King fish: the largest beluga in the world. What is beluga fish? Caspian largest beluga caught

Beluga is one of the largest predatory fish. Previously, it was a fairly common species, but due to the constantly deteriorating environmental situation, as well as increasing cases of poaching, the beluga was recognized as an endangered species and listed in the Red Book.

The main advantage of a fish like beluga is its cost. Although the fish has fairly tough meat, it is much cheaper (no more than $15 per kilogram) than most sturgeon, while not inferior to them in its taste.

Because beluga caviar is one of the most expensive in the world, the beluga population in natural conditions so insignificant that it is supported only by fish breeding in fish farms and private reservoirs.

Sturgeon family: description

The sturgeon family includes fish, the first representatives of which appeared many centuries ago. They differ from other types of fish characteristic features appearance, main feature which consists of five rows of bony scutes located along the elongated body of the beluga.

Like all sturgeon fish, the beluga has an elongated head, while in its lower part there are 4 antennae that reach the beluga’s mouth. In addition, the structure of sturgeon contains features of cartilaginous fish that are more primitive in structure, but the main distinguishing feature of sturgeon is that the base of their skeleton is an elastic cartilaginous chord, thanks to which the fish fully develops even taking into account the fact that it has no vertebrae in its structure.

The most common sturgeon species include different varieties sturgeon, stellate sturgeon, kuluga, beluga and sterlet. These are quite large fish, among which the largest is the beluga. The fish can reach a length of up to 4 meters. Moreover, the weight of some individuals in rare cases exceeds a ton. Despite the fact that beluga is found in large numbers mainly within the Caspian and Black Seas, where it is distributed almost everywhere, during the spawning period the beluga literally fills large freshwater rivers.

Beluga: description of fish

Beluga is one of the largest freshwater fish. Depending on its habitat, its weight reaches from 50 kg to 1 ton. Average weight beluga fish caught in industrial scale, ranges from 50-80 kg. This migratory fish is a true long-liver, as some individuals reach one century in age.

In fact, the beluga is a predator that begins to hunt even in the juvenile stage. Individuals conducting most life in sea ​​water, feed mainly on fish. In addition, in nature, beluga can form mixed (hybrid) varieties, among which crossbreeding is most widespread:

• With sterlet - forms a fish called bester, which is the most common beluga hybrid. It is grown as a main source of prey sturgeon fish on an industrial scale. This is explained primarily good characteristics its meat obtained during processing, as well as direct nutritional value, as a result of which the quality of products created from this fish allows us to maintain a consistently high demand for it.
• Sevruga.
• Thorn fish.
• Sturgeon.

These beluga hybrids are common both within the Azov Sea and in some reservoirs.

Distinctive features

In addition to its size, this fish can be distinguished from other sturgeon representatives by its thick, cylindrical body and short, pointed nose. It is slightly translucent due to the fact that there are no bone scutes on it. Her mouth occupies the entire width of her head, with a thick lip hanging over it. The antennae on the lower part of the head differ from the similar organ of other fish belonging to the sturgeon group in their width and length: in other fish they are smaller. The bony scutes on the head, sides and peritoneum are underdeveloped. On the back the number of scutes reaches 13, on the sides - 40-45, and on the peritoneum does not exceed 12.

The body of the beluga is predominantly ash-gray. The color of the belly ranges from white to light gray, the nose is yellowish.

Beluga meat

Unlike other fish, beluga meat is quite coarse in structure, but nevertheless has excellent taste, for which it is valued all over the world. Excellent balyk products are made from it. In addition, many cold and hot dishes, as well as a variety of snacks, are made from it.

It is from beluga that the best caviar is obtained by catching on an industrial scale individuals whose weight starts from 5 kg, however, since beluga is the largest freshwater fish, its weight in most cases significantly exceeds these figures. Despite the fact that beluga fish is a long-liver, the maximum age of individuals caught on an industrial scale does not exceed 30-40 years.

Habitat

The main habitats of the beluga: the Black and Caspian Seas with all the rivers flowing into them. In fact, the beluga is a fish that lives most of the time in water, and enters rivers only when it reaches an age suitable to begin breeding.

After this, she returns back to the sea, but together with the fry. It is noteworthy that she prefers not to go far, even though due to her impressive size she can have little fear of attack from others freshwater predators. In addition, the beluga has almost completely stopped natural reproduction, and its numbers are maintained mainly by fish farms and private reservoirs.

Zimovye

Beluga is a red fish that prefers to spend the winter in yatovs (river pits), where it goes out in order to rise and spawn with the onset of spring. Young animals prefer to go to the rivers for the winter or settle on insignificant deep sea. On average depth The beluga prefers to rest, having already spawned and returned to the sea before the first frost. The largest and most mature individuals can only be found at great depths, however, due to their physiological characteristics most of them are no longer capable of reproduction.

During the onset of cold weather, the body of the beluga becomes covered with a thick layer of mucus (sleen), and the fish falls into a state of torpor until the onset of a thaw. At the same time, the beluga, hibernating, stores food for several months. When a beluga is caught during this period, undigested mollusks, small crustaceans and the remains of waterfowl wintering on rivers are often found in its stomach.

Calf throwing

Beluga spawning different sizes passes into different time However, for the youngest individuals this period falls in mid-spring and continues until autumn. The place for spawning is deep places with fast current, in which a rocky or cartilaginous bottom predominates. Some of the spawning individuals go to the deepest and coldest places on the river, and some return back to the sea.

Beluga caviar is quite large and resembles the size of a pea. It is noteworthy that one individual can reproduce volumes of eggs constituting 1/5 of its body. In this case, the number of eggs reaches several million. Young fish soon go to sea, where they live until they reach sexual maturity.

Food and cost

Beluga is a fish whose food consists mainly of mollusks, crustaceans and small fish. In some cases, it can eat birds resting or hunting on the water, as well as small freshwater animals.

