a freshwater species of fish that belongs to the carp family. It grows up to 60 cm in length and gains up to 5 kg of weight. The fish is dark in color and is common in the Caspian, Black and Azov seas.

River fish without bones

Virtually no bones:

• In maritime language.
• In fish of the sturgeon family, belonging to the order Chordata.

Despite the fact that water has a certain density, the body of the fish is ideally suited for movement in such conditions. And this applies not only to river fish, but also to sea fish.

Typically, its body has an elongated, torpedo-like body shape. In extreme cases, its body has a spindle-shaped shape, which facilitates unhindered movement in the water. Such fish include salmon, podust, chub, asp, sabrefish, herring, etc. In still water, most fish have a flat body, flattened on both sides. Such fish include crucian carp, bream, rudd, roach, etc.

Among the many species of river fish there are both peaceful fish and real predators. They are distinguished by the presence of sharp teeth and a wide mouth, which allows them to swallow fish and other living creatures without much difficulty. Similar fish include pike, burbot, catfish, pike perch, perch and others. A predator such as a pike is capable of developing enormous initial speed during an attack. In other words, it literally swallows its prey instantly. Predators such as perch always hunt in schools. Pike perch leads a bottom-dwelling lifestyle and begins hunting only at night. This indicates his uniqueness, or rather his unique vision. He is able to see his prey in complete darkness.

But there are also small predators that do not have large mouths. Although, such a predator as the asp does not have a huge mouth, such as a catfish, for example, and it feeds only on young fish.

Many fish, depending on their habitat conditions, can have different shades. In addition, different reservoirs may have different food supplies, which can significantly affect the size of the fish.

The diversity of river fish has interested people since ancient times. Our ancestors fed their families by fishing. Nowadays, fishing is most often a hobby or recreation. This fact does not negate the benefits of fish products in the diet of children and adults.

List of river fish in Russia quite big. Let's look at its main representatives.

Zander

A schooling predatory fish with valuable meat, which contains the entire list of amino acids. A distinctive feature is the camouflage color in the form of dark vertical stripes on the back. Lives at the bottom of clean rivers, in pits. It feeds on small fish, frogs, and crustaceans. For a fisherman, pike perch is considered a trophy. You can fish with a spinning rod and float rod for live bait.

Perch

Chub

Lives in cool water of fast rivers. It feeds on larvae, fry, and frogs. Capable of jumping out of the water to catch an insect. It reaches 70-80 cm in length. The body and head are large. - difficult prey, as it is shy and cautious. You can catch them in the spring using dough and May beetle larvae. Summer bait - grasshoppers, dragonflies, flies.

Ide

Outwardly similar to a roach or chub. The scales are silvery and darken with age. Omnivorous. Lives in pools, under a bridge, near a tree lying in the water. Ide gathers in flocks in winter. Tolerates temperature changes well. It is an object of sport fishing.

Asp

Lives in swift waters, under dams and locks. The fish is a predatory fish with an original way of hunting. jumps out of the water and falls on the victim, stunning him. It grabs food with a bony protrusion on the lower jaw and grinds it with pharyngeal teeth. Reaches a size of 120 cm. The body is wide, laterally compressed, with powerful back. The scales are light silver in color. A valuable trophy for a fisherman.

Chekhon

Packy, usually small fish. Lives in clean water. Feeds on insects. The bait is actively biting. The bait can be maggots, silicone bait, grasshoppers. Taste qualities are valued. Before cooking, remove the gills.

Podust

Lives in rivers with fast currents. It feeds on bottom algae and larvae. May eat eggs. Prefers cool water. Fishing is good in summer.

Bleak

A schooling fish that lives in surface waters. The omnivorous bleak is often caught in the bait in summer and late winter. Distributed everywhere.

Bystryanka

Outwardly it looks like bleak. A distinctive feature is a dotted stripe on the sides of the body. The size of the bystryanka is 10-12 cm. It feeds on algae and zooplankton. Inhabits rivers with fast currents.

Gudgeon

This small fish is found everywhere. Selects places with a sandy bottom. The gudgeon has a cylindrical body with large scales without mucus. Active during the day, goes to the bottom at night. It feeds on small invertebrates, insects, and larvae. In spring they eat the eggs of other fish. They are valuable as bait for catching large predatory fish. It bites well on small worms.

White amur

Herbivorous large fish, reaches 1.2 m. Cupid scales are large, with a black rim. Loves warm water. Fishing lasts from May to October. Fishing takes place in an area overgrown with reeds coastal zone. Bait can be semolina, dough, peas, potatoes. is a commercial fish, its meat is white, dense, fatty.

