What do pipefish eat? The pipefish is a fish with an exquisite appearance. Needle fish on a bed of vegetables
Needlefish, or needlefish, is a family of marine, brackish-water and freshwater fish of the needle-shaped suborder of the stickleback order. The family includes approximately 232 species of fish, grouped into 52 genera. Of these, about 196 species belonging to 51 genera are classified as pipefishes and approximately 36 species belong to a single genus. The pipefish from the Bahamas is like an intermediate link between pipefish and seahorses.
The needlefish lives mainly in the Black, Azov, Aral, Caspian and Baltic seas. Scientists distinguish two types of these fish: serpentine and ordinary. The former are characterized by a very thin and long body, as well as the absence of caudal and pectoral fins. Common pipefish have fins. Among this species, subspecies are distinguished: thick-snouted and thin-snouted representatives.
The needle fish hunts in schools on small fish that swim closer to the surface of the water. Often representatives of needles jump out of the water into the moonlight at night. But sometimes fish have to go deeper to get plankton.
The needlefish has a long, very thin body, with a long caudal peduncle, covered with hexagonal rings of bone plates. The snout is tubular and long (especially in Caspian populations), and has scallops on its sides. The gill covers are strongly convex and have a crest only in front. There is a faint ridge on the crown. The dorsal fin is long and begins in front of the anus, the caudal fin is very small. There are 15-17 trunk girdles, 36-41 caudal girdles. There are 7-9 belts under the dorsal fin.
The body color is greenish-brown or reddish-brown, with light transverse stripes in the middle of each girdle. The belly is whitish and the ventral carina is blackish. There are no spots on the dorsal fin. The needle fish grows slowly, reaching a length of 19 cm and a weight of 5 g at 5 years. The maximum age is 6 years, length up to 23 cm, weight up to 5 g.
Euryhaline species, can live in both fresh and salt waters. Found in thickets of aquatic plants. In the spring, sea needle fish enters rivers and lakes, sometimes rising to considerable distances (in the Dnieper up to 900 km). The freshwater form leads a watery lifestyle in lakes, reservoirs and oxbow lakes, adhering to the same habitats throughout its life. Pipefish feed on small crustaceans, juveniles only on zooplankton, and adults on plankton, large crustaceans, insect larvae, and sometimes larvae and juvenile fish. In search of prey, it navigates using vision.
The breeding season for these species, which live on the Black Sea coast, takes place in April-July. All species of pipefish have a difficult reproduction process. In males, in the lower part of the body, on the side of the peritoneum, there is a brood chamber, which consists of 2 folds of skin. After the mating dance, the female wraps herself around the male’s body and lays eggs in his pouch, and fertilization of the eggs occurs. These folds bend, and the eggs are hidden under them. When the skin comes together, a bag about a third of the length of the entire body is formed. This bag can hold about 100 eggs.
The eggs remain in the pouch until the fry hatch from it, and they do not leave the father’s pouch for some time. To release the fry, the male arches his body, the edges of the skin open, and the new generation ends up in the water. If the babies are in danger, they climb back into the bag with their caring father.
Kinds
The largest species of needlefish living in the Azov and Black Seas is the common needlefish. Her body length is about 46 centimeters. This species is found on the coast of Europe from Morocco to Norway. In addition, common needles are found in the Mediterranean Sea, near the British Isles, but they are not found in the Baltic. These fish live in coastal areas and near river mouths among a large number of marine thickets. The common pipefish has dark stripes on its body and tail.
The Black Sea plump-cheeked pipefish differs from other pipefish living in the Black and Azov Seas by its short, cylindrical snout. This species lives off the coast of Southern Europe. It is also found in Africa, in the Caspian, Black and Azov seas. These fish prefer to stay at a depth of no more than 5 meters in waters with a muddy or sandy bottom. In addition to the sea, plump-cheeked needle fish live in rivers and lakes, as well as in the Volga Reservoir. The average body length is 21 centimeters.
The thin-snouted needle fish has a less wide range - it is found in the Black, Azov and Adriatic seas. This species of pipefish is quite large - individuals reach a length of about 38.5 centimeters. Thin-winged needlefish are not found in fresh water.