Within the Caspian Sea, it serves as the main source of fishing, and although beluga is a fish whose price is much lower than sturgeon (from 10-15 dollars per kilogram), its unique large caviar is much more expensive than other red fish. An example is “diamond” albino beluga caviar, the cost of which reaches 18,000 euros. This cost is due to the fact that albino belugas lay their rich golden eggs approximately once every 100 years. At the same time, no more than 8-10 kg of caviar goes on sale in Europe per year.

• The commercial weight of beluga starts from 5 kilograms, but the most big beluga fish reached a length of 7 meters and weighed more than one and a half tons.
• When a fish gets ready to spawn, it tries to find an ideal place, and if it fails to find it, it may not spawn at all.
• When starting to spawn, the beluga breaks the bottom and lays eggs surrounded by a large number of snags and reeds.
• It produces up to a million eggs, which are extremely prized by hobbyists from all over the world.

Biological features

Beluga can be divided into two main varieties:

• winter:
• spring

This fish leads an exclusively bottom-pelagic lifestyle.

At sea it stays mostly alone. The period of sexual maturity occurs in males at 12-15 years, and in females - at 16-18 years, it must be remembered that since beluga is a long-lived fish, individuals whose age exceeds 50-60 years completely lose ability to reproduce offspring.

Beluga, which is bred in captivity, reproduces by artificial insemination. In addition, thanks to this method, it was possible to develop the majority of beluga hybrids grown in fisheries.

Sturgeon and beluga in particular are considered very valuable commercial fish. However, due to a sharp decline in the number of natural populations in the second half of the 20th century, beluga fish is currently listed in the Red Book as rare view. However, it can be grown in artificial conditions, although with certain difficulties. Beluga caviar is the most expensive caviar in the world.

• Economic importance of beluga

Beluga is an anadromous fish, that is, it lives in the seas, but rises to rivers to spawn. This species lives in the Caspian, Azov and Black Seas.

The most numerous is the Caspian population of beluga; it can be found everywhere in this sea. The main spawning site of the Caspian beluga is the Volga. Also not a large number of These fish go to spawn in the Ural, Kura and Terek rivers. A very insignificant number spawns in small rivers flowing into the Caspian Sea on the territory of Azerbaijan and Iran. But in general, it can be found in any river that is close enough to those places in the Caspian Sea where beluga fish are found.

In the past, spawning beluga entered rivers quite far - hundreds and even thousands of kilometers. For example, along the Volga it rose to Tver and even to the upper reaches of the Kama. However, due to the construction of numerous hydroelectric power stations on the rivers flowing into the Caspian Sea, modern belugas have to confine themselves only to the lower reaches.

Previously, the Azov beluga population was quite large, but today she was on the verge of extinction. From the Sea of ​​Azov, fish rises to the Don and in very small quantities to the Kuban River. As in the case of the Caspian beluga, natural spawning grounds high upstream were cut off by the construction of a hydroelectric power station.

Finally, in the Black Sea, where the beluga fish lives, its population is also very small and concentrated mainly in the northwest of the sea, although cases of its appearance have been recorded off the coast of southern Crimea, the Caucasus and northern Turkey.
The local beluga spawns in the three largest rivers of the region - the Danube, Dnieper and Dniester. Some individuals spawn in the Southern Bug. Before the construction of a hydroelectric power station on the Dnieper, beluga was caught in the Kyiv area and even in Belarus. The situation is similar with the Dniester. But along the Danube it can still rise quite far - right up to the Serbian-Romanian border, where one of the two Danube hydroelectric power stations is located.

Until the 70s. In the last century, beluga was sometimes caught in the Adriatic Sea, where it went to spawn in the Po River. However, in the last few decades, not a single case of beluga being caught in this region has been recorded, which is why the Adriatic beluga is considered extinct.

Beluga - sturgeon fish; considered the largest of all freshwater fish. In historical chronicles there are references of questionable authenticity to the catching of individuals up to 9 meters long and weighing up to 2 tons. However, those sources that do not raise doubts provide no less impressive figures.

For example, a book on the state of Russian fisheries from 1861 mentions a beluga weighing 90 poods (one and a half tons), caught near Astrakhan in 1827. A reference book on freshwater fish in the USSR, published in 1948, mentions a female beluga weighing 75 pounds (more than 1,200 kg), which was caught in the Caspian Sea near the mouth of the Volga in 1922. Finally, everyone can see for themselves a stuffed one-color beluga displayed in National Museum Republic of Tatarstan in the city of Kazan.

The latest case of catching such massive individuals was recorded in 1989, when a beluga weighing 966 kg was caught in the Volga delta. Her stuffed animal can also be seen in one of the museums, but in Astrakhan.

According to experts, the largest beluga fish should be tens of years old. It is possible that some individuals could be 100 years or more old. However, these are all exceptional cases. The average weight of fish going to spawn in rivers is 90-120 kg for females and 60-90 kg for males. However, the beluga reaches even this size only at the age of 25-30 years. And immature young animals usually weigh no more than 20-30 kg.

If you leave the incredible size of this fish alone, then in general it has a typical sturgeon appearance. She has a massive, elongated, cylindrical body and a small, pointed nose. The beluga has a blunt, short snout and a large, crescent-shaped mouth. The mouth is bordered by a thick “lip”. The snout has wide, massive antennae.

The head and body are dotted with symmetrical rows of bony scutes (the so-called bugs): 12-13 on the back, 40-45 on the sides and 10-12 on the belly. The dominant color in the beluga is gray, which covers the back, sides and top of the head. The underside of the beluga is white.

The first thing mentioned in any description of beluga fish is its method of spawning. The main place of life of this fish is the sea, but it goes to spawning in big rivers, as has already been said earlier.

