/ / Amur pike: a brief description

Amur Pike: short description

Among all the diversity of fish of the Far EastAmur pike stands out both in size and color. Limited habitat adds excitement to fishermen. To get an unusual specimen you need to overcome a considerable distance. The influx of adrenaline when catching a meter-tall fish can not be compared with anything. Such sensations can not be forgotten.

Description

Amur pike, photo of which you can see intext, got its name from its place of residence. According to the classification, this is the class of ray-finned, pike families. It's a predatory fish - its youngsters very early on to feed on animal food. The description of it looks like this:

  • body - a little squeezed from the sides, elongated;
  • head is large;
  • snout - elongated, with lower jaw noticeably protruding;
  • the mouth is large;
  • the dorsal fin is provided with 6-7 spiny unbranched rays, the anal fin has 12-14 soft and 4-5 spiny rays, and the caudal fin is notched;

Amur pike

  • teeth - are inclined in the pharynx, in case of loss of one of them, a new one grows in its place;

The life span of this pike is about 14 years, its live weight reaches 20 kg, and the size - 115 cm.

The body of the fish is covered with shallow scales cylindricalform. Curious about her color. Amur pike, depending on the habitat and age, has different shades of scales and a pattern on the body. It can be golden, silvery, greenish. On the back is darker, throughout the body spontaneous - distinct dark spots, brown and black, they are on the dorsal and caudal fins. They are regular slanting transverse rows, each having 25-35 spots.

У молодняка (до 35 см) вместо пятен - узкие band. This is a disguise for shallow water where there is a lot of vegetation. While the pike does not reach a five-centimeter length, they feed on zooplankton. Then they begin to hunt small fry. In the diet of an adult there is almost all the fish population of the water area: Chebak, minnow, carp, smelt, podost and others. As a dinner, a frog and a small rodent will do.

Reproduction

Sexual maturity of fish reaches 3-4 years, onthis moment its length is about 40 cm. The time of spawning depends on the time of flooding of terrestrial vegetation. Floods on the Amur have three peaks - spring, summer and autumn. Spring refers to a more constant in time, but in certain years can significantly shift in terms.

amur pike photo

Spawning begins immediately after the liberation of riversfrom ice - from the beginning of April and, sometimes, to the middle of June (depends on the water temperature), since the high temperature during spawning provokes caviar death. Amur or leopard pike lays from 25 000 to 150 000 eggs. The average figure is 45,000 pieces. The eggs are rather large - up to 3.5 mm in diameter, yellowish in color. Gluten reliably anchors caviar to dense vegetation in the coastal zone.

Within 10-12 days larvae appear, up to 8 mm long, with a yolk sac. The development of squinting occurs very quickly:

  • by June - 5 cm;
  • in July - up to 14 cm;
  • to a year - up to 25 cm;
  • by three years - up to 45 cm.

This species of pike belongs to the main commercial fish of the Amur basin.

Features and habitat

Amur pike has some distinctive features compared to the common:

  • she has a lighter tone of color scales;
  • the youngsters resemble ordinary pike; the pattern changes with age;
  • more cylindrical and smooth body;
  • head to snout covered with scales;
  • scales smaller;
  • the proximity of the dorsal, caudal and anal fins allows lightning-fast ambush attacks and high jumps out of the water;
  • young animals live in the coastal zone, and upon reaching sexual maturity go into the open zones of rivers and lakes;
  • females in the first years of life are significantly larger than males;
  • it does not grow to such dimensions as the common pike (it can reach 2 m in length).

Amur or Leopard pike

This fish prefers fresh water with unhurriedover. The main habitat is the Amur basin, the Uda River, the Sungari, the Ussuri, the Tungari and their tributaries, the Khanka Lake, the Kenon, the Buir-Nur. Amur pike is found on Sakhalin in the Tym and Poronay rivers.

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