The Black Sea spiny needle, about 11 centimeters long, lives only in the Black and Azov Seas at a depth of about 70 meters. The striped or thick-snouted pipefish, about 30 centimeters long, also lives only in the Azov and Black Seas. And a close relative, the coastal pipefish, lives in the Sea of Japan; it can also enter river mouths.
Sea awl or serpentine needle fish lives in the Black and Mediterranean seas and on the Atlantic coast. This species differs from the others in that the males have an open brood pouch and are not protected by folds of skin. Therefore, the eggs are attached to the belly itself. The body is thin and long. These fish do not have caudal, anal or pectoral fins. The color is most often greenish-yellow or yellow-gray with brown specks. And at the time of spawning, the body of the sea awl becomes covered with blue spots and stripes. This species lives not only in the seas, but also swims into river mouths.
Needlefish in aquariums
Among domestic freshwater fish, the plump-cheeked Black Sea pipefish is the most interesting object to keep in an aquarium. They are distinguished by their unique body shape, very interesting behavior, and unusual method of reproduction. This species is characterized by high euryhalineity. They enter rivers from the sea and ascend them 500 km from the mouth or more. At the same time, there are cases of needles penetrating into floodplain reservoirs. The detachment of these reservoirs from the river bed makes the needles inhabitants of purely fresh water.
It is better to keep needles separately, although they get along well with any small fish. The aquarium should be tall and not very large. It should be densely planted with plants, otherwise the needles will hide in the thickets, which will make it difficult to observe them; they can live in any water, but do not tolerate a sharp transition to soft water. The main condition for the successful maintenance of needles is proper feeding, since their mouth opening is small, it is necessary to feed the needles with small crustaceans, best of all cyclops. Food must be constantly present in the varium. The needles are reluctant to cut the cut tubule, and it apparently does not suit them. Without Cyclops and small daphnia, the fish quickly lose weight and soon die.
The needle movements are smooth. When stopping, the tail serves as a fulcrum; it always touches the ground or aquatic plants. When catching food, the needles can bend in any direction, taking the most bizarre poses. By moving their rather large eyes, they find small crustaceans, no matter where they are hiding. In this case, the proboscis stops at some distance from the victim, the needle freezes, then sharply spreads the gill covers, a short movement of the head - and the crustacean is sucked with water into the mouth opening. Needles can engage in this kind of hunting all day long, extracting individual cyclops even from under stones.
Recipes
Needle fish on a bed of vegetables.
Ingredients: two fish, three carrots, seventy grams of vegetable oil, six onions, eight tomatoes, salt, red hot pepper and paprika to taste.
First you need to cut the fish. To do this, cut off the head and tail, remove the fins, clean the entrails, wash and cut into portions. This should result in a total of eight pieces. Then vegetable oil is poured into the frying pan, where the needle fish will be fried. We will now look at how to cook further. So, the fish is fried on all sides until golden brown. Then they start preparing the vegetable pillow. To do this, grate the carrots; it will serve as a substrate. Next, the onions and tomatoes are cut into rings. Carrots and onions are placed in a frying pan and simmered for several minutes. Fry the tomatoes separately, adding a little water.
Place a layer of onions and carrots in a large frying pan, then tomatoes, and needle fish is placed on top, the recipes for which we will consider. At the same time, each piece is sprinkled with hot pepper. Next, the fish is covered with vegetables in the opposite order. Cover the frying pan with a lid and put on the fire, simmer for twenty minutes, sprinkling with more salt and paprika to taste. The finished dish is laid out on portioned plates and served to the table. The taste of the product is very interesting.
French soup "Bouillabaisse".
This dish is the most popular among Marseille sailors. It includes needle fish, the recipes for which are very diverse, as well as lobsters and other seafood.
Ingredients: one kilogram of needle fish, half a kilogram of salmon fillet, stingray or lapu-lapu, two hundred grams of squid, two hundred grams of shrimp, one hundred grams of mussels, one hundred grams of scallops, two onions, six cloves of garlic, one can of tomatoes in their own juice or three fresh tomatoes, as well as two hundred grams of dry white wine, two stalks of celery, two leeks, six bay leaves, the zest of one orange, half a bunch of herbs, black pepper and spices to taste.