Silver carp

A large fish that lives in rivers with moderate currents. It lives in warm water and goes into hibernation with the onset of cold weather. feeds on zooplankton. Schooling fish, weight reaches 20 kg. Caught on dough and vegetable baits.

Som

Predatory fish-loner. It is distinguished by the absence of scales and the presence of mustaches. lives in the depths, inhabits underwater pits. It feeds on mollusks, frogs, and fish. May eat dead fish. He also eats plant foods. Weighs up to 300 kg. Catfish are active at night, after rain and during fog. It is at this time that fishermen hunt him. They catch it on a boat, using a bunch of worms, mollusks, locusts, frogs, and live bait.

Acne

The river eel lives in places with a gentle current and a clay bottom. Predator, similar to a snake. It feeds on crayfish and worms. Crawls into another body of water on wet grass. It grows up to 47 cm. It lives in the European part of Russia and goes to the Sargasso Sea to spawn. After spawning the fish dies. Eels are caught with float and bottom fishing rods using live bait. The bait is thrown in the evening and checked in the morning. The meat is nutritious, smoked eel is considered a delicacy.

Burbot

Industrial bottom fish, lives under snags. It feeds on mollusks, small fish, and frogs. Grows up to 1 m. Spawning and active fishing occur in winter. They fish with float rods. Bait – pieces of fish, worms, bird giblets.

Loach

A small fish with a thin elongated body and a yellow back. Length up to 30 cm. Lives in quiet areas of the river. In a dangerous situation, it buries itself in the mud. During drought, it looks for another body of water, crawls over land, and at this time it is caught in puddles. While being caught, the loach squeaks. It feeds on larvae and eggs of other fish. Moreover, a school of loaches can cause significant harm to the population of carp, crucian carp or tench. Due to its repulsive appearance, it is rarely eaten, although its meat is tender, fatty and tench-like.

Char

A member of the salmon family. The back is brown, the body has small spots. There are no scales. The meat does not shrink in volume during heat treatment and contains Omega-3 fatty acid. It feeds on larvae and fish eggs. You can catch it with bloodworms.

Lamprey

Found in the Kuban and Don basins. Lives in clean running water, lives on a sandy bottom. The larval period of the lamprey lasts 5-6 years. The larvae feed on plankton and small invertebrates and grow to 17-23 cm. Adult lampreys do not feed. The adult state lasts about a year, then the lamprey spawns and dies. The fish is listed in the Red Book.

Snakehead

A predatory river inhabitant weighing up to 30 kg. Outwardly similar to a snake, it fiercely guards its territory. Defeats an enemy of any size. In a reservoir it destroys fish and looks for another one rich in food. While searching for another body of water, it is able to breathe air for up to 5 days. To fish, you need a boat without a motor and a strong fishing rod. The bait is a fish from the same reservoir. Snakehead meat is tasty and suitable for cooking

Sterlet

Valuable fish Lives at depth in fast rivers. It feeds on larvae, small crustaceans, mollusks, and small fish. The fish is dark gray-brown in color. Characteristic– narrow long nose. Instead of scales, there are five rows of bone growths on the body. The sterlet is classified as an endangered species. The regions have approved rules for catching it. Fishing without a license is prohibited.

Brook trout

Lives in fast cold waters, enriched with oxygen. The body is thin, elongated. The scales are small and dense. Color ranges from brown to yellow. The head is black with golden gill covers. The body is covered with spots. The meat is white or pinkish. It feeds on crustaceans, tadpoles, and larvae. Eats caviar, even its own relatives. They catch it by wading or from a boat.

European grayling

An agile fish with a remarkable appearance. There are bright yellow spots on the dorsal fin of grayling. Lives in northern Russia in fast waters. You can catch it with any bait. Fishing is permitted only with a license. Sport fishing object. Grayling meat is prized, it is soft and tasty.

The list of Russian fish can be continued. River fish have common features - an elongated body, which is an element of adaptation to life in water of a certain density. Their appearance and habits are varied and depend on the habitat, type of food and other factors.

Every angler in our country has seen or caught river perch. This fish belongs to the perch family. Its appearance is characterized by the presence of transverse stripes on the sides, in various shades of green. The older the river perch, the darker they are, and small perch have a light green color. The color of the perch will also depend on the quality of the water and the color of the bottom in the reservoir; the lighter the bottom, the more inconspicuous the stripes on the sides of the fish will be and vice versa. Males have brighter colors compared to females.

Exist different types perch, depending on which species it belongs to, the weight of the perch may vary. The location where the perch lives also plays a role. Freshwater perches living in the coastal zone, or so-called “grass perches,” rarely exceed a weight of 250 grams. River perch living in the deep-water parts of rivers, lakes, and estuaries can grow up to 2.5 kilograms. The standard length of a perch is 20-25 centimeters, but under favorable environmental conditions and a good food supply, it can grow even larger. It reaches a length of more than 50 centimeters extremely rarely. How long does perch live in our rivers and lakes? As a rule, up to 10 years. And the oldest lake perch was caught in Mongolia, aged 23 years and 44.5 centimeters long.

