Ruff fish. The most prickly fish

The appearance of the ruff, of course, is known to everyone and this fish is difficult to mix with any other. When taken out of the water, the ruff has an extremely original appearance and at first glance may seem like some kind of monster: it spreads its sharp fins and "cheeks", also armed with teeth, so that it looks more like a spiny ball, but not like a fish. In addition, he will bend the tail to the side.

This ruffling, which gave rise to the name of this fish a ruff, is the only means of its protection: in front of this forest of hard thorns, a hungry pike also retreats. In its warehouse, the ruff resembles a perch, but its front - spiny - its dorsal fin is inextricably linked with the rear, thick thorns (2) are contained in the anal fin; gill covers (cheeks) are also seated with 11-12 sharp spines.

His eyes are very large - rolling out, with a dull purple, sometimes even bluish iris. The back is gray-green with blackish specks and dots, the sides are somewhat yellowish, the belly is whitish, however, its color depends on the location: in rivers and lakes with a sandy bottom, ruff is always lighter than in silty areas. Here it is sometimes almost dark green in color.

In ponds, the ruff mostly has a yellowish, even yellowish-gray abdomen. In addition, in rivers, the running ruff, like any other fish, is always whiter than the sedentary "standing" or "standing" ruff. Usually the ruff is about 13 cm long, although at favorable conditions, that is, with an abundance of food and difficulty in catching, it reaches a much greater value.

The largest ruffs are generally found at river mouths and in large lakes. Ruffs-pounders are still found in many lakes of the Yekaterinburg district and were previously caught in whole poods. This gigantic growth local ruffs depend solely on the abundance of small crustaceans, mormys, which all year round, especially in winter, make up almost the only food for this fish, while in rivers it lies in deep places in winter and eats almost nothing.

In autumn and in early spring the stomach of a ruff is always stuffed with mormysh to the very throat. In general, small crustaceans, small insects, the larvae of the latter constitute the main food of the ruff; in spring it also eats eggs of other fish in large quantities and therefore soon exterminates other fish in small lakes.

Undoubtedly, they also eat not only newly hatched juveniles of fish, but are not averse to profiting from a trifle in general, since in some places, in very fishy lakes, it is not especially rare to take a little fish. Ruff has a very wide distribution: it is found in all European countries, with the exception of Spain, Italy and Greece, and in most of Siberia, at least up to Lake Baikal.

However, it is found both in big rivers ah, and in rivers, at the seaside, in lakes and flowing or key ponds. He is very unpretentious and makes an almost invariable companion of the perch, like which he does not like strong currents and prefers rivers or bays or pits with whirlpools. Therefore, the ruff is not found in the northern fast-flowing rivers, and it is found both in the northern Russian rivers and in the southern Russian rivers more often in flooded lakes, in estuaries than in the river.

In early spring, or rather, at the end of winter, schools of ruff that have wintered in the pits move to shallower places and after a while begin to spawn. Apparently, the spawning time depends on ice melting, and therefore occurs in rivers much earlier than in lakes. Recent observations have shown that the ruff begins to spawn a little later than the pike and earlier than the perch - even under the ice and in rivers, at least up to high water.

Thus, in southwestern Russia, ruff spawns in February, on the Don - in March, in the middle Russia-at the beginning April, and in the north and in the Ural lakes - in early May. According to my observations, the whole ruff spawns in a few days (nights); on others - spawning lasts two weeks. It must be assumed that at first large ruffs rub, then medium and, finally, small, 7-9-centimeter two-year-olds.

At the same time, schools of ruffs do not undertake long journeys, like other fish, although they still somewhat rise along the stream and from large rivers or lakes enter the mouths of small tributaries v. The most full information about fish saber is -

As for the place of spawning, here we encounter some disagreements, which can, however, to some extent be explained by early spawning and the fact that it does not occur on the surface of the water and, moreover, at night, and, consequently, by the difficulty of observation. In addition, there is no doubt that for different conditions ruffs spawn in various places.