First, needle fish, the recipes for which are very simple, wash the salmon or other fish, fill it with cold water, and set it to cook over low heat. Meanwhile, chopped onions, crushed garlic, crushed tomatoes are fried in a cauldron in vegetable oil, adding white wine. Then add the strained broth.
This family includes fish with a very elongated body in the form of a thick needle (pipefish) or with a completely unique body shape, reminiscent of a chess piece of a horse, with a head tilted towards the body and a curled, prehensile tail (seahorses). Long-tailed pipefish have small or no caudal fins and no pelvic fins.
Spinefish (lat. Syngnathus) is a genus of marine fish of the Needlefish family (Syngnathidae), part of the order Sticklebacks. More than 150 species of pipefish and about 30 species of seahorses are known. The sizes of adult fish are from 2.5 to 60 cm (needlefish) and from 4 to 20 cm (pipits).
Pipefish and seahorses live in tropical and temperate seas off sandy shores with the sea grass Zostera; pipefish are also found in rocky shallow waters, in algae thickets, and on corals. They are able to change their color depending on the background of the environment, and in general their color is very variable: red, purple, brown, bright green, gray with various combinations of spotting to almost white among corals. There are also pelagic species, such as the large Sargasso pipefish (Entelurus aequoreus), found throughout the open Atlantic Ocean among floating Sargassum algae, or the small pelagic Black Sea pipefish (Syngnathus schmidti). The body shape, coloring, and slowly swinging movements of pipefish and seahorses perfectly imitate the thickets that surround them and allow these sedentary fish to successfully hide from their enemies. Mimicry is brought to perfection in the greenish-brown Australian rag-picker seahorse (Phyllopteryx eques), whose body outline is broken up by numerous long spines and ribbon-like leathery outgrowths. When they flutter in the water, the fish are almost impossible to distinguish from a sprig of Sargassum seaweed.
Pipefish and pipits feed mainly on small planktonic crustaceans. The tubular snout acts like a pipette: when the cheeks sharply inflate, the prey is quickly drawn into the mouth from a distance of up to 4 cm. Having noticed a small crustacean, the seahorse examines it for a second or two and then, turning its snout to a comfortable position, suddenly draws in the crustacean and swallows it. Young seahorses can feed for 10 hours a day and during this time they eat up to 3,600 small gill-footed brine shrimp (Artemia salina).
The process of reproduction is complex. The male always takes care of the offspring. In pipefish, after a stately courtship dance with a partner, the female wraps herself around him and deposits eggs in small portions in a groove or brood pouch on the underside of the male's body. In this case, the eggs are fertilized. Depending on the type of pipefish, the eggs are attached under the abdomen or under the tail. They can be completely open, for example in the serpentine pipefish (Nerophis ophidion), or covered with folds of skin extending from the sides of the body: the edges of these folds converge, forming a bag about one-third the length of the fish. Such a device is found in common pipefish of the genus Syngnathus.
The male carries the eggs until the fry hatch. Even after the fry hatch, the male carries them in a pouch for some time. By bending the body upward in an arc, it opens the bag, and the fry come out of it, but in case of danger they hide there again.
Seahorses have a different pouch structure. It is always located under the tail and is closed; there is only a small hole in the front part of the bag for laying eggs through it and for the exit of fry when they hatch from the eggs. With the onset of the breeding season, this bag thickens and is penetrated by blood vessels; This is how she prepares to receive eggs and feed the embryos.
At the same time, the female’s cloaca stretches somewhat and forms a genital papilla, which serves as an organ for introducing her eggs into the male’s pouch. After the female lays her eggs, the male contains the developing eggs in his pouch.
In total, about 50 species of common pipefish are known. The pipefish (Amphelikturus dendriticus) from the Bahamas is an intermediate link between pipefish and pipits. Its brood pouch is partially fused, of an intermediate type between spines and skates. The tail is tenacious, like that of a skate, but still retains the caudal fin, like that of a pipefish; the head is slightly bent downwards, making an angle of up to 45° with the axis of the body.