The habitats of river perch are very widespread and cover almost the entire European part of our continent. In the east, areas of its habitat reach Siberia, where it begins to be found much less frequently. The favorite place for spawning for river perch are lakes with unpolluted water, where it actively reproduces. It is quite picky about breeding conditions and seems to be one of the most common inhabitants ichthyofauna of our reservoirs.

Let's look at what perch eats. It feeds, as a rule, during the daytime and twilight, and at night it becomes inactive. Early in the morning, fishermen can observe its active actions in searching for food by characteristic splashes on the water and small fish jumping out of the reservoir.

The usual diet of perches consists of different foods, depending on age and time of year. In the initial stage of development, they eat planktonic invertebrates, but having already reached a size of 20-60 millimeters, perches switch to feeding on the fry of a wide variety of fish species, not disdaining small representatives of their own species. In lakes and ponds where the perch population predominates, fry of their own species can make up up to 70 percent of the total food supply.

Photo 1. Fry are the food of perch and their bait.

In addition to small fish, the diet of larger individuals may include crayfish and caviar of various fish species. The common perch is characterized as an active predator, as can be judged by its greedy manner of biting on various types of bait and live bait. But it may also eat mollusks living in its habitat, which also indicates the presence of a collective type of feeding.

Having reached adulthood, perch is a strong and active predator, sometimes gorging itself to such an extent that the tails of the fish it has swallowed stick out of its mouth. While feeding, it can attack a new victim without swallowing the previous one. Perch fishing is highly valued by anglers precisely for its “sportiness” and excitement. Perhaps the only thing that sometimes stops it is the size of its own mouth, into which the attacked fish could fit. Perches hunt in schools, only when they reach adulthood and are large in size , they begin to do it on their own.

Perch is a lean fish because fat tends to accumulate in the lower belly of the fish rather than in the upper tissues. Females are usually more plump than males.

Behavior of river perch depending on the time of year

IN different times river perch behaves differently throughout the year. Here there is a dependence on the movement of schools of small fish through the reservoir, which is the basis of the food supply. The location of the striped predator will directly depend on their location.

Spring period

Attention! The most productive fishing times will be early morning and evening hours. During hot hours, the predator goes under the cover of the shade or to depths where it waits out the heat. Perch will be caught during the daytime, but only in case of cloudy weather and light rain.

In autumn, catching perch with animal bait, for example, a small frog. For these purposes, the leash is removed from the fishing line, replacing it with a sinker, and a freely moving frog is led from the boat along the surface of the most promising places where a perch can hide. Before such fishing, you need to prepare for the fact that other tempted predators may bite.

On rivers and deep lakes they use vertical fishing from a boat. Consistently exploring all promising places, the fisherman moves on a boat across the pond in search of a school of perch.

If a perch bites, you should never allow the tensioned line to loosen. The lips of river perch are quite weak and the hook can jump out of the wound. In this case, the perch will take its school with it.

Catching perch on a donk

River fish is an integral source of protein in the human diet, as well as amino acids and vitamins. The value of river fish has been established for a long time, and the variety is so great that sometimes you can’t immediately tell what kind of fish you have in your hands.

Knowledge of what a certain species looks like and how it is characterized is also useful for a fisherman, since each species has its own behavioral characteristics and food preferences.

Zander

Pike perch belongs to the perch family of fish. It is quite easy to recognize a pike perch by its color and peculiar physique. Pike perch is a predator, so the body shape corresponds to this type of survival: the body of the pike perch is oblong and flattened on the sides.

On top, near the large fin and along the perimeter of the back, the color is dark green, but on the sides the color turns into pearlescent.

Also on the sides there are vertical stripes, dark green in color, which the pike perch uses for camouflage when hunting - often there are from 8 to 10 of them.

The lower part, or belly, is light. The scales of pike perch are quite small, like for a river fish, but average for predatory fish.

The fins are yellowish. In the oral cavity there are fang-shaped teeth, and there may also be small ones between them.

Pike perch lives in clean waters with plenty of oxygen. It feeds on small fish and can grow up to 20 kg.

Bersh

Bersch, like pike perch, is a schooling predatory fish. The color is very similar to the color of pike perch, only the stripes on the sides are more expressive. The scales are slightly larger than those of an ordinary predatory fish, and there are no fangs on the lower lip. It reaches up to a kilogram in weight, with a body length of half a meter.