It is noteworthy that the beluga has so-called spring and winter forms (races). In particular, fish comes to the Volga in two waves: in the first half of autumn - winter, in the first half of spring - spring. However, this river is still dominated by the winter beluga, which spends the winter in river holes and then immediately begins spawning in April-May. In the Ural River, on the contrary, most belugas belong to the spring race; they spawn immediately after entering the river, and then swim back to the sea.

Like any sturgeon, beluga is a predatory fish. The young feed on all kinds of invertebrates and mollusks, catching them near the bottom in river mouths. After entering the open sea, the grown young animals quickly switch to feeding on fish. In the Caspian Sea, the basis of the beluga's diet is carp, roach, sprat, etc. In addition, the beluga does not hesitate to eat its own young and other representatives of the sturgeon family. The Black Sea beluga feeds mainly on anchovy and gobies.

Beluga reaches sexual maturity late: males at 12-14 years, females at 16-18 years. Due to such a long maturation under conditions of intensive industrial fishing, this species was on the verge of extinction.

As already mentioned, beluga spawning occurs in the second half of spring, although a significant part of the fish go to rivers in the fall. Beluga spawns when the spring flood reaches its peak and the river water temperature is 6-7°C. Caviar rushes on the rapids in deep places(at least 4 meters, more often 10-12 m) with a rocky bottom. One female lays at least 200 thousand eggs, but usually they count in the millions (up to 8 million). The eggs are quite large, about 4 mm in diameter.

Having finished spawning, beluga fish in the Volga and other rivers quickly go to sea. Young larvae also do not stay in the river.

Economic importance of beluga

Since ancient times it has been considered a commercial fish of high value. Active fishing has been going on since at least the 6th century BC. In the 20th century, with the development of industrial fishing methods, beluga fishing reached unprecedented proportions. For example, in the Volga alone in the 70s, 1.2-1.5 thousand tons of this fish were caught annually.

Unjustifiably intensive fishing of red beluga fish, as well as the construction of hydroelectric power stations everywhere in the rivers where it spawns, led to a sharp reduction in its numbers in the second half of the last century. Already in the early 90s, the catch dropped to 200-300 tons per year, and at the end of the decade - below 100 tons. In such conditions, the Russian authorities banned the industrial fishing of beluga sturgeon on their territory in 2000, and a decade later other countries of the Caspian region joined the Russian Federation. Things are even worse in Cherny and Seas of Azov, where the beluga population has dropped to minuscule sizes.

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The virtual impossibility of ensuring supplies to the consumer market of meat and, no less important, beluga caviar has created conditions for the development of fish farms specializing in this type of fish. Today they are the only legal suppliers of this type of product to store shelves. However, poaching, unfortunately, also occupies a significant share of this market.

In fish hatcheries, beluga is bred not only and not so much in its natural form, but rather hybridizes with other sturgeon - sterlet, stellate sturgeon and sturgeon. Especially widespread got a bester - a fish the result of crossing a beluga and a sterlet. It is not only grown in pond farms, but is even introduced into the Sea of ​​Azov and freshwater reservoirs.

Beluga meat and especially its caviar are considered a true delicacy, from which you can prepare a real culinary masterpiece. This fish is subjected to all types of heat treatment: boiled, fried, baked, steamed and grilled. Beluga is also smoked, cut and canned. Beluga meat can be used to prepare a variety of types of dishes, including kebabs and salads.

With all this, beluga as a fish is very good for health. It has low calorie content and high content of easily digestible protein. Beluga contains many essential amino acids, which are urgently needed by our body, but are not synthesized in it, and can only be obtained from food. The meat of this fish contains a lot of calcium and phosphorus, which help restore and strengthen bones, as well as improve the condition of nails and hair. The potassium present in beluga improves the functioning of the heart muscle, and iron has a beneficial effect on the composition of the blood.

Beluga meat is rich in vitamin A, which affects visual acuity and skin condition. It also contains other important vitamins: B (important for muscles and nerve tissue), D (prevents the development of rickets and osteoporosis).

Separately, it is worth mentioning beluga caviar.
MKI throw a big one black caviar, which is incredibly highly regarded by gourmets. Since industrial fishing of beluga is prohibited today, and in aquaculture it takes about 15 years to grow the fish to get caviar from it, the cost of this product reaches exorbitant prices. In Russia, 100 grams of beluga caviar costs about 10-20 thousand rubles, a kilogram - up to 150 thousand rubles. In Europe and other markets, the cost of a kilogram of this caviar ranges from 7-10 thousand dollars. Obviously, it is impossible to purchase such caviar in a regular store.

Beluga, as well as bester (a sturgeon fish hybrid of beluga and sterlet) can feed on artificial feed, and therefore are suitable for commercial fish farming. However, this technology is quite expensive, especially considering that to obtain caviar it is necessary to grow fish for at least 15 years.

Until the larvae reach a weight of 3 grams, they are grown in special trays. Nutrition is provided with both artificial and natural feed. After the larvae reach the specified weight, they are sent for rearing to ponds with a planting density of about 20 thousand specimens per hectare.

Further, the technology for breeding beluga fish at home provides for the transfer of fingerlings to feeding on minced fish of low-value breeds with various additives. At the same time, the young animals will provide themselves with a significant portion of their nutrition on their own from pond invertebrates. The predator instinct of beluga fingerlings appears at the end of summer, which implies an increase in the proportion of minced meat in its diet.

In beluga fingerlings, weight gain occurs most rapidly in conditions when the temperature and composition of the water are close to optimal values, therefore one of the most important tasks of the fish farmer is maintaining these optimal conditions in the ponds.

In the first year, the average feed conversion of beluga is 2.8 units. At the end of the first season, the fish increases its weight from 3 to 150 g. With an average survival rate of fingerlings of 50%, their fish productivity reaches 20 c/ha.