According to my observations, in lakes they spawn at depth, in pits with gristly or stony bottom, which are most often found near the mouths of lake tributaries. In rivers, however, most often, judging by the abundance of small ruffs in oxbows, canals and flooded lakes connected by canals to the channel, ruffs rub in these places, again on a hard, sandy or clayey bottom, with a small current.

In the northwestern Russian lakes, generally deep, the ruff, apparently, chooses already shallower places and releases eggs on sandy ridges or slopes, but at a depth of about sazhen. Ruffs spawn in large or smaller flocks (from hundreds to several thousand individuals), at dusk or at night, at the very bottom.

The roe of the ruff is tied together by a gelatinous, although not sticky mucus, by means of which it attaches to stones or to the bottom, as an exception to the grass, or rather, is delayed by the unevenness of the bottom, since it lays down in a thick layer.

Eggs are yellowish, small (0.8-1 mm) and quite numerous (from 50 to 100 thousand); they develop rather slowly: juveniles hatch from them no earlier than two weeks later and, it seems, remain in place of hatching until the end of summer, appearing on small sandy places in late August, reaching a little over an inch in size.

Ruff always avoids sunlight and warm water, and therefore in summer it is rarely found at a depth of less than 2 m, especially large; near the coast, this fish is found when, although it is shallow, it is steep or walks in ledges, because a strong wave and surf wash it away, freeing worms and larvae. Hence the opinion that the ruff loves dregs and that you can lure him by producing this dregs artificially.

However, juvenile ruff and small underyear ruff go to the dregs no worse than a gudgeon and fall into lifting nets with it (see gudgeon). In flowing ponds, the ruff, like a nocturnal fish, or rather, twilight, lives in pits near shady shores, but most of all he loves to stay near dams, piles, baths and bridges, where he finds shade, coolness and food.

According to the signs of fishermen-hunters, the ruff has a special weakness for the bodyag, which sometimes completely covers underwater structures and serves as a nesting place for various small organisms. But it is attracted here mainly by bloodworms - red larvae of a pusher mosquito, living in masses in silt, and therefore ruff is much less common in ponds on sandy places than in a river.

In hot weather, when the water in the pond reaches a temperature of 20 ° and above, the ruff, depending on the terrain, either goes to the springs and mouths of spring streams, or hides under the floating shores - bogs, if any. In shallow lakes, the whole summer ruff hides under these so-called lavds, or lavas.

Mormysh (hunchback, Gammarus) lives all summer under the lavds, which serves as its main food and also does not tolerate warm water. Finally, in the summer the ruff rises from flowing ponds or lakes into the river channel and often reaches the next dam, settling at the bottom of the pool, at the very depth, where, if there is any current, it is only circular, the most beneficial for such a slow and phlegmatic fish ...

However, it cannot be said that she completely avoided the current: a large river ruff is often found in places where it seems to him not to resist, but the fact is that ruffs, like pure bottom fish, perfectly use all sorts of closures in the form of stones, ledges, irregularities of the bottom, every hole, hollow, scouring - and in such places they stand closely, in dense rows, nestling to the bottom.

In general, the ruff is a social, peaceful fish, and even large ruffs get along with small ones, but where there is a ruff, there is little chance of finding any other fish, except for burbot, at night. Burbot always lives in the same places of the river where the ruff is, and can be called its main enemy, since it almost prefers the latter to gudgeon and char.

Catfish still quite willingly catches ruffs, pulling them into its huge mouth, pike perch - and only large - quite rarely, and pike - as an exception and in some places. All summer ruff leads pretty sedentary life... Only strong heating of water in ponds and floods in large and medium-sized rivers force it to migrate to another place.

At the end of summer, when the water gets colder, the ruff cod more and more group up in certain, convenient and feeding places, and at this time their main fishing begins. By autumn, the ruff is already gathering in masses; in dammed rivers, it seems, since September, sometimes almost all the ruff gathers in a pool, where it hibernates; in lakes, however, the small ruff stays on the shallows for a long time and goes deep into the depths after strong matinees.

