Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of pelagic fish, mostly from the family Scombridae. They are found in both temperate and tropical seas, mostly living along the coast or offshore in the oceanic environment.
The Kura is an east-flowing river south of the Greater Caucasus Mountains which drains the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus east into the Caspian Sea. It also drains the north side of the Lesser Caucasus while its main tributary, the Aras, drains the south side of those mountains. Starting in northeastern Turkey, it flows through Turkey to Georgia, then to Azerbaijan, where it receives the Aras as a right tributary, and enters the Caspian Sea at Neftçala. The total length of the river is 1,515 kilometres (941 mi).
Fauna of Azerbaijan or animal kingdom of Azerbaijan refers to the diversity of various types of animals, which inhabit and populate a defined ground or water area in Azerbaijan.
The Persian sturgeon is a species of fish in the family Acipenseridae. It is found in the Caspian Sea and to a lesser extent the Black Sea and ascends certain rivers to spawn, mainly the Volga, Kura, Araks and Ural Rivers. It is heavily fished for its flesh and its roe and is limited in its up-river migrations by damming of the rivers. Young fish feed on small invertebrates, graduating to larger prey such as crabs and fish as they grow. The threats faced by this fish include excessive fishing with the removal of immature fish before they have bred, damming of the rivers, loss of spawning areas and water pollution. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has listed the fish as critically endangered and has suggested that the increased provision of hatcheries could be of benefit.
The Caucasian shrew is a species of mammal in the family Soricidae. It is found in Armenia, Russia and Turkey.
The Australian grey smooth-hound or grey gummy shark is a species of houndshark, belonging to the family Triakidae, native to the Pacific Ocean and Indian Ocean waters surrounding Australia. The shark is widespread in deep coastal waters.
The Kura bleak is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Alburnus. It is native to the Caspian Sea basin, from the Kura River and Aras River in the east to the Sefīd-Rūd in Iran.
The Kura barbel or lizard barbel or is a species of freshwater cyprinid fish from the Near East region.
The Kura nase or southern Caspian nase is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Chondrostoma.
Oxynoemacheilus bergianus, the Kura sportive loach, is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Oxynoemacheilus. This species is found in Lake Urumiyeh and Namak Lake basins in Iran, in the southern Caspian basin from Kura east to the Sefid-Rud drainage. It can also be found in the headwaters of Tigris in Turkey, Iraq and in Karoun, Iran as well as those of the Euphrates in Turkey and possibly in Syria and Iraq. It lives in fast flowing streams and rivers with gravel and rocky substrates and does not tolerate impoundments, dam construction having been identified as a major potential threat to this species.
The Kura loach, also known as the Caspian sportive loach, is an Asian species of freshwater fish, occurring in the drainage basin of the Kura in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran. It prefers fast to very fast flowing streams and rivers which have a gravel or rocky substrate and is most frequently recorded among riffles and rapids in the middle of stream. It is widespread and locally abundant but populations have been lost due to the construction of dams for hydroelectric power and for abstraction. The specific bane honours the German naturalist Johann Friedrich von Brandt (1802-1879), who provided Karl Kessler with most of the specimens he used to describe this species.
Ponticola cyrius, the Kura goby, is a species of gobiid fish endemic to the Kura River in the southern Caucasus countries of Georgia, Turkey, Iran and Azerbaijan. It reaches a length of 13 centimetres (5.1 in) SL. It lives in the upper parts of the Kura River, Massuleh River and the Pasikhan River and in the Anzali Mordab (Iran). Downstream in Kura it is replaced by Ponticola gorlap.
Alburnoides eichwaldii, also known as the South Caspian sprilin or Kura chub, is a fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It is widespread in the Western Asia in the river drainages of the southwestern Caspian coast from Samur down to rivers of the Lenkoran Province in Azerbaijan. It prefers streams and rivers in the foothills, with well oxygenated, fast-flowing waters, and spawns on gravel in swift currents.
The Caspian roach is a species of roach fish living in the Caspian Sea. The Caspian roach can be distinguished from other roaches by its laterally compressed body, silvery grey iris, rounded snout and grey pectoral pelvic and anal fins with dark margins. The Caspian roach is semi-anadromous and inhabits mostly shallow coastal waters. It enters Volga, Ural, Emba, Terek and Kura drainages for spawning.
Acanthobrama microlepis, called the blackbrow bleak or the Caucasian bream, is a species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae. It reaches a maximum size of 25 cm (9.8 in) TL. The species is found in lakes and rivers of the southwestern Caspian Sea drainage basin, including Sefīd-Rūd, Kura River and Aras River. It has also been introduced to Iraq.
Alosa curensis, the Kura shad, is one of the species of clupeid fish endemic to the Caspian Sea basin. It is found in the southwestern part of the brackish sea-lake, near the mouth of the Kura River, Azerbaijan. But generally this is a poorly known species.
Pseudophoxinus atropatenus, also known as the Azerbaijani spring roach or Shirvan roachling, is a species of freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae.
Pseudophoxinus sojuchbulagi, also known as the Akstafa spring roach, is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. It is found in the Ağstafa Region of the Kura River in Azerbaijan. It was last recorded in 1948. None were found in two more recent searches.
Oxynoemacheilus cyri, the Göle loach or banded Kura loach, is a species of stone loach from the genus Oxynoemacheilus. It is endemic to the Kura drainage in northern Turkey where it is currently locally abundant. This species occurs in high mountain streams with fast flowing currents. The specific name derives from the classical name for the Kura, "Cyrus".
The South Caucasian gudgeon is a species of cyprinid fish found in the Kura and Aras drainages flowing to the southwest Caspian Sea from headwaters in Turkey down to lower reaches in Azerbaijan and Iran.