Fingerlings are planted in wintering ponds (optimal reservoirs with an area of ​​a quarter to half a hectare and a depth of 2-3 m, devoid of bottom silt and vegetation) in an amount of 120 thousand per hectare. Wintering begins in October - November and lasts until March. In winter, beluga is given feed in the amount of 2% of total mass fish, and when surface ice forms, feeding is stopped altogether. It is natural for beluga underyearlings to lose 30-40% of their mass during this time. However, the size of the beluga fish does not change.

In the first ten days of April, the fish are sent back to the feeding ponds, where intensive feeding is immediately applied. Two-year-olds are given low-value fresh frozen fish. Young animals grow most actively in the second half of summer, and feed conversion increases during this period to 6 kg of feed per 1 kg of weight gain.

When two-year-olds reach a weight of 0.7 kg (by the end of the second season, about half of them are), they are sent for sale to the food chain. The remaining fish are left for another year and grown to a weight of 1.7-2 kg. In conditions of high survival rate of two-year-old and three-year-old fish (up to 95%), with strict adherence to cultivation technology, fish productivity will be 50-75 c/ha.

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Area in the past and present

An anadromous fish that lives in the Caspian, Azov and Black Seas, from where it enters rivers to spawn. Previously, beluga was relatively numerous, but over time its reserves became very scarce.

In the Caspian Sea it is widespread. For spawning, it currently enters mainly the Volga, and in much smaller quantities - the Urals and Kura. In the past, spawning fish rose very high in the Volga basin - to Tver and to the upper reaches of the Kama. In the Urals it spawned mainly in the lower and middle reaches. It was also found along the Iranian coast of the southern Caspian Sea and spawned in the river. Gorgan. Currently, it reaches the Volgograd hydroelectric complex along the Volga, where a fish lift was built at the Volzhskaya Hydroelectric Station specifically for migratory fish, but it is not working satisfactorily. It rises along the Kura to the Kura cascade of hydroelectric power stations in Azerbaijan.

Beluga caught in the Volga weighing about 1000 kg and 4.17 m long (National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan, Kazan)

Azov beluga enters the Don for breeding and very few enter the Kuban. Previously, it rose high along the Don, but now it only reaches the Tsimlyansk hydroelectric station.

The main part of the Black Sea population of beluga, in the past and now, lives in the northwestern part of the sea, from where it goes to spawn mainly in the Danube, Dnieper and Dniester, a few individuals entered (and, perhaps, enter) the Southern Bug. Beluga in the Black Sea was also recorded along the Crimean coast, where near Yalta it was recorded at depths of up to 180 m (that is, where the presence of hydrogen sulfide is already observed), and off the Caucasian coast, from where it sometimes went to spawn in Rioni, and along the Turkish coast , where the beluga entered the Kyzylyrmak and Yeshilyrmak rivers for spawning. Along the Dnieper, large individuals (up to 300 kg) were sometimes caught in the area of ​​​​the rapids (the section of the Dnieper between modern Dnepropetrovsk and Zaporozhye), and extreme approaches were noted near Kiev and above: along the Desna, the beluga reached the village of Vishenki, and along the Sozh - to Gomel, where 1870s an individual weighing 295 kg (18 pounds) was caught. The main part of the Black Sea beluga goes to spawn in the Danube, where in the past the species was quite common and rose as far as Serbia, and in the distant past reached the city of Passau in eastern Bavaria. Along the Dniester, beluga spawning was observed near the city of Soroca in the north of Moldova and above Mogilev-Podolsky. Along the Southern Bug we went up to Voznesensk (northern Nikolaev region). Currently, the Black Sea population of the species is on the verge of extinction. In any case, along the Dnieper, the beluga cannot rise above the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric station, and along the Dniester - above the Dubossary hydroelectric station.

Until the 70s. XX century Beluga was also found in the Adriatic Sea, from where it entered the river for spawning. However, over the past 30 years it has never been seen here, and therefore the Adriatic population of beluga is currently considered extinct.

Dimensions

Beluga is one of the largest freshwater fish, reaching a ton of weight and a length of 4.2 m. As an exception (according to unconfirmed data), individuals up to 2 tons and 9 m in length were indicated (if this information is correct, then the beluga can be considered the largest freshwater fish Globe).

“Research on the State of Fisheries in Russia” (Part 4, 1861) reports on a beluga caught in 1827 in the lower reaches of the Volga, which weighed 1.5 tons (90 pounds). On May 11, 1922, a female weighing 1224 kg (75 pounds) was caught in the Caspian Sea near the mouth of the Volga, with 667 kg on the body, 288 kg on the head and 146.5 kg on the eggs. Once again, a female of the same size was caught in 1924 in the Caspian Sea in the area of ​​the Biryuchya Spit, her eggs were 246 kg, and the total number of eggs was about 7.7 million. A little to the east, before the mouth of the Urals, on May 3, 1926, she was caught A 75-year-old female weighing more than 1 ton and 4.24 m long, which contained 190 kg (12 pounds) of caviar. The National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan (Kazan) displays a stuffed beluga 4.17 m long, caught in the lower reaches of the river. Volga at the beginning of the 20th century. Its weight when caught was about 1000 kg, the age of the fish was 60-70 years. Large specimens were also caught in the southern part of the Caspian Sea - for example, a beluga weighing 960 kg (60 pounds) was caught near the Krasnovodsk Spit (modern Turkmenistan) in 1836.

Later, fish weighing more than a ton were no longer recorded, however, in 1970, a case was described of catching a beluga weighing 800 kg in the Volga delta, from which 112 kg of caviar were extracted, and in 1989 a beluga weighing 966 kg and a length of 4 ,20 m (currently her stuffed animal is kept in the Astrakhan museum).

Large individuals of beluga were also caught in the middle and even in the upper part of the Volga basin: in 1876 in the river. In Vyatka, near the city of Vyatka (modern Kirov), a beluga weighing 573 kg was caught, and in 1926, in the area of ​​modern Tolyatti, a beluga weighing 570 kg was caught with 70 kg of caviar. There is also evidence of the capture of very large individuals on the upper Volga near Kostroma (500 kg, mid-19th century) and in the Oka near the city of Spassk, Ryazan province (380 kg, 1880s).

