Comes from Southeast Asia. The habitat extends from Pakistan and India further east - Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Thailand. Wild populations were brought to the islands of Hawaii, where they successfully took root.
They inhabit low-speed rivers and streams, swamps. During the rainy season, as the water level rises, more fast rivers, artificial and irrigation canals. They prefer poorly lit places with dense coastal vegetation.
Brief information:
Adults reach a length of up to 35 cm. characteristic feature species is the structure of the body - very thin and very elongated. Thanks to this shape, the fish got one of its names "Silver Needle". Sexual dimorphism is weakly expressed. Nevertheless, the male is quite easy to distinguish from the female. In males, the dorsal and anal fins have a black border. In addition, during the mating season, a small hump grows behind the head, the lower jaw acquires a reddish tint, and the abdomen becomes yellow-gold.
Predator, in nature feeds on small fish and insects. In a home aquarium, adults should be fed fish strips, shrimp, mussels, large earthworms, flies, crickets, and other insects. Young specimens can be content with small earthworms, pieces of shrimp.
The optimal size of the tank for 3-4 fish starts from 500 liters, the depth should be at least 30 cm. The design should provide for dense clusters of plants placed along the walls of the aquarium, thus preserving free areas for swimming. The lighting is subdued. The presence of plants floating on the surface and hanging over the water is welcome. Since they serve as an additional means of shading, in this case it will be necessary to increase the brightness of the light. Other decorative elements and soil are selected at the discretion of the aquarist.
A productive filtration system is a must when keeping predatory species. In addition to the power of the filter, you should pay attention to what and how the purified water returns. Depending on the models and types of filters, water is returned different ways, some create excess flow. In the case of the Freshwater pipefish, the internal current should be kept to a minimum.
High water quality is also maintained by its weekly change (20-30% of the volume) and regular removal. organic waste from the surface of the substrate and decorative elements.
Predatory, but not aggressive. The garfish is able to get along with other calm fish that are large enough to fit in his mouth. It is worth avoiding the settlement of overly active and restless species, such as Barbs. There are no intraspecific conflicts. It prefers to stay in a small flock of three to four individuals.
Breeding needlefish in a home aquarium is difficult due to the need to recreate the changes in habitat conditions that occur in nature. mating season occurs from May to September, when a large amount of precipitation falls in Southeast Asia, changing the hydrochemical composition of water and lowering its temperature. The female lays several eggs daily, fixing them to the flooded vegetation with thin sticky threads. The incubation period lasts from 7 to 10 days. The hatched fry feed on zooplankton. As they mature, larger fish may eat their smaller counterparts.
Nature has inhabited the earth and sea waters the most extraordinary creatures. The human mind is amazed at the diversity and complexity of organisms that exist on earth.
How many extraordinary representatives sea depths familiar to man. Often people want to tame a piece of nature and keep it close to them. Needlefish are one of the most interesting species that live in the depths of the sea and perfectly exist in home aquariums. These aquatic animals deserve to get to know them better. What a needle fish looks like, where it lives, how it breeds, you will learn from this article.
Needle fish belongs to the needle 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 needlefish have fins. Among this species, subspecies are distinguished: thick-nosed and thin-nosed representatives.
Most close relative- sea Horse. Some subspecies can cling to grass and algae with their tails during strong currents.
Needlefish hunt in a flock small fish that float closer to the surface of the water. Quite often, representatives of the igloos jump out of the water into the moonlight at night. But also sometimes the fish have to go deeper in order to get their own plankton.
The needle fish of the sea is very thin and relatively long. Because of the similarity with the object of the same name, these aquatic animals got their name. Often they are compared with a hexagonal pencil. They move vertically, which gives them additional advantages in camouflage among algae. Nature gave these fish a very colorful color, matching algae and corals, so that they could hide from the gaze 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, in the form of a tube. They suck up food like a vacuum cleaner. The eyes can look in different directions at the same time.