Featherless pipefish (Penetopteryx) are also known. They do not have fins, they live among coral fragments, burrowing into coral sand to a depth of 30 cm.
Animal life: in 6 volumes. - M.: Enlightenment. Edited by professors N.A. Gladkov, A.V. Mikheev. 1970.
The bottom of the Black Sea is a storehouse of oil. Due to deep deposits, the waters are saturated with hydrogen sulfide. There is especially a lot of it below 150 meters. There are almost no inhabitants beyond this mark.
Accordingly, most fish in the Black Sea live in the water column or near the surface. There are a minimum of benthic species. As a rule, they burrow into the sands of the coastal bottom.
Sea crucian carp
Crucians live not only in freshwater bodies. In the Black Sea, representatives of the Sparidae family are “capturing” more and more territories. Previously, crucian carp were found mainly along the coast from Adler to Anapa. There are fewer fish off the coast of the latter. The sea in Adler is warmer.
The average water temperature there is 3-4 degrees. However, in recent years, crucian carp have been caught outside the water area. There are 13 species. Seven of them are passing, sailing through the Bosphorus. Rest types of fish in the Black Sea sedentary.
You can often hear from fishermen the second name for sea crucian carp - laskir
The second name for sea crucian is laskir. The fish resembles its freshwater counterparts. The oval and laterally compressed body of the animal is covered with scales. There are even plates on the cheeks and gills of the fish. She has a miniature mouth. Sea crucian carp rarely exceed 33 centimeters in length. In the Black Sea, individuals of 11-15 centimeters are usually found.
The easiest way to distinguish sea crucian species is by color. The silver catfish clearly has alternating dark and light stripes. There are 11 or 13 of them.
In the photo, sea crucian carp
The white sarg has transverse stripes, there are 9 of them. The bobs have 3-4 lines on the body and they are golden.
Sarga is another variety of sea crucian
Mackerel
Belongs to the mackerel family, the order of perciformes. Fishing in the Black Sea It's getting more and more difficult. Due to the unintentional introduction of Mnemiopsis into the reservoir, food species are disappearing. Externally similar to a jellyfish, the ctenophore feeds on plankton.
Crustaceans are traditionally the food of anchovy and sprat. These planktivorous fish, in turn, are the basis of the mackerel’s diet. It turns out that because of the alien ctenophore, the main commercial fish in the reservoir are dying of hunger.
Mackerel is known for its taste. Fish has fatty meat, saturated with Omega-3 and Omega-6 acids. Along with the benefits, the Black Sea catch can also cause harm. Mackerel accumulates mercury in its body.
However, this is typical for most marine fish. Therefore, nutritionists advise alternating marine species with freshwater ones in your diet. The latter contain a minimum of mercury.
Katran
A small shark from 1 to 2 meters long and weighing from 8 to 25 kilograms. Spikes covered with mucus grow near the two dorsal fins of the katran. Their shell is poisonous, like some stingray spines. Steve Irwin died from the poison of the latter. The famous crocodile hunter hosted a series of television programs.
The venom of the katran is not as dangerous as that of some stingrays. An injection from a shark's needle leads to painful swelling of the affected area, but does not pose a mortal threat.
The color is dark gray with a light belly. There are single white spots on the sides of the fish. Its population is also under threat. Like mackerel, katran feeds on the planktivorous anchovy, which is becoming extinct due to the dominance of the sea by Mnemiopsis.
True, horse mackerel still remains on the shark’s menu, which is why the shark population “keeps afloat.” By the way, fish swim in the depths. You can see katran off the coast only in the off-season.
Katran is the only fish from the shark family in the Black Sea
Stingrays
Stingrays are elasmobranch cartilaginous fish. There are 2 types of them in the Black Sea. The most common one is called the sea fox. This fish has a spiky body and tail and tasteless meat. But they value sea fox liver. Wound healing agents are made from it.
The main population of foxes is found near Anapa. You can also find stingrays there. An alternative name is sea cat. This is another species of the Black Sea. Unlike the gray-brown fox, it is light, almost white.
There are no spines on the body of the fish, but the needle on the tail grows up to 35 centimeters. The mucus on the protrusion is poisonous, but not lethal, as is the case with the outgrowths on the body of the katran.