Beluga also reaches very large sizes in other seas. For example, in the Temryuk Gulf of the Sea of ​​Azov in 1939, a female beluga weighing 750 kg was caught; there was no caviar in it. In the 1920s 640-kg Azov beluga whales were reported.

In the past, the average fishing weight of beluga was 70-80 kg on the Volga, 60-80 kg on the Azov Sea, and 50-60 kg in the Danube region of the Black Sea. L. S. Berg in his famous monograph “Fresh water fish of the USSR and neighboring countries” indicates that the weight of beluga “in the Volga-Caspian region is most often 65-150 kg.” The average weight of males caught in the Don delta was 75-90 kg (1934, data on 1977 individuals), and females - 166 kg (average for 1928-1934).

Maturation and reproduction

Beluga is a long-lived fish, reaching an age of 100 years. Unlike Pacific salmon, which die after spawning, beluga, like other sturgeon, can spawn many times in their lives. After spawning, it slides back into the sea.

Caspian beluga males reach sexual maturity at 13-18 years, and females at 16-27 (mostly 22-27) years. The fertility of beluga, depending on the size of the female, ranges from 500 thousand to a million (in exceptional cases - up to 5 million) eggs. There is evidence that large (2.5-2.59 m long) Volga females lay an average of 937 thousand eggs, and Kura females of the same size - an average of 686 thousand eggs. In the past (according to 1952 data), the average fecundity of the running Volga beluga was 715 thousand eggs.

Nutrition

According to the method of feeding, the beluga is a predator that feeds mainly on fish. It begins to prey while still a juvenile in the river. In the sea it feeds mainly on fish (herring, sprat, gobies, etc.). Even baby seals were found in the stomachs of the Caspian beluga.

Artificial breeding and hybridization of beluga

In nature, beluga hybridizes with sterlet, stellate sturgeon, sturgeon and sturgeon.

Viable hybrids - beluga x sterlet - were obtained on the Volga and Don using artificial insemination. These hybrids have been introduced into the Sea of ​​Azov and some reservoirs. Sturgeon hybrids are successfully grown in pond (aquaculture) farms.

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They say that this is the Beluga king. And a new meme has already burst out on the Internet in the likeness of a sad cat and a stubborn fox - a sad fish. Let's find out more about it...

This is the Astrakhan Museum of Local Lore.

In the Astrakhan museum there are two record beluga whales - one 4-meter long (slightly smaller than the one that Nicholas II donated to the Kazan museum) and the largest - 6-meter long. the most big beluga, six meters. They caught it at the same time as the four-meter one, in 1989. The poachers caught the world’s largest beluga, gutted the eggs, and then called the museum and told them where they could pick up the “fish” the size of a huge truck.

Stuffed Beluga, Huso huso
Type: stuffed animal
Author: Golovachev V.I.
Dating: The stuffed animal was made in 1990.
Size: length - 4 m 20 cm, weight - 966 kg
Description: Beluga is a valuable commercial fish of the sturgeon family, common in the basins of the Caspian, Black, and Azov seas. In 1989 it was caught by fishermen. Weight 966 kg, caviar weight 120 kg, age 70-75 years, length 4 m 20 cm. The stuffed animal was made by taxidermist V.I. Golovachev. in 1990
Organization: Astrakhan Museum of Local Lore

Existing for more than 200 million years, sturgeon are now close to extinction. The Danube, in the area of ​​Romania and Bulgaria, maintains one of the viable wild sturgeon populations in Europe. Danube sturgeon are one of the most important indicators of a healthy ecosystem. They mostly live in the Black Sea and migrate up the Danube to spawn. They reach 6 meters in length and live up to 100 years.

Illegal fishing and barbaric extermination, mainly for caviar, is one of the main dangers threatening sturgeon. Deprivation of their usual habitat and disruption of sturgeon migration routes is another big threat for this unique look. Having founded the Life + program with the participation of the European Community, the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), with the support of other international organizations in last years is working on these problems.

Species and origin

Sturgeon breeds include: beluga, stellate sturgeon, sturgeon, sterlet. In the fossil state, sturgeon fish have been known only since the Eocene (85.8-70.6 million years ago). From a zoogeographical point of view, very interesting are the representatives of the shovel-nosed subfamily, which are found on the one hand in Central Asia, on the other - in North America, which allows us to see in modern species of this genus the remains of a formerly widespread fauna. Sturgeons are one of the most unique and attractive species of ancient fish. They have existed for more than 200 million years, and lived even when dinosaurs inhabited our planet. With them unusual appearance, in their clothing made of bone plates, they remind us of ancient times when special armor or strong shell was needed in order to survive. They have survived to this day, almost unchanged.

Alas, that's all today existing species sturgeon fish are endangered or even endangered.

Sturgeon are the largest freshwater fish

Beluga record book

Beluga is not only the largest of the sturgeons, but also the largest fish that is caught in fresh waters. There are known cases where specimens up to 9 meters long and weighing up to 2000 kg were encountered. Today, individuals weighing more than 200 kg are rarely found; transitions to spawning have become too dangerous
In “Research on the State of Fisheries in Russia,” in 1861, it was reported about a beluga caught in 1827 in the lower reaches of the Volga, which weighed 1.5 tons.

On May 11, 1922, in the Caspian Sea, near the mouth of the Volga, a female weighing 1224 kilograms was caught, with 667 kilograms on her body, 288 kilograms on her head, and 146.5 kilograms on her eggs (see photo). Once again, a female of the same size was caught in 1924 in the Caspian Sea in the area of ​​Biryuchya Spit; her eggs contained 246 kilograms, and the total number of eggs was about 7.7 million.