It happens that in shallow lakes strong autumn winds throw ashore a mass of ruffs, who did not have time to retire to a deep place in time. Ruff overwinters most often in the mouths of small rivers, in very deep pits in the channel or under the dams in the whirlpools; in lakes he prefers either the mouths of streams and rivers, or wells, that is, underwater springs, remote from the coast.

However, on the first ice, the ruff for some time keeps relatively small places and squeezes closer to the shore, near the edges of the pit, and only when the ice gets stronger does it dump into it and lie there in rows, in several layers. At first he still takes food, but in the middle of winter, especially when severe frosts and very thick ice, stops eating altogether until strong thaws.

As a commercial fish, ruff does not have of great importance, since nets and seines are caught in large quantities only in lakes and in the sea, but mainly because they are mostly consumed locally. The fact is that only live and at least completely fresh ruff, covered with mucus, like one of the best fish for fish soup; frozen ruffs are cheaper than small perch.

Most of all, the ruff is caught along the Baltic coast, where it teems in bays, in the Gulf of Finland, in the mouths of the Neva, in many northern lakes e.g. Ilmene.

Ruff is almost the only fish that is almost in more is caught with a line than with nets - partly because it, like bottom fish and living in pits, is inconvenient to catch with seines, but more because it is very tangled and wrinkled, so that non-water fishing gives an insignificant percentage of live fish, compared to fishing for fishing rods, especially in winter.

Young fishermen. Ruff is so nicknamed for its very sharp thorns. These thorns don't just prick. After the injections, the wounds itch and ache for a long time, so that the fisherman should bear in mind, for the slightest careless touch to a ruffled ruff is enough to get several painful injections.

In cooking, ruff is a valuable fish. The ruff ear has a unique taste. Fans of this divine dish believe that without a ruff of an ear - not an ear, but a stew. Ruffs should not be cleaned and washed of mucus, you just need to gut them, and remove the gills so that there is no bitterness.

Description

Common ruff- Gymnocephalus cernuus (Linnaeus, 1758) (synonyms, outdated names, subspecies, forms: Perca cernua, Acerina vulgaris, Acerina cernua, Acerina fischeri, Acerina Сzekanowskii, Acerina cernua essipovi) is a species of fish from the perch family.

The coloration is gray-green on the back with brown melanin spots on the sides, which are also present on the dorsal and caudal fins. The body is short, laterally compressed, its height is 20-30% of the body length. The snout is blunt. The mouth is small, at the bottom. The jaws have bristle-like teeth, no canines. The head is naked, with large cavities of the sensory system. The preoperculum has 5-10 spines at the posterior margin, and 3 spines at the lower margin. The operculum has a strong spine. Strong spines are found in the pelvic fins, and two strong spines in the anal. The chest is often not covered with scales. By the structure of the body, the ruff resembles a perch, but its dorsal fins are connected. There are thorns on the operculum of the ruff. The body color of the ruff is gray-green with dark spots. The belly of the ruff is light. Sometimes there is yellowness in the color.

The subspecies are not distinguished, but many authors noted the high geographic and ecological variability of the ruff. Common ruff can hybridize with perch and Danube ruff. When the ruff hybridizes with the perch, the hybrids have intermediate structural features of the parental forms, but usually by appearance closer to the maternal species than to the paternal. Such hybrids grow faster than ruff and perch and are more adapted to unfavorable temperatures, water pollution, and tolerate hunger better. At the same time, male hybrids are sterile (they cannot produce offspring), and female hybrids can produce offspring with males, both ruff and perch.

Distribution and habitats

A widespread species in Eurasia from England and France in the west to the Kolyma inclusive in the east. The northern border runs almost along the coast of the North Arctic Ocean, except for Northern Taimyr and Northern Yamal. Available in reservoirs by Atlantic coast Scandinavia, Northern England and Ireland; everywhere in the water bodies of the basins of the North, Baltic, White, Barents, Black and Caspian Seas in Europe, and in Siberia - in the basins of the rivers of the Arctic Ocean. Ruff is not in Spain, Italy, Yugoslavia, Crimea, Transcaucasia. Previously lived in the Aral Sea basin, now it has disappeared. In Siberia, the southern border of the ruff distribution runs along the upper reaches of rivers flowing to the north. There is none in Baikal (but there is in the Angara), in the Amur basin and along the entire Pacific coast, and in Chukotka.