The sea cat is an ovoviviparous species. Poisonous fish of the Black Sea They do not lay eggs, but carry them in their womb. There, baby stingrays hatch from the capsules. This is a signal for the start of contractions and the birth of animals.
Sea cat or sea fox
Herring
The fish is distinguished by a slightly laterally compressed elongated body with a pectoral protrusion-keel. The back of the animal is blue-green, and the belly is gray-silver. The length of the fish reaches 52 centimeters, but most adults do not exceed 33 centimeters.
The largest herring are found in the Kerch Bay of the Black Sea. They fish there from March to May. Then it goes into the Sea of Azov.
Sprat
A miniature relative of the herring. The second name is sprat. There is confusion in the minds of ordinary people caused by the divergence of opinions between ichthyologists and fish farmers. For the latter, sprat is any small herring specimen.
It could be a herring itself, but a young one. For ichthyologists, sprat is a fish of the sprattus species. Its representatives do not grow more than 17 centimeters and live a maximum of 6 years. Usually this is 4 years versus 10, allotted for the age of herring.
Sprat lives at depths of up to 200 meters. In the Black Sea, due to the saturation of the waters with hydrogen sulfide, fish are limited to 150 meters.
Sprat fish
Mullet
Belongs to the mullet. There are 3 indigenous subspecies in the Black Sea: sharpnose, singil and mullet. The first is distinguished by a narrow nose covered with scales. It is missing only up to the area of the anterior nostrils. In the Singil, the plates start from the rear, and have one tubule on the back. The sharpnose has two channels on its dorsal scales.
The mullet is the most common and famous representative of the mullet in the Black Sea. The fish has a convex head at the front. Hence the name of the species. Among mullets, its representatives are the largest, grow quickly, and therefore are important commercially.
By the age of 6, the mullet stretches 56-60 centimeters, weighing about 2.5 kilograms. Sometimes fish are caught that are 90 centimeters long and weigh over 3 kilos.
Gurnard
His name is the answer to the question, what kind of fish is in the Black Sea quirky. Externally, the animal resembles a bird or butterfly. The rooster's front fins are large and colorful, like those of a peacock or a butterfly. The head of the fish is large, and the tail is narrow with a miniature forked fin. Curving, the rooster resembles a shrimp.
The red color of the fish plays in favor of the association. However, scarlet-brick is also associated with the crest of a real rooster.
The body of a sea rooster has a minimum of bones, and the meat resembles sturgeon in color and taste. Therefore, fish has become not only an object of admiration, but also of fishing. As a rule, the rooster falls for the bait aimed at horse mackerel and swims at the same depths.
Astrologer
Belongs to the order Perciformes, lives near the bottom, is inactive. Hidden, the astrologer does not count the stars, but waits for crustaceans and small fish. This is the prey of a predator.
It is lured by an animal like a worm. This is the appendage that the stargazer protrudes from its mouth. This mouth is on a massive and rounded head. The fish tapers towards the tail.
The stargazer can reach 45 centimeters in length and weighs 300-400 grams. In moments of danger, the animal buries itself in the bottom sand. It also serves as camouflage when hunting. To prevent grains of sand from getting into his mouth, he moved almost to the astrologer’s eyes.
Pipefish
It looks like a straightened seahorse and also belongs to the order Acineformes. The shape of the fish is similar to a pencil with 6 edges. The thickness of the animal is also comparable to the diameter of the writing instrument.
Needles – Black Sea fish, as if sucking small prey into their elongated mouth. It has no teeth, since there is no need to grab and chew the catch. The needlefish mainly feeds on plankton. Here again the question arises about the eating of crustaceans by Mnemiopsis. The needle cannot compete with fish for food.
Sea bass
Belongs to the scorpionfish family. The same family includes the sea ruffe. On the spines of its fins, the perch, like the katran or the sea cat, carries poison. It is produced by special glands. The poison is strong, but not fatal, and usually causes inflammation and swelling of damaged tissue.