A little to the east, before the mouth of the Urals, on May 3, 1926, a 75-year-old female weighing more than 1 ton and 4.24 meters long was caught, containing 190 kilograms of caviar. The National Museum of the Republic of Tatarstan in Kazan displays a stuffed beluga 4.17 meters long, caught in the lower reaches of the Volga at the beginning of the 20th century. Its weight when caught was about 1000 kilograms, the age of the fish was 60-70 years.

In October 1891, when the wind drove away water from the Taganrog Bay of the Sea of ​​Azov, a peasant passing by the exposed shore discovered a beluga in one of the puddles, pulling 20 pounds (327 kg), of which 3 pounds (49 kg) were caviar.

Lifestyle

All sturgeon migrate long distances to spawn and in search of food. Some migrate between salt and fresh water, while others live only in fresh water their entire lives. They breed in fresh waters and have a long life cycle, taking years, sometimes decades, to reach maturity when they are first able to produce offspring. While annual successful spawning is almost unpredictable, depending on available habitat, suitable currents and temperature, specific spawning locations, frequency and migration are predictable. Natural crossing is possible between any species of sturgeon. In addition to entering rivers in the spring for spawning, sturgeon fish sometimes enter rivers in the fall for wintering. These fish stay mainly near the bottom.

According to the method of feeding, the beluga is a predator, feeding mainly on fish, but also on mollusks, worms, and insects. It begins to prey while still a juvenile in the river. In the sea it feeds mainly on fish (herring, sprat, gobies, etc.), but does not neglect shellfish. Even baby seals were found in the stomachs of the Caspian beluga.

Beluga takes care of its offspring

Beluga is a long-lived fish that reaches an age of 100 years. Unlike Pacific salmon, which die after spawning, beluga, like other sturgeon, can spawn many times in their lives. After spawning, it slides back into the sea. Caspian beluga males reach sexual maturity at 13-18 years, and females at 16-27 (mostly 22-27) years. The fertility of beluga, depending on the size of the female, ranges from 500 thousand to a million (in exceptional cases - up to 5 million) eggs.
In nature, the beluga is an independent species, but can hybridize with sterlet, stellate sturgeon, sturgeon and sturgeon. Viable hybrids - beluga-sterlet (bester) - were obtained using artificial insemination. Sturgeon hybrids are successfully grown in pond (aquaculture) farms.

There are many myths and legends associated with the beluga. For example, in ancient times, fishermen talked about the miraculous bilugin stone, which could heal a person from any disease, protect against troubles, preserve a ship from a storm and attract a good catch.

Fishermen believed that this stone could be found in the kidneys of a large beluga, and it was the size of egg- flat and oval shape. The owner of such a stone could exchange it for a very expensive product, but it is still unclear whether such stones really existed, or whether craftsmen faked them. Even today, some anglers continue to believe this.
Another legend that at one time surrounded the beluga with an ominous aura is beluga poison. Some considered the liver of young fish or the meat of beluga, which could go crazy like a cat or dog, as poisonous, as a result of which its meat became poisonous. No evidence of this has yet been found.

The now almost extinct beluga. Not a particularly large specimen for this species.

Sturgeon habitats in the past and present

Their distribution is limited to the northern hemisphere, where they inhabit rivers and seas in Europe, Asia and North America.
Despite the fact that there are more than 20 various types Sturgeons, which have different biological and environmental needs, all have similar characteristics.
Migratory fish that live in the Caspian, Azov and Black Seas enter rivers to spawn. Previously, beluga was relatively numerous, but over time its reserves became very scarce.
The Danube and the Black Sea were at one time the most active region for the wide diversity of beluga sturgeon - up to 6 different species. Currently, one of the species is completely lost, and the remaining five are endangered.

In the Caspian Sea, beluga is ubiquitous. For spawning it enters mainly the Volga, in much smaller quantities - into the Urals and Kura, as well as the Terek. The Amur sturgeon lives in the Far East. Almost all reservoirs in Russia are suitable for habitation sturgeon breeds. In the old days, sturgeon were caught even in the Neva.

Overfishing and the black market for caviar

Overfishing - once legal, now illegal - is one of the direct threats to the survival of the Danube sturgeon. Due to their long life cycle, and late maturity, sturgeon are especially vulnerable to overfishing, taking many years to recover.
In 2006, Romania was the first country to ban sturgeon fishing. The ten-year ban will expire at the end of 2015. Following an appeal from the EU, Bulgaria also announced a ban on sturgeon fishing. Despite the ban, poaching appears to still be widespread throughout the Danube region, although it is difficult to obtain specific evidence of illegal fishing. It is well known that the black market for caviar is thriving. One of the reasons for overfishing is the high price of caviar. Illegally obtained caviar in Bulgaria and Romania can also be bought in other EU countries. Thanks to the first study of the black caviar market, conducted in Bulgaria and Romania in 2011-2012, experts from the World Wide Fund for Nature were able to trace the distribution of smuggled goods in Europe.

Danube beluga, the same age as dinosaurs

Iron Gate Dam disrupts migration routes

Migration for spawning is one of the most important parts of the natural life cycle of all sturgeon in the Danube. In the past, the beluga sailed up the river to Serbia, and in the distant past even reached Passau in eastern Bavaria, but now its path is artificially blocked already on the middle Danube.

Located below the Iron Gate, in the narrow Jardap Gorge, between Romania and Serbia, the Iron Gate hydroelectric power station and reservoir are the largest along the entire length of the Danube. The hydroelectric power station was built at 942 and 863 kilometers of the river upstream of the Danube Delta. As a result, limiting the migration path of sturgeon fish at 863 kilometers, and completely cutting off the most important spawning area on the middle Danube. As a result, the sturgeon were trapped in the section of the river in front of the dam, and are now no longer able to continue their natural path, customary for thousands of years, to the spawning site. Trapped in such unnatural conditions, the sturgeon population experiences the negative effects of inbreeding and loses genetic variability.