Ruff distribution and habitats

V last years there is an expansion of the ruff's range: it appeared in Lake Constance, penetrated the north of England and Scotland. In addition, in the mid-eighties of the twentieth century, the ruff was accidentally introduced, probably with the ballast water of ships, into the St. Louis River (USA), which flows into Lake Superior (the Great Lakes system). A permanent population was formed here, which in the early nineties spread to the delta areas of some other rivers flowing into Lake Superior. Ruff was also found in Lake Huron.

Inhabits lakes, rivers, reservoirs, river delta areas and freshened sea bays. In water bodies it is kept in the bottom horizons of both the coastal thicket zone and in the profundal of the open zone of lakes, in reservoirs it rises into the pelagic zone.

Like the perch, the ruff prefers to stay in places with weak currents. It mainly lives in the bays of large rivers, rivers, lakes. He loves cool water, so he chooses pits, clay, sandy or rocky bottom. Keeps in the shade of trees and the shore. Ruff is an exclusively bottom fish and it is almost impossible to catch it in half water or even more so along the top. The ruff tries to avoid a thick layer of silt and sticks to a mostly hard bottom.

Age, size, spawning

The maximum ruff size is 18.5 cm, weight is 208 g. There are indications that in some cases it can reach a weight of 500 g and 27 cm in length with a maximum age of 15 years. In most water bodies, small ruff predominates in catches. The ruff grows slowly, but in good habitat conditions (thermal regime, food supply), the rate of its growth increases sharply. In the south, the ruff grows faster. So, in the Dnieper at the age of 1 year, it reaches a length of 10 cm, and at the age of 5 years it has a maximum size of 15 cm.In Karelian lakes at the age of 1 year, ruff does not even reach 4 cm in length, and has a maximum size of 13 cm at the age of 13 ... Sometimes, however, there are specimens more than 20 centimeters long and weighing even more than 200 grams. The largest specimens of ruff are caught in the Ob, Ob Bay, Yenisei.

In most water bodies, the ruff is a short-cycle species. Differences in ripening times also determine large differences in growth rates. Sexual maturity occurs at 2-4 years with a length of 9-12 cm. The absolute fecundity is 2-104 thousand eggs, depending on the size of the females. Spawning is long and portioned, from April to June, up to 3 portions of caviar are spawned. The timing of spawning and the water temperature at which it occurs vary in water bodies different latitudes: 1st portion - at 4-9 ° С, 2nd - at 11-13 ° С and 3rd - at 18-20 ° С. Spawning usually occurs on sandy and rocky soils, sometimes on vegetation and tree roots at a depth of 0.5-3.0 m.The incubation period takes 5-6 days at a temperature of 15-16 ° C and up to 4.5 days at 20 ° C. The size of larvae at hatching is 3.8-4.3 mm, the transition to active feeding in the bottom horizon - at the age of 11 days with a length of 5.5 mm.

Lifestyle

Ruff lifestyle

Ruff can be safely called a cold-water fish, even more than a perch. Hence, his commitment to deep places is understandable, especially in summer heat... And why he is a twilight fish is also becoming clear. Often the ruff is caught at night, but still summer twilight is its time. Ruff, although he loves clean water, but quite tolerably lives in the dirtiest city streams in the divorced periodic table.

In winter, the ruff is easier to catch in the mouths of streams and rivers. There is more food and oxygen. It also goes there in winter to feed and burbot - the main enemy of the ruff. Ruff - schooling fish and even sedentary. Only a strong warming up of water and floods in rivers can drive him out of his habitat. On the first ice, the ruff, like, however, other fish, can often be found on the shallows, but the more severe the winter becomes, the harder and thicker the ice, the more chances to catch it in deeper places, and by the middle of winter it finally rolls down to depth.