Among photo of Black Sea fish perch can come in different forms. There are 110 of them in the world. White and stone are similar in appearance to freshwater perch. So the fish were named the same, even though they are not related. Black Sea perch is an exception. The fish is related to freshwater species. The second name of the Black Sea perch is smarida.
The length of the smarida does not exceed 20 centimeters. The minimum for an adult is 10 centimeters. The animal has a mixed diet, consuming both algae and crustaceans and worms. The color of fish largely depends on food.
Black Sea perches, like river perches, have vertical stripes on their bodies. After being caught they disappear. In ordinary perches, the stripes remain in the air.
Sea bass fins are very sharp with poison at the end
Dogfish
Miniature bottom fish up to 5 centimeters in length. The animal has a large front body and head. Towards the tail the dog gradually tapers, like an eel. There is a continuous fin-ridge along the back. But the main difference between the fish and others is the branched outgrowths above the eyes.
The color of the sea dog is reddish-brown. Fishes living in the Black Sea, stay both in shallow water and at depths of up to 20 meters. Dogs stay in packs, hiding between stones and ledges of underwater rocks.
red mullet
A red-and-white fish weighing about 150 grams and up to 30 centimeters long. The animal lives in shallow water with a sandy bottom. Otherwise, the fish is called an ordinary sultana. The name is associated with the regal appearance of the red mullet. Its color is like the robe of an eastern ruler.
Belonging to the mullet, the red mullet has the same laterally compressed elongated body of an oblong oval shape. In agony, the sultana becomes covered with purple spots. The ancient Romans noticed this when they began cooking red mullet in front of those eating.
Those at the table enjoyed not only eating the delicious fish meat, but also admiring its coloring.
Flounder
Commercial fish of the Black Sea, prefers 100-meter depths. The peculiar appearance of the animal is known to everyone. Disguising itself at the bottom, it produces all kinds of light pigments on the upper side of its body. The underside of the fish does not have this ability.
The Black Sea flounder prefers to lie on its left side. Right-handed individuals are exceptions to the rule, like left-handed people.
People, by the way, love flounder for its dietary meat with 100% digestible protein, vitamin B-12, A and D, Omega-3 acids, and phosphorus salts. The flat creature also contains aphrodisiacs that stimulate desire. Only a few fish have similar properties.
Sea ruff
Otherwise called scorpionfish. It has no relation to freshwater marine species. The popular name was given to the animal for its external resemblance to river ruffs. The Black Sea fish is also covered with spiny fins. The structure of their needles is similar to the structure of the teeth of snakes. Each needle has two grooves for the delivery of venom. Therefore, catching sea ruffe is risky.
Greenfinch
There are 8 species of greenfinches in the Black Sea. All fish are small and brightly colored. One species is called a wrasse. This fish is edible. The rest are used only as bait for large predators. Greenfinches are bony. Animal meat smells muddy and watery.
The wrasse is depicted on many amphorae that have survived from the times of Ancient Rome. There, delicious greenfinch was served at dinner parties along with red mullet.
Despite their bright, festive colors, greenfinches with grass-colored faces are aggressive. Animals bare their sharp teeth, rushing at offenders, like chained dogs. In a fight, greenfinches, mostly males, shoot streams of water, wave their fins, bang their foreheads, tails and emit a special battle cry, which is not typical for fish.
Black Sea gobies
There are about 10 species of gobies in the Black Sea, the main one is called the round goby. Contrary to its name, the fish is quite elongated, laterally compressed. The color of the round timber is brown with a brown spot. The animal reaches 20 centimeters in length and weighs approximately 180 grams.
Round wood chooses depths of up to 5 meters. The sandpiper goby also lives here. It can also live in rivers. In the Black Sea, fish stay off the coast with inflowing rivers. Here the water is only slightly salty. The sandpiper is named for its beige color and its habit of burrowing into the sandy bottom.
The goby wrasse, unlike the sandpiper, is found on the bottom with pebbles. The fish has a flattened upper lip and a swollen upper lip. The jaw protrudes from below. The wrasse also stands out for its evenly developed dorsal fin.
There is also a grass goby in the Black Sea. He has a laterally compressed head and an elongated body. The large rear fin of the animal is elongated towards the tail. The fish is generously lubricated with mucus, but the secretion is not poisonous. Even children catch bulls with their bare hands. Teenagers like to look out for camouflaged fish in shallow water, sneak up and cover them with their palms.