The needlefish has a greenish-brown or reddish-brown color, which may vary slightly depending on environment.
These little ones grow quite slowly, their age limit- 6 years. A one-year-old fish is considered an adult and is ready to reproduce offspring.
The process of reproduction of these inhabitants of the deep sea is very unusual and interesting. Nature obliges the male to bear offspring. In the process of ritual courtship, the female transfers the eggs to the male in the “bag”, which is located in the abdominal cavity, closer to the tail. When transferred, the eggs are fertilized. About a hundred eggs are placed in the bag, and this amount can accumulate from different females. It is fair to say that the male independently chooses whose eggs to accept and which not. In one season, the female can lay three portions of caviar.
Nutrients pass from the father to the eggs through the blood vessels. In the bag, the male carries the eggs until the fry appear. So that they can go outside, the needle fish bends in an arc and opens the "chamber". But if danger arises, the fry can again find protection in the father's pouch.
Needlefish are very friendly to humans and absolutely do not consider them an enemy. Often in home aquariums you can see these representatives of the fauna.
If you have a desire to get such a fish, you should remember some features of its content:
There are enough representatives of the needle family in the Russian seas. The Black Sea needlefish is the most common. 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 does not go to human food, and there is also better bait for fishing. Most often, tourists take it away as a souvenir or trophy. Due to its slowness and desire to be closer to people, it often falls into the hands of vacationers.
Today there is a significant desalination of needle fish. And although there are 120 types of needles, not so long ago, thin-nosed and thick-nosed were included in the Red Book.
The bottom of the Black Sea is a storehouse of oil. Due to deep deposits, the waters are saturated with hydrogen sulfide. Especially a lot of it below 150 meters. There are almost no inhabitants beyond this mark.
Accordingly, most of the Black Sea fish live in the water column or near the surface. Bottom species at least. As a rule, they burrow into the sands of the coastal bottom.
Carp live not only in freshwater reservoirs. In the Black Sea, representatives of the spar family “capture” everything more territories. Previously, crucians were found mainly along the coast from Adler to Anapa. There are fewer fish near the shores of the latter. The sea in Adler is warmer.
average temperature water there is equal to 3-4 degrees. but last years crucians are also caught outside the water area. There are 13 species. Seven of them are passing through the Bosphorus. Rest fish species in the Black Sea sedentary.
Often from the fishermen you can hear the second name of the crucian carp - laskir
The second name of the crucian carp is laskir. The fish resembles 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 tiny mouth. In length, crucian carp rarely exceed 33 centimeters. In the Black Sea, individuals of 11-15 centimeters are usually found.
It is easiest to distinguish species of crucian carp by color. On the silver bison, the alternation of dark and light stripes is clearly visible. There are 11 or 13 of them.
In the photo, crucian carp zubarik
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 species of sea crucian
Belongs to the mackerel family, perch-like order. Fishing in the Black Sea becomes more and more difficult. Due to the unintentional introduction of Mnemiopsis into the reservoir, forage species disappear. Outwardly similar to a jellyfish, the comb jelly feeds on plankton.
Crustaceans are traditionally the food of anchovy and sprat. These planktivorous fish, in turn, are the basis of the mackerel diet. It turns out that because of the alien ctenophore in the reservoir, the main commercial fish die of hunger.
mackerel is famous palatability. Fish have fatty meat, rich in omega-3 and omega-6 acids. Along with the benefits, the Black Sea catch can also be harmful. Mackerel accumulates mercury in its body.
However, this is true for most marine fish. Therefore, nutritionists advise to intersperse in your diet sea views with fresh water. In the latter, mercury is at a minimum.
A small shark with a length of 1 to 2 meters and a weight of 8 to 25 kilograms. Spikes covered with mucus grow near the 2 dorsal fins of the katran. Their shell is poisonous, like some stingray needles. From poison last perished Steve Irwin. The famous crocodile hunter hosted a series of television programs.
