Pelecus cultratus

Last updated

Pelecus cultratus
Pelecus cultratus1.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Cypriniformes
Family: Cyprinidae
Subfamily: Leuciscinae
Genus: Pelecus
Agassiz, 1835
Species:
P. cultratus
Binomial name
Pelecus cultratus
Synonyms [2]
  • Clupea zigaWulff, 1765
  • Cyprinus cultratusLinnaeus, 1758

Pelecus cultratus, commonly known as the ziege, sichel, sabre carp or sabrefish, is a cyprinid fish species from Eastern Europe and adjacent Asian regions, the only one in its genus, inhabiting the lower reaches of rivers and brackish waters in the eastern Baltic Sea, Black Sea, Caspian Sea and Aral Sea basins. The ziege having no major threats, the IUCN lists it as being of Least Concern. [1]

Contents

Description

The ziege resembles a large Baltic herring in appearance. It grows to about 25 to 40 cm (10 to 16 in) in length. It has a keel on its belly which from the side looks curved while the back is almost straight. It has an upturned snout and the tip of the lower jaw also slopes steeply upwards. The lateral line is wavy and very low down the flank. The pectoral fin is long and pointed. This is a pale, silvery fish with almost colourless fins. [3]

Distribution

The ziege can be found in waters of the Baltic states and Eastern Europe. [4] It can also be found in other European and Asian countries such as Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia and Montenegro, Slovakia, Sweden, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. It usually swims near the surface in estuaries and lakes and some populations live permanently in rivers and streams. [1] [3]

Biology

This fish feeds on zooplankton, swimming invertebrates such as crustaceans, small fish and floating insects. It breeds in May and June, travelling up-river to find suitable open water locations. It sometimes breeds in brackish water, for example in the Gulf of Finland. The eggs float, and in rivers, drift with the current. They hatch after about three to four days. After spawning, the migratory fish return to estuaries to feed. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brackish water</span> Water with salinity between freshwater and seawater

Brackish water, sometimes termed brack water, is water occurring in a natural environment that has more salinity than freshwater, but not as much as seawater. It may result from mixing seawater and fresh water together, as in estuaries, or it may occur in brackish fossil aquifers. The word comes from the Middle Dutch root brak. Certain human activities can produce brackish water, in particular civil engineering projects such as dikes and the flooding of coastal marshland to produce brackish water pools for freshwater prawn farming. Brackish water is also the primary waste product of the salinity gradient power process. Because brackish water is hostile to the growth of most terrestrial plant species, without appropriate management it is damaging to the environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ide (fish)</span> Species of fish

The ide, or orfe, is a freshwater fish of the family Cyprinidae found in larger rivers, ponds, and lakes across Northern Europe and Asia. It has been introduced outside its native range into Europe, North America, and New Zealand. It is a popular ornamental fish, usually kept in outdoor ponds in temperate regions from which it often escapes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common roach</span> Species of fish

The roach, or rutilus roach, also known as the common roach, is a fresh- and brackish-water fish of the family Cyprinidae, native to most of Europe and western Asia. Fish called roach can be any species of the genera Rutilus and Hesperoleucus, depending on locality. The plural of the term is also roach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European sprat</span> Species of fish

The European sprat, also known as bristling, brisling, garvie, garvock, Russian sardine, russlet, skipper or whitebait, is a species of small marine fish in the herring family Clupeidae. Found in European waters, it has silver grey scales and white-grey flesh. Specific seas in which the species occurs include the Irish Sea, Black Sea, Baltic Sea and Sea of the Hebrides. The fish is the subject of fisheries, particularly in Scandinavia, and is made into fish meal, as well as being used for human consumption. When used for food it can be canned, salted, breaded, fried, boiled, grilled, baked, deep fried, marinated, broiled, and smoked.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European perch</span> Species of fish

The European perch, also known as the common perch, redfin perch, big-scaled redfin, English perch, Euro perch, Eurasian perch, Eurasian river perch, Hatch, poor man’s rockfish or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the perch, is a predatory species of the freshwater perch native to Europe and northern Asia. The species is a popular quarry for anglers, and has been widely introduced beyond its native area, into Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. They have caused substantial damage to native fish populations in Australia and have been proclaimed a noxious species in New South Wales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sand goby</span> Species of fish

The sand goby, also known as a polewig or pollybait, is a species of ray-finned fish native to marine and brackish waters European waters from the Baltic Sea through the Mediterranean Sea and into the Black Sea where it occurs in sandy or muddy areas of inshore waters at depths of from 4 to 200 metres. This species can reach a length of 11 centimetres (4.3 in) TL. This species is sometimes kept in public aquariums. The sand goby is of a sandy colour, with darker markings on the sides and a creamy-white underside. In the breeding season the male fish has blue spot at the rear of the first dorsal fin, ringed with white. The fish has a slender body, and the head is about a quarter of the total length.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pacific ladyfish</span> Species of ray-finned fish

The Pacific ladyfish, also known as the Pacific tenpounder and Machete, is a species of ray-finned fish in the genus Elops, the only genus in the monotypic family Elopidae. The Pacific ladyfish can be found throughout the southwest U.S. and other areas in the Pacific Ocean.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Indo-Pacific tarpon</span> Species of fish