Perch

The body is similar in color to a pike perch, but the structure is different. There is a hump between the first fin on the back and the head; it is noteworthy that there are two fins on the back.

The first fin has a black spot at the back, and both dorsal fins are dark in color, but the rest are orange. This species is distinguished by its ability to adapt to any conditions, which made it a picky inhabitant of the reservoir.

Ruff

It belongs to the perch family and can be recognized externally by its spotted back with a black dot, including on the dorsal fin. The ruffe is known for being very prickly when handled due to its fins and gill covers.

The ruffe grows only up to 30 cm and is not very muscular, which makes it of little value to fishermen. It feeds mainly on small insects and small fish, but does not disdain leeches.

Chop

The fish is a member of the perch family, although its elongated, yellowish, cylindrical body can be confusing to identify. Only four faint stripes on the body strengthen confidence in the relationship with the perch.

Chop is a sedentary fish and feeds mainly on larvae, worms and young fish.

The fish does not belong to the category of mass fish and is rarely caught by fishermen, but it is distinguished by its enviable vitality - it easily tolerates movement from one body of water to another.

Pike

A fairly well-known predatory fish that is difficult to confuse. In shape, the body slightly resembles a torpedo.

Depending on the habitat, the color can be completely different: gray, black, dark green.

Gray or brown color may be added.

The belly is often white, but on the sides there may be different sizes light dots or stripes of completely different shapes and anywhere.

The fins are yellowish-red.

The pike is a solitary predator and hunts by waiting for prey in cover, using camouflage and a powerful jaw full of razor-sharp teeth.

It feeds on small fish, but there are cases where pike have also attacked waterfowl. Pike grows up to 40 kg.

Roach

Roach is a schooling fish. It has a slender body, the tail is compressed on the sides. The fins located below the lateral line of the fish have an orange-red light, and those above are dark, with a red coating at the tips.

The iris of the eyes is orange. The color of the scales is uniformly silver, with the exception of the greenish back. This species is very common and often hides from predators in the grass.

The fish is not very picky about food: it feeds on caviar, worms, and small mollusks. Cases have been recorded of fish even swallowing berries that fell from bushes into the water.

It grows no more than 45 cm in length and weighs up to 2 kilograms, but the most common is 20 cm in length.

Bream

The small head and tall, flattened body make this fish species immediately recognizable as belonging to the carp family.

Depending on the age, the scales can be light gray in young individuals, or golden in older ones.

In any case, the fins will be gray and inconspicuous.

Bream lives in bodies of water with low currents and sticks to the bottom in search of peace.

It feeds mainly on larvae, worms, small crustaceans and algae.

Bream grows up to half a meter in length and weighs up to 5 kg, and is a desired trophy for any fisherman.

White-eye

It gets its name from the white iris. Whiteeye is a subspecies of bream, but is distinguished by a smaller hump on its back and larger eyes relative to its body. The color is similar to that of the bream, except that the back may have a bluish tint.

Its habits are very similar to bream, but it chooses water bodies with high current speed, but still stays closer to the bottom. It feeds on algae and small larvae, less often on mollusks. It grows up to 30 cm in length and weighs no more than one kilogram.

Gustera

It is a close relative of the bream, and can often even be confused, since the body shape is almost identical. You can distinguish them by their larger scales and reddish fin bases, which you won’t find in bream.

It prefers calm waters, but does not always stick to the bottom - fish can be caught in any part. Like all representatives of cyprinids, it feeds on algae, worms, and mollusks and grows up to 30 cm and no more than half a kilogram.

Carp

Carp is a schooling fish. It has a long body, and sometimes also tall.

The color of the carp is dark brown on top and becomes more golden towards the belly.

It has a long fin on its back that almost reaches the tail.

He also has a pair of mustaches at the corners of his lips, and another pair of short ones above his upper lip.

Preferably found in bodies of water with low or reverse currents.

The carp grows up to a meter and over 20 kilograms, so it is quite voracious and does not go overboard in food: it feeds on both animal and plant foods, sometimes it can even eat tree branches lowered into the water.

Carp

The legacy of the wild carp is the domesticated carp. It is less picky than carp and is a valuable industrial fish due to the taste of the meat, and therefore is specially bred.

Carp lives mainly in the depths, and comes out to shallow water to feed. There are many subspecies bred to meet the required amount of meat and scales.

Crucian carp: gold and silver

Crucian carp belongs to the family of carp fish, and outwardly retains its characteristics: a high body and flattened sides.

The body of the silver one is slightly longer than that of the gold one.

Crucian carp is quite hardy and is found in almost all bodies of water where fish live.

Golden crucian carp is more hardy than silver crucian carp and lives in small standing reservoirs, while silver crucian carp lives in flowing ones.