The poison of the katran is not as dangerous as some rays. A shark needle prick leads to painful swelling of the affected area, but does not pose a mortal threat.
The coloration is dark gray with a light belly. Single white spots are on the sides of the fish. Its population is also under threat. Like mackerel, katran feeds on plankton-eating anchovy, which is dying out due to the dominance of the sea by Mnemiopsis.
True, horse mackerel still remains on the shark menu, so the shark population “keeps afloat”. Fish swim, by the way, in the depths. You can see the katran off the coast only in the off-season.
Katran is the only fish from the shark family in the Black Sea
Skates are elasmobranch cartilaginous fish. There are 2 species in the Black Sea. The most common is called sea fox. This fish has a spiked body and tail, tasteless meat. But, they appreciate the liver of the sea fox. It is used to make wound healing agents.
The main population of foxes is found near Anapa. You can also find a stingray there. Alternative title - catfish. This is another type of Black Sea. Unlike the gray-brown fox, it is light, almost white.
There are no spikes on the body of the fish, but the needle on the tail grows up to 35 centimeters. The slime on the ledge is poisonous, but not fatal, as is the case with the outgrowths on the body of the katran.
Sea cat is an ovoviviparous species. Poisonous fish of the Black Sea do not lay eggs, but carry them in their wombs. In the same place, baby stingrays hatch from the capsules. This is a signal for the start of fights and the appearance of animals into the world.
Sea cat or sea fox
The fish is distinguished by a slightly laterally compressed elongated body with a thoracic protrusion-keel. The back of the animal casts blue-green, and the abdomen is gray-silver. In length, the fish reaches 52 centimeters, but most adults do not exceed 33 centimeters.
The largest herrings are found in the Kerch Bay of the Black Sea. There fish are caught from March to May. Then it goes to the Sea of Azov.
A miniature relative of the herring. The second name is sprat. In the minds of the townsfolk there is confusion caused by the divergence of opinions of ichthyologists and fish producers. For the last sprats - any small herring individual.
It may be directly herring, but young. For ichthyologists, sprat is a fish of the sprattus species. Its representatives do not grow more than 17 centimeters and live for a maximum of 6 years. Usually it is 4 years against 10, allotted for a century of herring.
Sprat lives at depths up to 200 meters. In the Black Sea, due to the saturation of waters with hydrogen sulfide, fish are limited to 150 meters.
sprat fish
Refers to the mullet. There are 3 indigenous subspecies in the Black Sea: ostrich, golden mullet and striped mullet. The first is distinguished by a narrow nose covered with scales. It is absent only up to the region of the anterior nostrils. In the singil, the plates start from the back, and on the back they have one tubule each. The sharpnose has two canals on its dorsal scales.
Loban is the most common and famous representative of the mullet in the Black Sea. The fish has a convex head in front. Hence the name of the species. Among the mullets, its representatives are the largest, grow quickly, and therefore are important in terms of fishing.
By the age of 6, the striped mullet stretches 56-60 centimeters, weighing about 2.5 kilograms. Sometimes, they catch fish 90 centimeters long and weighing 3 kilos.
His name is the answer to the question what fish in the black sea bizarre. Outwardly, the animal resembles a bird or a butterfly. The front fins of a rooster are large and colorful, like those of a peacock or 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 comb of a real rooster.
In body gurnard a minimum of bones, and the meat resembles sturgeon in color and taste. Therefore, the fish has become not only an object of admiration, but also a fishery. As a rule, a rooster falls for the bait addressed to horse mackerel and swims at the same depths.
It belongs to the perch-like order, 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.
Lures her animal like a worm. This is the appendix that the stargazer sticks out of his mouth. This mouth is on a massive and rounded head. The fish tapers towards the tail.
