Fans of outdoor activities are very often engaged in fishing. The abundance of rivers in Russia makes this type of recreation popular among the townspeople. But not all novice fishermen know what kind of fish is found in rivers, what conditions it prefers and what its habits are. Special guides and catalogs compiled by scientists can be very useful in the study of the inhabitants of river expanses.
Currently, more than a hundred species of river fish that live in Russia are known. Not all existing species are included in the corresponding catalogs, work in this direction is still carried out by scientists of the Academy of Sciences of Russia, who still find new species of river fish and compose their descriptions. The difficulty here lies in the fact that some species of fish interbreed with each other, which leads to the formation of hybrids. Such crossing mechanisms are widely used in industrial fish breeding.
The most famous river dweller is of course the pike. This predator usually lives in the coastal zone, abounding in water thickets. The pike likes places with weak currents. This fish is very sensitive to oxygen content in water, therefore, in closed small reservoirs in winter, it often dies. The color of the pike can be very diverse and depends on the characteristics of the habitat and river vegetation. As a predator, the pike feeds mainly on small fish.
The common river bass is no less popular with wildlife lovers and avid fishermen. It is also a predator, so other river fish make up the bulk of the perch's diet. Being a potential prey for larger pike, river perch tries to adhere to lowland water bodies with little current. In some regions, perch is not only an object of interest for fishing enthusiasts, it also has commercial value.
Common in rivers and roach, which has several subspecies on the territory of Russia. This fish prefers to keep in schools, taking advantage of the protection of aquatic vegetation, snags and trees hanging to the water. Roach also dislikes very fast currents. Small and medium-sized fish are not as shy as large specimens. Sometimes you can observe hybrid forms, obtained by crossing an ordinary roach with a rudd.
Often in the rivers you can find not only river fish, but also the so-called anadromous species. Such fish spend a significant part of the time in the seas, rising to river mouths only for the spawning period. Anadromous species include, for example, some species of the salmon family: trout, salmon, pink salmon.
River fish is a very valuable dietary product that is absorbed much better than meat. It is, among other things, not so allergenic when compared to sea fish. In many regions of Russia, the catch of various types of river fish is an important component of the economy. Some species of these fish can be successfully kept in home aquariums.