Beluga habitat on the Danube is lost

Sturgeon are very sensitive to changes in their habitat. These changes immediately affect spawning, wintering, the ability to find good food and ultimately lead to the extinction of the genus. Most sturgeon species spawn on the clear pebble edge of the lower Danube, where they lay their eggs before returning back to the Black Sea. Successful spawning must take place at great depths at a temperature of at least 9-15 degrees.
The sturgeon population suffered greatly as a result of the loss of the original distribution area corresponding to this fish species on the Danube. Strengthening the banks and dividing the river into canals, and the construction of powerful engineering structures that protect against flooding, reduced the natural floodplains and wetlands that were part of the river system by 80%. Navigation is also a major threat to the sturgeon's habitat, mainly as a result of activities that include dredging and dredging of the river. The removal of sand and gravel and changes to the ground produced by the underwater part of the vessel also have a detrimental effect on the sturgeon population in the Danube.

The threat of extinction of the Danube sturgeon is so great that if emergency and radical measures are not taken, then in a few decades this majestic silvery fish can only be seen in museums. That is why the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube, together with the World Wide Fund for Nature and European Commission, within the framework of the European Community Strategy for the Danube Region, are carrying out a number of projects and international studies with the aim of developing measures to save the Danube beluga.

Source

kykyryzo.ru

Appearance of beluga

Beluga fish name Latin language translates as “pig,” which fits the description very accurately. With its thick round body of an ash-gray color, a grayish-white belly, a short pointed, slightly translucent yellowish nose, a huge mouth that covers the entire head, which is also surrounded by a thick lip, wide antennae that grow to the mouth - it really does vaguely resemble a pig. The entire body and head of the fish are surrounded by slightly underdeveloped scutes and bugs.

Sizes and weight of beluga fish

Beluga is a very large fish, its weight reaches a ton, and its length exceeds four meters. Moreover, larger individuals were previously encountered (according to unverified data, fish up to two tons weighing and up to nine meters long were encountered). Although in our time such huge individuals have not been seen. Particularly large fish were caught in 1970 (800 kilograms) and in 1989 (966 kilograms).

Where and how beluga winters

Depending on spawning, winter and spring beluga are distinguished, since fish do not spawn every year, winter beluga spends the winter by moving to a fresh source. IN different rivers prevail different types. Thus, beluga enters the Volga in early autumn and early spring, but the winter form of fish predominates, wintering in the river, and in the Urals, on the contrary, the overwhelming majority of spring beluga, which spawns in the year it enters the river. An interesting fact is that juvenile winter beluga, which has just reached breeding age, winters in rivers less often than adult fish, which, having overwintered further from the sea, in the spring, along with the flood, goes deeper into the river bed and spawns higher in the floodplain, since it is easier to find fish there. a suitable place for spawning.

Beluga caviar and juveniles

Young winter moths usually spend the winter in the estuary, or close to the sea. This is probably due to the need to find certain conditions for spawning. Most of all, beluga loves stone ridges in fast and deep places for spawning. In the absence of stones, it uses reeds, bottom unevenness and roots, which help it spawn, but if it doesn’t find this, it completely refuses to spawn, and the remaining eggs inside are absorbed by the fish from the inside, so the beluga often comes to the rivers long before the time of spawning. The caviar is quite large: it reaches four and a half millimeters in diameter and up to thirty milligrams in weight.

Beluga age and spawning time

Beluga is truly a long-lived fish. The age of the fish used to be up to one hundred years. Currently, her average life expectancy is about 40 years. Can spawn many times. Sexual maturity of fish is reached quite late: in males at fourteen years, in females - at eighteen. Beluga do not spawn every year. Spawning time is mainly April, May, takes place at the peak of the flood, eggs are laid deep, to a depth of 15 meters, in places with fast currents, on stones or pebbles. Females are quite fertile and, depending on size, can produce up to eight million eggs. After spawning in fresh water doesn't linger. It goes back to the sea very quickly.

Beluga is the largest fish of the sturgeon family, living in the Caspian, Black and Azov seas and entering nearby rivers to spawn. Under favorable conditions, it can live more than 100 years and, unlike its Pacific relatives, does not die after spawning. Accordingly, it has been growing all this time, and I think everyone will be interested to know what size the largest beluga in the world reached.

The largest beluga is always a female, since males are almost twice as small. The fish reaches sexual maturity at the age of 16, but more often after 20. Black caviar makes up about 20% of the entire body and contains from 500 thousand eggs (5-7 million in the largest ones). And spawning does not occur simultaneously, but over the course of 3 spring months. That is why beluga is always desirable for caviar hunters - for which it paid.

Now this fish is listed in the Red Book because of its value - black caviar, the main delicacy. You won’t find it on official sale, but on the black market in Russia, a kilogram of caviar costs from $600, and abroad - from $7,000.

Even under the most favorable conditions, 90% of eggs do not grow into adults. Plus, in the last century, people have “taken care” that in some rivers the beluga has disappeared completely (for example, before the construction of dams on the Dnieper, it rose to Zaporozhye and some specimens were caught even near Kiev) and now the situation everywhere is more than deplorable. But the beluga has always been an indicator of the health of the ecosystem.

Poachers and hydroelectric dams prevent the fish from growing and the largest fish caught in the last 50 years was a fish weighing 800 kg in 1970 and 960 kg in 1989. The last scarecrow, 4.2 m long and about 70 years old, is now kept in the Astrakhan Museum. The fish was caught by poachers, the eggs were gutted, and an anonymous call was made to report the trophy, which required a truck to transport. Today, the largest beluga in the world and you can find a video about it on YouTube, where they show a specimen weighing about 500 kg.

The book “Research on Fisheries in Russia” reports that the largest beluga caught in the Volga was about 9 meters long and weighed 90 pounds (1440 kg). This individual claims to be the largest freshwater fish on Earth; it is a pity that a photo of the largest beluga was not preserved to confirm the record, since this happened in 1827.