The Indo-Pacific tarpon, also known as the oxeye herring or simply herring due to its superficial resemblance to the true herrings, of which it is not a member, is the smaller of the two species of tarpon and lives in Indo-Pacific waters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black goby</span> Species of fish

The black goby is a species of ray-finned fish found in the Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea. It inhabits estuaries, lagoons, and inshore water over seagrass and algae. It feeds on a variety of invertebrates and sometimes small fish. This species can also be found in the aquarium trade.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stone loach</span> Species of fish

The stone loach is a European species of fresh water ray-finned fish in the family Nemacheilidae. It is one of nineteen species in the genus Barbatula. Stone loaches live amongst the gravel and stones of fast flowing water where they can search for food. The most distinctive feature of this small fish is the presence of barbels around the bottom jaw, which they use to detect their invertebrate prey. The body is a mixture of brown, green and yellow.

<i>Vimba vimba</i> Species of fish

Vimba vimba, called also the vimba bream, vimba, zanthe, or zarte, is a European fish species in the family Cyprinidae. It largely lives in the sea but makes an annual migration up-river each year to breed.

The glassy sprat is a type of sprat fish. The fish, when alive, is translucent, so it gets the second word in its scientific name from the Latin word translucidus, meaning transparent, diaphanous. In animal classification the glassy sprat belongs to Osteichthyes, Clupeiformes, Clupeidae, Hyperlophus. The glassy sprat is native to Australia and mainly found in Australia. It is marked as NE because it has not yet been evaluated by the World Animal Protection. It is mainly used as an economical aquatic product. In ecosystems, they are at the bottom end of the food chain, feeding mainly on plankton, which are less aggressive and very vulnerable to other fish. Glassy sprat are tiny in size and translucent with a silvery streak that extends from its tail to just behind its head. As early as a hundred years ago, Australians harvested the glassy sprat in large quantities and it featured on the table as food for a long time. Due to its poor appearance, it is not a very good ornamental fish.

<i>Plotosus</i> Genus of fishes

Plotosus is a genus of eeltail catfishes native to the Indian Ocean, the western Pacific Ocean and New Guinea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allis shad</span> Species of fish

The allis shad is a widespread Northeast Atlantic species of fish in the herring family, Clupeidae. It is an anadromous fish which migrates into fresh water to spawn. It is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean, the western Baltic Sea and the western Mediterranean Sea. In appearance it resembles an Atlantic herring but has a distinctive dark spot behind the gill cover and sometimes a row of up to six spots behind this. It sometimes hybridises with the twait shad. This fish becomes mature when three or more years old and migrates to estuaries, later swimming up rivers to spawn. Populations of this fish have declined due to overfishing, pollution and habitat destruction. Conservation of this species is covered by Appendix III of the Bern Convention and Appendix II and V of the European Community Habitats Directive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">European flounder</span> Species of fish

The European flounder is a flatfish of European coastal waters from the White Sea in the north to the Mediterranean and the Black Sea in the south. It has been introduced into the United States and Canada accidentally through transport in ballast water. It is caught and used for human consumption.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tank goby</span> Species of fish

Glossogobius giuris, the tank goby, is a species of goby native to fresh, marine and brackish waters from the Red Sea and East Africa through South Asia and the Indian Ocean to China, Australia and the islands of the Pacific Ocean. This species can also be found in the aquarium trade. It is also known as the bar-eyed goby, flat-headed goby and the Gangetic tank goby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coastal fish</span> Fish that inhabit the sea between the shoreline and the edge of the continental shelf

Coastal fish, also called inshore fish or neritic fish, inhabit the sea between the shoreline and the edge of the continental shelf. Since the continental shelf is usually less than 200 metres (660 ft) deep, it follows that pelagic coastal fish are generally epipelagic fish, inhabiting the sunlit epipelagic zone. Coastal fish can be contrasted with oceanic fish or offshore fish, which inhabit the deep seas beyond the continental shelves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chameleon goby</span> Species of fish

The chameleon goby is a species of ray-finned fish native to marine and brackish waters along the coasts of eastern Asia. It has also spread to other parts of the world where it is found in waters with varying degrees of salinity.

<i>Eubleekeria splendens</i> Species of fish

Eubleekeria splendens, common names splendid ponyfish and blacktip ponyfish, is a species of ponyfish.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blackchin tilapia</span> Species of fish

The blackchin tilapia is a species of cichlid native to coastal west Africa. It is a paternal mouthbrooder which has been introduced to Asia and North America.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Freyhof, J.; Kottelat, M. (2008). "Pelecus cultratus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2008: e.T16494A5942384. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T16494A5942384.en . Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  2. Nicholas Bailly (2009). Nicolas Bailly (ed.). "Pelecus cultratus (Linnaeus, 1758)". World Database of Marine Pisces. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved March 12, 2010.
  3. 1 2 "Ziege: Pelecus cultratus". NatureGate. Retrieved 14 December 2013.
  4. Distribution