The crucian carp feeds on everything it can find, and like all cyprinids, it is omnivorous.

Golden crucian carp grows up to 3 kg, and silver carp only up to two.

Lyn

The lynx is characterized by low energy, and got its name because it kind of “sheds” when it is taken out of the water. This happens because the fish's body is covered in mucus, which hardens and falls off in the sun.

The lynx has a thick, clumsy body. The back is dark green, the sides are olive, and closer to the belly the color becomes yellowish, the fins are gray-brown.

The lynx rarely changes its habitat, even due to the need to obtain food. It feeds on algae and larvae and can grow up to 60 cm in length and weigh up to 8 kg.

Chub

The body of the fish has an almost round shape. The back is dark green, the sides are silvery, and closer to the belly it becomes silvery-white. On the scales you can see typical black borders on the edges of the scales.

The lateral fins are orange; those located on the lower part of the belly are bright red, and all the rest are gray. It is distinguished by a large head with a flat forehead.

It prefers cold water, so it can be found in rivers with fast and medium currents. In its diet it prefers comas that have fallen into the water, but in general it is omnivorous: it feeds on both algae and small fish, not to mention larvae and worms. Grows weighing up to 8 kg.

Ide

The body of the ide is slightly oblong. The back is silvery, with gilding on the sides and gradually turns white closer to the belly. The fins are all red, except for the tail, which is gray.

It prefers fast and deep rivers, but stays close to the bottom, and if it goes into shallow water, it hides under overhanging tree branches. The fish is nocturnal, and its diet is almost similar to that of the chub. Ide grows up to 70 cm in length and can weigh up to 8 kg.

Asp

The asp is a predatory fish, but prefers solitude to a flock. The body is oblong, slightly compressed at the sides, but rather rounded than flat.

The color is typical, like many fish: dark green back, silvery sides and white belly.

The lateral and pelvic fins are red, and the rest are gray. The fish has a large slanting mouth, but without teeth, but has a tubercle on the upper lip and a depression on the lower lip, which looks like a regular bite.

Prefers fast-moving ponds, rapids and mountain rivers. It feeds on small fish and insects that fall into the water. He hunts quite interestingly: he waits for the moment and at high speed rushes into the school and unexpectedly grabs small fish. The asp grows weighing up to 10 kg and length up to 80 cm.

Chekhon

Although the saberfish belongs to the cyprinids, its long body and compressed sides make one doubt this. The fish has a bluish back and slightly pinkish sides. Like most fish, the ventral and lateral fins are reddish, and the rest are grey.

The saberfish prefers clean water bodies with a minimum of vegetation. It grows up to 70 cm, but the weight usually does not exceed a kilogram, due to the structure of the body. A special feature of saberfish is that the scales peel off very well.

Rudd

The rudd is distinguished by its red fins, hence the name. Outwardly similar to a roach, but the color is more golden and the head is smaller. It lives in lakes and rivers and prefers to be in the upper layers of the reservoir.

It feeds mainly on algae and insects and grows no more than 1.5 kg.

Podust

Podust is distinguished by the dark color of the lower belly and dark fins. The body is oblong, and the short caudal fin is especially noticeable. It belongs to the herbaceous fish, as it feeds on algae that grow on rocks at the bottom of the reservoir.

It prefers fast-flowing rivers, and due to its active lifestyle, it rarely grows over half a kilogram.

Bleak

The bleak has an oblong body, compressed at the sides. The color is typical, except that the brightness of the silver scales is blinding in the sun. It lives in clean and quiet rivers and lakes, often in reservoirs.

It feeds on insects and their larvae, eggs of other fish, but basically it can be considered the food of other fish, since it is often found at the surface of the water, and grows no more than 20 cm.

Bystryanka

Bystryanka is somewhat similar to bleak, but differs in a taller but shorter body. The difference is also in the two-point line drawn in dotted lines along the side line. It grows no more than 12 cm in length, and is found mainly in rivers, less often in lakes.

Gudgeon

The gudgeon is distinguished by its grayish-brown back and yellowish-silver sides and belly. The body is oblong and rounded, with a pair of whiskers at the corners of the lips. Prefers clean, shallow reservoirs, where it prefers to stay on the bottom.

It feeds mainly on animal food such as worms and larvae, and less often on small mollusks.

White amur

Grass carp has a typical body color with a dark back and gradual lightening up to the belly. The upper and caudal fin are dark, and all the rest are light, closer to transparent.

For life, cupid chooses clean flowing reservoirs with quiet backwaters. It is a herbivorous fish, but it is capable of growing up to 30 kg and up to 120 cm in length.