In 1922 and 1924, the same fish were caught near the mouth of the Volga and in the Caspian Sea - 75 pounds (1224 kg), where the body weighed about 700 kg, the head weighed 300 kg, and the rest was caviar. The National Museum of Kazan houses a 4-meter stuffed fish caught in the lower reaches of the Volga. Her age is 60-70 years old.

It should be remembered that the largest beluga in the world is the one that was caught and officially recorded. But the fishermen came across specimens for which they did not have enough gear or strength, and they died safely in their environment, giving rise to numerous legends about river monsters. Which, by the way, has every reason, because seal cubs (length - from a meter) have been found more than once in the stomachs of captured Caspian predators..

Beluga is a fish belonging to the sturgeon family, the order Sturgeon. It is a valuable commercial species; it has been caught in large quantities for a long time, which is why its numbers have greatly decreased; is now an endangered species.

This species is the largest freshwater sturgeon fish. The catch of individuals reaching a length of up to 4.2 m was recorded. Weight Limit at the same time, it is 1.5 tons. Fishermen claim that when the largest beluga was caught, it reached 9 m in length and weighed more than 2 tons, but these facts are not confirmed by anything. The average size of the fish is smaller: most often you come across beluga, whose weight does not exceed 300 kg.

The appearance of this underwater inhabitant is similar to the appearance of other sturgeon representatives: the body is elongated, wide, rounded. The beluga's body narrows towards the tail. The scales have a gray-ash tint. The belly is light, dirty white, with a possible yellowish tint.

Beluga and beluga whales should not be confused: the latter is a type of toothed whale. Previously, both words denoted a mammal; Now “beluga” means fish, “beluga” means whale.

Distinctive features

Feature appearance is a large head, in the lower part of which there are antennae connected together. The nose is small and pointed. A large mouth with no teeth inside. There are spines on the back, the first of which is small. Between the gills there is a membrane connecting them.

Behavior and lifestyle

This species has almost no natural enemies. The eggs, however, can be eaten by other predatory species. Some underwater predators also destroy larvae and fry. The young of this sturgeon species can also be eaten by the grown fry of this large predatory fish.

There are a large number of underwater inhabitants that representatives of the largest freshwater species of sturgeon feed on - and the beluga feeds on smaller ones. These are small species of fish, smaller relatives, mollusks, crustaceans, and even waterfowl. Cases have been recorded in which the remains of seal pups were found in the stomachs of captured individuals. The fry eat insect larvae and zooplankton.

Habitat

Previously, the range was wider. This species of sturgeon could be found in the Adriatic Sea. Over the past 30 years, not a single individual has been found in this salty reservoir, so the population is considered destroyed.

Now this species can be found in the Azov, Black and Caspian seas. Previously, these seas were also inhabited by a large number of individuals; now the population from the Black Sea is on the verge of extinction, because too few in number.

During the breeding season, fish move to fresh rivers, from where it then returns to the seas to live in salt water for 1-2 years.

Lifespan

How long this representative of the underwater fauna lives depends on external conditions. If the habitat is favorable, life expectancy can be up to 100 years.

Reproduction

Belugas go into rivers to spawn. Migration patterns depend on the species—what the fish looks like and where it lives. The Azov beluga moves to the Don. Fewer individuals flock to Kuban. The Black Sea swims into the Danube, Dnieper, and Dniester. Rare specimens rise along the Southern Bug. The Caspian beluga swims to the Volga to breed; a smaller number of representatives of the species rise upstream of the Urals, Terek, and Kura. It often rises to spawn in August, after which it remains in fresh water for a year, breeding only in May.

Reaches sexual maturity late. Males become capable of reproduction from 13-18 years, females - from 16-27. The Azov variety ripens faster than others.

Fecundity depends on the size of the individual. One female is capable of laying from 500,000 to 1,000,000 eggs at a time. The largest representatives of the species can lay up to 5,000,000 eggs. There is information about beluga fertility interesting fact: Populations living in different areas lay different numbers of eggs. It is believed that Volga females spawn approximately 50% more at a time than those breeding in the Kura.

After spawning, adult fish go to sea, where they live until the next breeding. Beluga spawning occurs once every 2-4 years; During their life they reproduce up to 8-9 times.

The caviar is sticky, bottom, pearl-gray in color. Large in diameter, can reach 5 mm. It often becomes prey for other river predators; the survival rate is low. Beluga cubs quickly leave their birthplace and slide downstream into the sea. Some individuals can remain in fresh water for up to 5-6 years.

There have been recorded cases of beluga crossing with sterlet, sturgeon, thorn, and stellate sturgeon under natural conditions.

The benefits of beluga meat

This fish has tougher meat than other members of the sturgeon family. Its fat content is also less. For this reason, the product can be used in the diet. The protein it contains is easily absorbed by the human body. It contains vitamins A, D, PP, E, C, iron, calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, molybdenum, potassium, fluorine, sodium. The pulp also contains Omega-3 fatty acids and amino acids, including essential ones. Milk is also used for food: it can be eaten fresh or in the form of a pate.

Beluga delicate black caviar is also useful. This expensive product contains a large amount useful substances. Considered a delicacy.

You should not eat beluga meat if you have inflammatory diseases, an allergic reaction, kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, gastritis, edema. In these cases, it can harm the body.

Artificial breeding of beluga

Due to excessive population decline, the species' status has changed to endangered. Beluga has long been listed in the Red Book for protection from poachers. Because of this, fishing has been severely limited; in some countries it is prohibited to catch these underwater inhabitants. To restore the species' numbers, other methods are also used: people breed beluga in artificially created conditions.

With the help of artificial insemination, a hybrid capable of producing offspring was bred on the Don and Volga. To obtain it, belugas were crossed with sterlet. The resulting individuals were relocated to the Sea of ​​Azov. In addition, they populated several reservoirs.

Artificial breeding of the breed is also carried out in some aquaculture farms.