In length, the stargazer can reach 45 centimeters, and weighs 300-400 grams. In moments of danger, the animal burrows into the bottom sand. It also serves as a camouflage when hunting. So that the grains of sand do not fall into his mouth, he moved almost to the very eyes of the astrologer.
It looks like a straightened seahorse, also belongs to the needle-shaped order. 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. There are no teeth in it, since there is no need to grab and chew the catch. Basically, the needle feeds on plankton. Here again the question arises about the eating of crustaceans by Mnemiopsis. The needle does not withstand competition for food with fish with it.
Belongs to the scorpion family. The same family includes the sea ruff. On the spikes of the fins, the perch, like a katran or sea cat, carries poison. It is produced by special glands. The venom is strong but not lethal, usually causing inflammation and swelling of damaged tissues.
Among photo of Black Sea fish perch can appear in different types. There are 110 of them in the world. White and stone are outwardly similar to freshwater perches. So the fish were named the same, even though they have no relationship. The Black Sea perch is an exception. Fish related freshwater species. middle name is black sea bass- smarida.
The length of the smarid does not exceed 20 centimeters. The minimum for an adult is 10 centimeters. The food of the animal is mixed, it consumes both algae and crustaceans, worms. The color of the fish largely depends on food.
In the Black Sea perch, as well as river perches, vertical stripes appear on the body. Once caught, they disappear. In ordinary perches, the stripes are preserved in the air.
The fins of the sea bass are very sharp with poison at the end.
Miniature bottom fish up to 5 centimeters in length. The animal has a large front body, head. Towards the tail, the dog gradually tapers like an eel. A solid fin-comb runs along the back. But, the main difference between fish and others is branched outgrowths above the eyes.
The color of the sea dog is reddish-brown. Fish living in the Black Sea, keep both in shallow water and at depths of up to 20 meters. Dogs keep in packs, hiding between stones and ledges of underwater rocks.
Red-white fish weighing about 150 grams and up to 30 centimeters long. The animal keeps in shallow water with a sandy bottom. Otherwise, the fish is called an ordinary sultanka. The name is associated with the regal appearance of the red mullet. Its coloration is like the mantle of an eastern ruler.
Relating to the mullets, the red mullet has the same elongated body of an oblong-oval shape, compressed from the sides. In agony, the sultan is covered with purple spots. This was noticed by the ancient Romans, who began to cook red mullet in front of the diners.
Those at the table liked not only to eat delicious fish meat, but also to admire its coloring.
commercial fish Black Sea, prefers 100-meter depths. The peculiar appearance of the animal is known to all. Masquerading at the bottom, it produces all kinds of light pigments with the upper side of the 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 an exception to the rule, like left-handers among people.
By the way, people love flounder for dietary meat with 100% digestible protein, vitamin B-12, A and D, Omega-3 acids, phosphorus salts. Another flat creation contains aphrodisiacs that excite desire. Of the fish, only a few have such properties.
Otherwise called scorpion. It has nothing to do with freshwater marine. vernacular name given to the animal for its external resemblance to river ruffs. The Black Sea fish is also covered with spiked fins. The structure of their needles is similar to the structure of the teeth of snakes. Each needle has two furrows for the delivery of poison to the outside. Therefore, catching sea ruff is risky.
There are 8 species of greenfinches in the Black Sea. All fish are small and brightly colored. One species is called the wrasse. This fish is edible. The rest are used only as bait on large predator. Greenies are bony. Animal meat smells muddy and watery.
The wrasse is depicted on many amphorae that have come down from the time ancient rome. There, delicious greenfinch was served at dinner parties along with red mullet.
Despite the bright, festive coloring, greenfinches with muzzles of grassy color are aggressive. Animals bare their faces sharp teeth, rushing at offenders like chained dogs. In a fight, greenfinches, mostly males, shoot water jets, wave their fins, beat their foreheads, tails and emit a special war cry, which is not typical for fish.