Silver carp

Silver carp, as the name suggests, is distinguished by a thick and wide forehead. The color is typical, except for the yellowish fins. It is a valuable industrial fish species and is found in clean water bodies with little current, but prefers reservoirs.

It can grow up to a meter in length and weigh 20 kg, despite the fact that the diet is purely plant-based.

Som

The catfish is distinguished by a dull brown color and a huge head with two long whiskers on the sides and four short ones on the beard. The mouth is quite wide and strewn with sharp teeth, which is not surprising for a predator.

This species is considered settled and rarely leaves its habitat. Catfish are found in clean but deep waters and can reach 5 meters in length and weigh 300 kg. Given its enormous size and clumsiness, it also feeds on carrion.

Channel catfish

Like its “big brother,” the channel catfish is a predatory fish. It has a lighter color compared to ordinary catfish and is smaller in size - it can grow up to only 45 kg and no more than 1.5 meters.

Prefers clean waters, but sticks to the bottom. It feeds on animal food, such as small crustaceans, worms, mollusks, and larvae.

Acne

The eel has a body structure similar to that of a snake. Refers to predatory fish. Externally, it is brown-green, with yellowness on the sides.

A special feature is the absence of a rear fin - it stretches from the back to the belly along the wedge-shaped rear part of the body. It feeds on animal food, sometimes even frogs.

Snakehead

It got its name for its flattened head, reminiscent of a snake, and its atypical color for a fish - a yellow-brown body, in places with chaotic spots.

It is a predator and therefore has sharp teeth. Prefers rivers with large vegetation, but feeds on small fish and frogs. Capable of reaching a mass of 8 kg and a length of one meter.

Burbot

It has an oblong body and a pair of long symmetrical fins on the belly and back. The color is also specific: the body is brownish-brown green with dark and light spots.

There are antennae on the chin and nostrils. It feeds mainly on animal food, but does not disdain carrion. Capable of growing up to 25 kg.

Loach

It is distinguished by a long, elongated body with a dark yellowish color, lighter towards the belly and dark stripes along the body. It is very hardy and chooses reservoirs with silted bottoms, where it feeds on larvae and small animals. Capable of growing up to 30 cm.

Char

It has an oblong body, with a dark green back, gray-yellow sides and a yellow belly. A distinctive feature is the six antennae on the chin. It feeds on eggs and small animals and does not grow more than 10 cm.

Hungarian lamprey

The body is oblong and resembles an eel. On the back there are two untouchable fins from the middle of the body, almost to the tail. It has an interesting color: a dark gray back turns into silvery sides and a white-yellowish belly.

Prefers clean water bodies and is close to extinction due to river pollution. Does not grow more than 30 cm.

Ukrainian lamprey

The body is eel-like with a tricolor color: gray back, silvery sides, and becomes whitish closer to the belly. It is distinguished by a lighter color than that of the Hungarian lamprey. May have a row of teeth on the lower lip.

It prefers extremely clean river basins and can reach 50 cm in length, but often does not exceed 20 cm.

Sterlet

It has an oblong, not high and spindle-shaped body with a dark gray back, lighter on the sides and a light belly. A special feature is the spikes on the lateral line, the number of which reaches 50.

It lives in clean water bodies and stays close to the sandy bottom. Capable of growing up to 16 kg and over a meter long.

Danube salmon

The body of salmon is long and cylindrical in shape. It is dark gray in color up to the middle of the belly, then gradually becomes lighter. A distinctive feature are black spots scattered throughout the body.

Prefers deep, clean rivers and stays close to the bottom. Capable of reaching a weight of up to 20 kg.

Brook trout

The body is oblong and not pressed on the sides. The color is variable, but the dark gray back and light belly are characteristic. Dark or pinkish dots are scattered throughout the body. Inhabits fast mountain rivers with rocky bottoms.

It can grow up to 2 kg, but usually the weight does not exceed one kilogram.

Umber

It has an elongated body covered with large scales. The back is dark, with light brown sides and a golden belly; has dark spots scattered over the body.

It is armed with small teeth and lives in stagnant bodies of water with good vegetation. It grows no more than 12 cm and feeds on small fish and spineless animals.

European grayling

It is distinguished by a long, low body with a high dorsal fin. The back has a brownish tint, and the sides have a metallic sheen. It has yellowish stripes along the body, and black spots are scattered near the head.

It lives in clean, cold waters and usually does not exceed 30 cm and 300 grams.

Carp

The body structure is similar to salmon: oblong and thick, cylindrical in shape. The back is dark gray with a green tint, with grayish sides and a light belly. Inhabits estuaries and lives in small flocks. Capable of growing up to 8 kg.