Pictured is a Black Sea goby
Swordfish
In the Black Sea it is found as an exception, swimming from other waters. The powerful bony nose of the fish looks more like a saber. But the animal does not pierce the victims with its weapon, but rather hits it backhand.
The noses of swordfish have been found embedded in ships made of oak logs. The needles of the inhabitants of the depths entered the tree as if into butter. There are examples of a 60-centimeter penetration of the bow of a swordfish into the bottom of a sailboat.
Sturgeon
Representatives have cartilage instead of a skeleton and are deprived. This is what the fish of ancient times looked like, since sturgeon are relict animals. In the Black Sea, representatives of the family are a temporary phenomenon. Passing through salty waters, sturgeons go to spawn in rivers.
The Black Sea sturgeon is called Russian. Individuals weighing about 100 kilograms were caught. However, most fish in the Black Sea basin do not exceed a weight of 20 kilograms.
Pelamida
Belongs to the mackerel family, grows up to 85 centimeters, gaining up to 7 kilograms of weight. Standard fish are 50 centimeters long and weigh no more than 4 kilos.
It comes to the Black Sea from the Atlantic to spawn. The warm waters of the reservoir are ideal for laying eggs and raising offspring.
Like mackerel, bonito has fatty and tasty meat. The fish is considered commercial. They catch bonito near the surface. This is where representatives of the species feed. The bonito does not like to go to the depths.
Sea Dragon
Outwardly similar to gobies, but poisonous. The danger comes from the spikes on the head and its sides. The top ones resemble a crown. Like tyrant rulers, the dragon bites those it dislikes. A run-in with a fish can lead to paralysis of a limb. At the same time, the person languishes in pain.
Fishermen usually suffer from dragon stings. A poisonous sea creature ends up in a net, and the animals need to be rescued from there. It is not always possible to do this carefully.
In total, 160 species of fish live in the Black Sea or swim through its waters. About 15 of them are of commercial importance. Over the past 40 years, many fish that previously preferred to stay near the coast have moved into the depths.
Biologists see the reason in the pollution of shallow waters with runoff and fertilizers from fields. In addition, the coastal waters are actively plied by pleasure boats and fishing boats.
In salty seas and oceans, as well as freshwater reservoirs, you can find very interesting fish, with a long and needle-thin body and an elongated muzzle. Its body is covered with bone plates that look like a hexagon. The head is decorated with a small scallop. The color can be completely different and depends on the habitat. There are individuals of brown-green and red-brown colors, with many light transverse stripes. This is a needle fish, which can be a little more than 20 cm in length and weighs 5 kg. Her life expectancy is 5 years.
Needlefish prefer shallow water areas with lush vegetation. During the spawning period, the needlefish can enter freshwater bodies of water. It is found in the same Dnieper, and at a considerable distance from the sea. Freshwater fish do not change their habitat and are constantly in the same body of water. The needlefish feeds on bottom larvae, worms, crustaceans, plankton, and small fish. Its fry consume exclusively plankton. The fish's vision is very good, which helps it quickly find food.
Spawns from May to June. During the mating season, the female lays eggs not on seaweed, but in the male’s pouch, which is located on his tail. Fertilization also occurs there. In total, no more than 100 eggs are laid. In this case, the male’s pouch can contain eggs from different females at the same time. In total, during the mating season, the female can lay three portions of eggs, each containing 20 eggs.
The eggs, located in the male's pouch, do not come into contact with the external environment. The embryos are nourished by their blood. The needle fish larvae are in the male’s pouch until August. After this period, the placenta with the fry is separated from the bag and enters the water.
Igloo fish can be found in the Black, Caspian, and Azov seas. Its dwarf form lives in salty bays. Freshwater pipefish are found on the Volga, Dnieper and Terek. It also exists in the Kuibyshev Reservoir. It is possible that freshwater fish enter large reservoirs from the lower reaches of rivers. This fact is confirmed by the fact that the needle appeared in the reservoirs of Kuban.