There are about 10 species of gobies in the Black Sea, the main one is called round. Contrary to the name, the fish is quite elongated, laterally compressed. The color of the round timber is brown with a brown speck. In length, the animal reaches 20 centimeters, weighs approximately 180 grams.
Round timber chooses depths up to 5 meters. The sandpiper also lives here. It can also live in rivers. In the Black Sea, fish stay close to the coast with flowing rivers. Here the water is only slightly brackish. The sandpiper is named for its beige color and manner of burrowing into the sandy bottom.
The goby wrasse, unlike the sandpiper, is found at the bottom with pebbles. The fish has a flattened voice on top and bloated upper lip. The jaw sticks out from below. Another wrasse is distinguished by a uniformly developed dorsal fin.
There is also a grass goby in the Black Sea. It 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 smeared with mucus, but the secret is not poisonous. Even children catch gobies with their bare hands. Teenagers like to look out for camouflaged fish in shallow water, sneak up and cover them with their palms.
In the photo, the Black Sea goby
In the Black Sea it occurs as an exception, swimming from other waters. The powerful bony nose of the fish is more like a saber. But the animal does not pierce the victims with its weapon, but it beats backhand.
The noses of swordfish have been found embedded in ships of oak logs. The needles of the deep-dwellers entered the wood like butter. There are examples of 60 cm swordfish nose penetration into the bottom of a sailboat.
Representatives have cartilage instead of a skeleton and are deprived. This is how the fish of antiquity looked like, since sturgeons are relic 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 of the fish in the Black Sea basin do not exceed a mass of 20 kilograms.
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. It is here that representatives of the species feed. Bonito does not like to go to the depths.
Outwardly similar to gobies, but poisonous. The danger is represented by spikes on the head and on its sides. The upper ones resemble a crown. Like tyrant-rulers, the dragon stings the unwanted. A skirmish with a fish can lead to limb paralysis. At the same time, the person is in pain.
Usually fishermen suffer from dragon stings. poisonous inhabitant the sea gets into the net, and from there the animals need to be taken out. It is not always easy to do this accurately.
In total, 160 species of fish live or swim through its waters in the Black Sea. 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 cause in the pollution of shallow water with runoff, fertilizers from the fields. In addition, pleasure boats and fishing boats actively surf the coastal waters.
Needlefish belongs to the needlefish family. About 200 varieties are known, and each species has a certain body length, which can be from 3 to 60 cm.
This fish lives up to its name. It can be compared to a needle or a colored faceted pencil. The body of this fish is thin, elongated, with evenly spaced bony thickenings, like a fan-shaped, elongated tail. The dorsal fin is small, so it cannot develop high speed. Coloring - from yellowish and dark green speckled to reddish tones. It may vary depending on the environment. The mouth is long, tubular, widening at the end. There are combs on the sides of the mouth. Here she is, a needle fish. The photo shows it well.
The teeth are missing because they are not needed. Needlefish feeds on small crustaceans, plankton, insect larvae, and will not refuse other people's caviar. In search of food, it focuses on sight. Scary. Most of life
spends between stones, in thickets of marine plants, lies quietly on the bottom or slowly moves along the bottom. Slow, only danger makes her move faster, bending her whole body like a snake. For this ability, it is also called a snakefish.
Needlefish is found in the Atlantic Ocean, Black, Caspian, Azov, mediterranean seas, as well as in those flowing into these seas, i.e. in warm waters. The average depth at which it prefers to live is about 9-12 m. Moreover, it tries to stay close to the coast. It grows slowly, by the age of five the fish reaches 19 cm in length and weighs 5 g.
Children love to catch it in shallow water with their hands. They dry the fish they catch in the sun. Dried fish is brought from rest as souvenirs.
The reproduction process of this fish is very interesting. Spawning occurs in May-June.