Are there river fish without bones? Answer: it happens! If we take the list considered, then there are no bones in the body of catfish, eels and lampreys. The skeleton of the sterlet is completely cartilaginous.

Features of river fish

Due to the limited habitat, you can find fish with clearly defined adaptive features. Predators have an elongated body with a camouflage color and are quite muscular. A non-predatory river fish has a tall and flat body, often silver in color with bright fins.

River perch, or common perch (lat. Perca fluviatilis)- a fish of the genus of freshwater perch of the perch family (Percidae) of the order Perciformes. River perch is widespread in fresh water bodies of Europe and Northern Asia (as far as the Kolyma basin in the east and water bodies of the northern regions of Iran and Afghanistan in the south), introduced to Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Previously, it was believed that the range of river perch also includes reservoirs North America, which, according to modern ideas, are inhabited by an independent species of yellow perch (Perca flavescens).

River perch is a predatory fish: other freshwater fish occupy a significant proportion in the diet of adult perch. River perch prefers to stick to flat reservoirs; it can be found in rivers, lakes, ponds, reservoirs and even in less brackish areas of the seas. Spawning of river perch occurs in early spring; the female perch lays eggs in the form of a long (up to 1 m) gelatinous ribbon. Perch is a popular object of recreational fishing and has important commercial value in some reservoirs.

Albino perch

River perch 1.9 kg.

Scientific classification

Domain: Eukaryotes
Kingdom: Animals
Type: Chordata
Class: Ray-finned fish
Order: Perciformes
Family: Perch
Genus: Freshwater perch
Species: River perch

Types of perch:

1.River perch
2.Yellow perch.
3. Balkhash perch.

Yellow perch, or American perch (lat. Perca flavescens)- freshwater fish from the perciformes family (Percidae) of the order Perciformes. In general, it is similar to the river perch (Perca fluviatilis), but differs from it in its smaller size, wider mouth and yellow rather than red caudal, anal and ventral fins. This species is anatomically and ecologically so close to the river perch that some researchers consider it a subspecies of the latter, in this case calling it Perca fluviatilis flavescens. The relationship of these species is also confirmed by the fact that, when hybridized, they can produce viable and fast-growing offspring.

The average length of yellow perch is 30-35 cm, and its weight is up to 500 g. The officially documented world record is a perch weighing 1.3 kg, caught in 1865 in the Delaware River (USA). Adult females are usually larger than males. Colored in yellow-green tones: the back is dark green, transitioning to golden brown in some populations; sides yellow, yellow-green or copper-green, with 6-9 vertical dark stripes; the belly is white or (less commonly) light yellow. During spawning, males are brighter in color, and the anal and pelvic fins temporarily become orange-red.
This species is distributed in North America from northeastern Canada to the northwestern United States, through central and southern Canada, the Great Lakes region, and into the state of South Carolina in the United States. This species was also spread by humans to the southwestern United States and British Columbia in western Canada. There were cases of capture in the Kaliningrad region of Russia.

This species is an exceptional predator, feeding on small fish, aquatic insects, crustaceans and molluscs. It finds prey using vision, so it hunts almost exclusively during daylight hours, with two feeding peaks - in the morning and in the evening; a significant part of the prey consists of mayfly and dragonfly larvae, especially in May-July. Juvenile yellow perch consume a lot of zooplankton, while adults consume juvenile salmon, smelt, and even juveniles of their own species.

Spawning occurs once a year in early spring, almost immediately after the ice melts, usually at night or early morning. During spawning, eggs are deposited randomly on underwater vegetation and roots, without building nests. The eggs are collected in amber-colored stripes, and are immersed in a rather dense mucous mass, which protects them from infectious lesions and small invertebrate predators. Depending on size, females can lay from 10 to 40,000 eggs. During spawning, the female is followed by 2 to 25 males, who fertilize the eggs she lays. The development of eggs lasts 12-21 days, depending on the temperature of the surrounding water (in warm water the eggs develop faster).
Young yellow perch form schools in shallow areas overgrown with aquatic vegetation, rich in zooplankton and small invertebrates. At the same time, yellow perch fry become an important food resource for piscivorous birds and large fish. During the first year of life, yellow perch grows to 7.5–8 cm.

Balkhash perch (lat. Perca schrenkii)- a fish of the perch genus of the perch family, the order of perciformes, the closest relative of the common river perch, from which the Balkhash perch separated about 5-7 million years ago.

Balkhash perch is considered an endemic species of the Balkhash-Alakol lakes. Also lives in the river basin. Or other rivers of Semirechye. In the 50s of the twentieth century, before the acclimatization of pike perch in the lake, 8-10 thousand tons of perch were caught per year in Balkhash. Since then, the population has declined sharply due to more aggressive behavior of walleye feeding on young perch. Like some other predatory fish, (for example, pike), the Balkhash perch eats its young, practicing intraspecific cannibalism, and thus can exist in a closed reservoir, where there is no other suitable food for them or there is no food left.