Needle fish has no nutritional value. Its natural enemies are predatory fish.
Nature has populated the earth and sea waters with the most unusual creatures. The human mind is amazed at all the diversity and complexity of organisms that exist on earth.
How many extraordinary representatives of the deep sea are familiar to man? Often people want to tame a piece of nature and keep it close to them. The needlefish is one of the most interesting species that lives in the depths of the sea and thrives in home aquariums. These aquatic animals are worth getting to know better. What needle fish looks like, where it lives, how it reproduces, you will learn from this article.
Habitats
The needle fish belongs to the needle fish family and lives mainly in the Black, Azov, Aral, Caspian and Baltic seas. Scientists distinguish two types of these fish: serpentine and ordinary. The former are characterized by a very thin and long body, as well as the absence of caudal and pectoral fins. Common pipefish have fins. Among this species, subspecies are distinguished: thick-snouted and thin-snouted representatives.
The closest relative is the seahorse. Some subspecies can cling to grass and algae with their tails during strong currents.
The needle fish hunts in schools on small fish that swim closer to the surface of the water. Often representatives of needles jump out of the water into the moonlight at night. But sometimes fish have to go deeper to get plankton.
Appearance
The needlefish is very thin and relatively long. Due to their resemblance to the object of the same name, these aquatic animals got their name. They are often compared to a hexagonal pencil. They move vertically, which gives them additional advantages in camouflage among algae. Nature gave these fish a very colorful coloring, matching the algae and corals, so that they could hide from the eyes of predators. By the way, their color, like that of chameleons, adapts to the environment.
The entire long body of the fish consists of bony plates, usually hexagonal. But there are subspecies in which hexagonal plates smoothly turn into tetrahedral ones.
The muzzle is elongated and occupies a significant part of the head. The mouth of these fish is small, tube-shaped. They use it to suck up food like a vacuum cleaner. The eyes can look in different directions at the same time.
Pipefish have a greenish-brown or reddish-brown color, which may vary slightly depending on the environment.
These babies grow quite slowly, their maximum age is 6 years. A one-year-old fish is considered an adult and is ready to reproduce.
Reproduction
The reproduction process of these inhabitants of the deep sea is very unusual and interesting. Nature obliged the male to bear offspring. During ritual courtship, the female transfers the eggs to the male into a “bag”, which is located in the abdominal cavity, closer to the tail. Upon transmission, the eggs are fertilized. About a hundred eggs are placed in the bag, and this number can accumulate from different females. It would be fair to note that the male independently chooses whose eggs to accept and whose not. In one season, a female can lay three batches of eggs.
Nutrients pass from the father to the eggs through blood vessels. The male carries the eggs in the pouch until the fry hatch. So that they can get out, the needle fish bends in an arc and opens the “chamber”. But if danger arises, the fry can again find protection in their father's pouch.
The needle fish is very friendly towards humans and does not consider them an enemy at all. You can often see these representatives of the fauna in home aquariums.
If you have a desire to have such a fish, it is worth remembering some features of its maintenance:
- It moves vertically, so the aquarium should not be small or low. The optimal volume is 300 liters.
- If you are interested in the offspring of these amazing fish, you need to purchase a pair.
- This fish is a predator, so the neighbors in the aquarium should not be smaller in size, otherwise they will turn into food.
- It is recommended to put sand on the bottom of the aquarium, and the presence of algae and stones will not interfere.
- At least a third of the water volume should be changed weekly; fish tolerate fresh water well, so no additional sophistication is needed.
- During the period of gestation, you should especially carefully monitor the food of the fish.
Economic importance
There are enough representatives of the needle family in the Russian seas. The most common needlefish is the Black Sea needlefish. It is also called Italian or small needle fish. The longest representatives live in the waters of the Black Sea, their body size reaches 23 centimeters. But it is not of particular interest: it is not used as human food, and there is also better bait for fishing. Most often it is taken away by tourists as a souvenir or trophy. Because of its slowness and desire to be closer to people, it often falls into the hands of vacationers.
Today there is a significant desalination of needlefish. And although there are 120 species of needles, not so long ago the thin-snouted and thick-snouted ones were included in the Red Book.