At the end of mating games, the female, wrapping herself around the male, throws eggs into the folds of skin on the ventral side of his body. In the process of throwing, the eggs are fertilized. After filling, the edges of the folds converge, forming a brood chamber, which occupies a third of the length of the male. If there was not enough caviar, then the male is able to accept caviar from another female. While in the brood chamber, the eggs (up to 100 pieces) receive nutrition and oxygen through the blood vessels of the father.
Hatching from them, the fry spend some more time in the brood chamber. To release the fry, the male bends in an arc and opens the brood chamber. In case of danger, the fry hide.
Swedish scientists, conducting experiments with needle fish, came to the conclusion that not all eggs turn into fry. If the male does not have enough food, then part of them dissolves, entering his body. Digesting their contents, he continues to feed and grow the rest. Needle fish is a clear example of how nature has wisely disposed of, trying to support and continue life.
It is of no practical interest to humans. Needlefish are not used for food and are not suitable as bait. it is claimed only in the absence of other, more delicious food.
Needle fish, arrow fish, spindle, silver needle, sea pike - all these trivial names belong to one of the most interesting representatives class of ray-finned fish. V scientific world it is known as the garfish.
Unusual appearance and high the nutritional value meat made marine schooling fish an object of active fishing. Dishes from garfish are different unusual view and excellent taste.
The name "arrow" garfish was not accidental. predatory fish capable of making lightning-fast jerks in pursuit of prey, jumping out of the water and developing high speed. This is facilitated by the ideal structure of the fish from the point of view of aerodynamics: the body is long, slightly laterally compressed, covered with very small cycloid scales. V calm state the garfish moves, wriggling like a snake (hence another nickname - the spindle).
Interesting fact! Sargan jumps out of the water to overcome the obstacle. These can be objects floating on the surface of the water, including fishing boats. There are cases when fish injured people.
When playing, the garfish makes high jumps-candles and can wrap itself with fishing line several times
Thin elongated jaws, similar to the beak of a prehistoric pterodactyl, with many small sharp teeth, help to capture and hold the victim. The upper jaw of the needlefish is shorter than the lower.
The younger the individual, the longer its lower jaw. It can be 3/4 of the length of the entire head.
The green and blue back and silvery sides of the garfish are in harmony with the general color of the sea water.
In addition to the back, the garfish has green color colored bones. The non-standard shade is due to the presence in their composition of the coloring bile pigment - biliverdin, which is also present in the human body. The photo shows what the spine of the fish looks like.
Coloring pigment is not dangerous to human health
A typical marine pelagic fish, the garfish stays in deeper layers during daylight hours, rises to the surface of the reservoir on a moonless night.
The basis of the diet of the garfish is made up of small fish: anchovy, sprat, herring, young mackerel and herring. In search of food, the predator migrates over considerable distances. For example, following the anchovy, it can move from the Black Sea to the Sea of \u200b\u200bAzov and Sivash.
The puberty of needle fish occurs by 3–6 years of age. The female spawns in small portions, so spawning lasts several months (usually from early May to mid-August, in the Black Sea - from late April to mid-October). There is no fishing ban during this period.
There is a common misconception that garfish and needlefish are synonymous names for the same fish. Actually it is not. Needle fish is a representative of marine fish of the needle family (a detachment of sticklebacks). Its close relative is the seahorse.
The genus includes more than 50 species:
A shy little fish (maximum length 30 cm), unlike the predatory garfish, is quite peaceful. She doesn’t even have teeth: plankton, small crustaceans, and insect larvae form the basis of needle food. For most of the day, the fish either slowly moves near the bottom, or stands almost vertically in thickets of marine plants, leaning on its tail.
The color of needles depends on the reservoir of habitat: usually it is yellow, green, reddish tones.
The needlefish has an elongated tubular mouth (snout) with a characteristic extension at the end.
Interesting fact! Fish, like a chameleon, can change color according to their environment.