Common sunfish, or sunfish, or common sunfish, or kingfish (lat. Lepomis gibbosus)- a fish of the family Centrarchidae of the order Perciformes. A close relative of the American bass (largemouth bass). Popular aquarium fish. From there it got into our rivers. There is an assumption that some aquarist released this fish into the natural reservoirs of our country.

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animals
Type: Chordata
Class: Bony fish
Order: Perciformes
Family: Centrarchaceae
Genus: Sunfish
Species: Common sunfish

Maximum dimensions: length - up to 40 cm, weight - up to 0.6 kg
Distribution: North American species, living in the Great Lakes basin (except Lake Superior) and to Florida and Dakota in the south. Acclimatized on the Pacific coast of the United States, distributed throughout the Western Hemisphere. Introduced to New Zealand and Europe. In 1935 it appeared in the reservoirs of Belarus and Western Ukraine. Acclimatized in the lower Danube.
One of the favorite fish of aquarists. It is found in calm, heavily overgrown ponds and small rivers. It mainly feeds on worms, crustaceans and insects, but can also be predatory. Sunny perches swim relatively little, often standing still with their fins fluffed out. The male is distinguished by a coral-red “earring” on the gill cover, while the female has a yellow one. During spawning, the male makes a primitive nest in the ground where eggs are deposited. The nest is guarded by the male. Sexual maturity occurs at the age of two years. Life expectancy in the wild is from six to eight years, in captivity - up to 12 years. In North America it has serious commercial importance.

Largemouth bass or trout perch (Micropterus salmoides)- one of the species of perch belonging to the genus black perch. It is also often called bass (English bass - perch), this is the American name for perch, often used in Russia. Originally from North America, although representatives of this species can also be found in the basins of the Black Sea, Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, and Mediterranean Sea. In our country, the attempt at acclimatization was less successful. Small populations, unfortunately not of great interest from the point of view of targeted fishing, have survived in the river. Kuban, r. Don, as well as in the lake. Abrau As a permanent residence, largemouth bass chooses deep bays and oxbow lakes, where it stays among rhizomes, submerged branches, and stones; young individuals live in shallow places.

Scientific classification

Kingdom: Animals
Type: Chordata
Class: Bony fish
Subclass: Ray-finned fish
Order: Perciformes
Family: Centrarchaceae
Genus: Black snapper
Species: Largemouth Bass

Largemouth Bass 10.12 kg

The body of the perch is olive green with dark, sometimes black, spots that form a jagged horizontal stripe on the sides of the body. The species is the largest of the black snappers, reaching a maximum recorded total length of 75 cm, and has an unofficial maximum weight of 11.4 kg, with females being larger than males.

Perch prefers quiet, calm waters, where they can hide behind vegetation and wait for food. Largemouth black bass spawn once a year from March to July. Males prepare the nest by building it on a sandy or pebble bottom. After the wedding ceremony, the female lays from 1000 to 4000 eggs, and the male and female fertilize them and begin to guard them until the small fish hatch. Fish live on average 16 years.

Redbreasted kinglet or golden perch related species

Largemouth bass are predators. Young perch feed mainly on small fish, amphipods, small shrimp and insects. Adults feed on small fish (bluegill), snails, crayfish, frogs, snakes, salamanders, bats and even small waterfowl, mammals and young alligators.

Perch is very popular among anglers in the New World, and more recently also in Europe and Japan. This is especially true for sport fishing. Anglers most often catch bass with baits such as Silicone worms, but also often use live worms, minnows, frogs or crayfish.

Nile o?kun (lat. Lates niloticus)- a fish from the order Perciformes. The largest representative of freshwater perch.

Scientific classification

Domain: Eukaryotes
Kingdom: Animals
Type: Chordata
Class: Ray-finned fish
Order: Perciformes
Family: Latidae
Genus: Lates
Species: Nile perch

Distributed in all major river systems of tropical Africa, in particular in the Nile, Volta, Senegal, Congo rivers, as well as in lakes Chad, Albert, Rudolph, Victoria and others.

Maximum length - 200 cm, weight - 200 kg. The weight of a 15-year-old fish can approach 30 kg, and a 20-year-old fish can approach 50 kg. In catches, the usual sizes are 45-65 cm and 9-20 kg. The body is elongated, laterally compressed, silvery in color with a bluish tint. A predatory fish that feeds on fish and crustaceans. It was introduced into Lake Victoria in the 1950s and 1960s, leading to the decline and possible extinction of about 200 endemic cichlid species.