Needles live in the Black, Azov, Caspian, Baltic Seas, enter the rivers and lakes associated with them. Sea long-snouted needlefish is an object of hunting for tourists. It is caught by hand in coastal areas, dried and taken away as a souvenir.
Some species are freshwater. River needlefish is found in the Volga, the lower reaches of the Don, some reservoirs (Kuibyshev, Volgograd, Rybinsk, Tsimlyansk).
Unlike the garfish, the needlefish does not have commercial value. Because of its friendly disposition, attractive appearance and unpretentiousness, they like to keep it in an aquarium. Usually as pet give birth to plump-cheeked needle fish.
The name of the fish was due to the strongly protruding gill covers.
The freshwater fish looks beautiful: the body is green or brownish with contrasting transverse stripes, the abdomen is light with a black keel. Height does not exceed 20 cm, weight 5 g.
There is only one thing in common between the garfish and the needle fish: both belong to the class of ray-finned fish.
The garfish family includes 25 species. Fish are classified mainly according to the area where they are found.
In commercial terms, the most interesting are:
Most species prefer to stay close to the coast, some (for example, tropical ribbon-like garfish) go to the open ocean.
There are 5 species of the garfish family that live in fresh water bodies. They are found in rivers South America, Southeast Asia, Northern Australia.
Needlefish, especially caught in autumn, are tasty and quite oily. Absence small bones makes it a desirable product in the kitchen. Meat has mass useful properties. In it in in large numbers contains polyunsaturated aliphatic acids of the Omega group. They are necessary to increase immunity, normalize the work of all vital systems, and even out hormonal levels. Thanks to fatty acids, there is a general rejuvenation of the body.
Dishes from garfish are good for health thyroid gland: There is a lot of iodine in fish.
Fish meat is rich in phosphorus. A macronutrient is needed to maintain muscle activity, brain activity, and bone tissue growth.
There are many recipes for cooking marine predator. The fish menu includes marinated, boiled, fried, baked garfish. Smoked needle fish has excellent taste.
Fish is prepared in a special smokehouse (can be replaced with a massive pan or bucket with a tight lid).
Operating procedure:
Garfish in the smokehouse is kept until cooked, usually the process takes about 40 minutes
The garfish is kept in a smokehouse until cooked, usually the process takes about 40 minutes. Some semblance of hot smoked fish can be cooked in the oven. For this, the peeled garfish is first rubbed with salt, then coated with “liquid smoke”, placed in a baking bag and sent to the oven for 50 minutes.
The process of cold smoking is long and laborious, but the garfish prepared in this way can be stored for up to a year without losing its taste.
Step by step recipe:
The process of smoking itself takes from 1 to 6 days, depending on the size of the fish. Readiness is determined by appearance garfish: it becomes dry, the surface acquires a golden brown hue.
Recipes for preparing an old dish are diverse. In general, shkara is a fish stewed in its own juice.
For 5-7 pieces of garfish we need:
In addition to food, you need to prepare in advance: 2 pans (main and auxiliary), toothpicks according to the number of fish.
There should be enough fish so that, rolled up in rings, it fills the pan tightly
Step by step recipe:
Advice! Until the end of the stewing process, you do not need to remove the lid: this way the dish will fully retain the aroma.
To prepare sprats, you will need gutted garfish carcasses without a head and tail, vegetable oil, black peppercorns (or a mixture of peppers), bay leaf, and salt.
Cooking:
Such sprats can be stored in the refrigerator in glass jars.
A beautiful swift predator is an object of commercial fishing. Mining is carried out mainly off the coast of Crimea, in Kerch Strait. Amateur sea fishing (if long-range gear is available) is possible in spring and autumn, when needlefish come close to the shore. By this time, the fish managed to work up fat, its meat becomes tender and juicy. They put on the hook what the garfish usually eats: anchovy, pieces of herring, mussel and shrimp meat. The predator reacts well to chicken meat. It is possible to use artificial lures: floating wobblers and small lures.