Ruff is a voracious fish. It is considered a predator, although sometimes (but extremely rarely) it is not averse to feast on plant food... Its diet includes worms, invertebrates, small molluscs, insect larvae, eggs and newly hatched fry of other fish, causing great damage to their populations. The ruff, in turn, is hunted for more large fish... If the ruff were larger, it could compete with the perch. Ruff does not stop feeding all year round, and this is valuable for winter fishing enthusiasts. In the spring, the ruff, anticipating both its own spawn and a stranger, comes out of the depths to the shores, and begins to be caught in such a size that it is not a shame to show people.

In the spring, the ruff begins to prepare for procreation. It spawns at the age of 2 - 3 years, spawning is extended in time: as a new portion of caviar has matured, so the female spawns it. Therefore, a spawn can last for half a month or a month. The main spawn takes place in May at a water temperature of 10 degrees and above on a rocky-sandy cartilaginous bottom. For spawning, the ruff chooses more deep places than roach and pike.

There is an erroneous opinion that the ruff owes its prickly plumage to the fact that larger predators do not particularly like it. Ruff is eaten with pleasure by any predatory fish. Many have caught on the donkeys on the ruff caught on the hook and pike perch and pike and even perch.

By the type of feeding, the ruff is a typical benthophage, very flexible in the choice of food. His favorite food is the larvae of chironomids and gammarids, but when they are lacking in the reservoir, he easily switches to other types of food, especially since the range of his food organisms includes all forms of benthos, zooplankton and fish food (roe and juvenile fish). With age, the size of the organisms consumed by it increases, the largest individuals become predators.

Catching a ruff

Catching ruffs fascinating, albeit a little boring. If you know the parking place of the ruff, then it will not be difficult to catch the ruff a large number of... About ruff fishing, we can say that this is a mechanical "catch and take out" activity. However, the ability to choose best place where the ruff holds is critical to successful fishing. It happens that one fisherman drags ruffs one after another, and his companion, who sits just a few meters from him, remains with zero result.

Ruffs are caught throughout the year, but most successfully in autumn, when ruffs gather in huge flocks in pits. With some skill, one piece of worm is enough to catch several ruffs. The bite can be so greedy and the fish swallow the bait so deeply that it can be difficult to remove the hook without the appropriate tools. Often, a ruff released into the water "sits down" on the hook again. If there is no bite within 10-15 minutes, therefore, there are no ruffs here and you need to look for them elsewhere. For catching ruffs, a fishing rod is mainly used, equipping it so that the bait is at the bottom. Best of all, a ruff bites on a slightly crushed

Ruff is a widespread fish in Russia, known for its sharp spines. As relatives of perches, ruffs live in rivers and lakes with clean water and sandy or rocky bottom.

Features and habitat of ruff fish

The genus Ruff includes 4 species of fish, the most common of which is the common ruff. This is a small fish, the length of which is 10-15 cm, very rarely 20-25 cm. What does a ruff fish look like ordinary?

The color of its body can vary from sandy to brownish-gray and depends on the habitat: fish living in reservoirs with a sandy bottom have lighter colors than their relatives from muddy or stony lakes and rivers. The dorsal and caudal fins of the ruff have black or brown dots, the pectoral fins are large and colorless.

Natural range the common ruff stretches from Europe to the Kolyma River in Siberia. In the European part of Russia, it is distributed almost everywhere. Favorite habitats are lakes, ponds or rivers with a weak current. Usually it stays at the bottom near the coast.

In addition to the usual one, in the basins of the Don, Dnieper, Kuban and Dniester rivers there lives a nosed ruff, or a birch, as local fishermen call it. This one is slightly larger than the common ruff and has a dorsal fin that is split in two.

To learn to distinguish between these two kindred kind of ruff, useful to see photo of fish ruff ordinary and compare it with the nosy.

You can hear about what is fish sea ruff, but this is not true, since all representatives of the genus ruff are exclusively freshwater inhabitants... However, in the seas there are many bottom fish with sharp spines, which are often called ruffs in the common people.

These species belong to other families and genera, so the name is biologically incorrect. To the question, sea ​​or River fish ruff, there is only one answer: the ruff does not live in salt water. Who is then called sea ​​ruff?

Of the inhabitants of salty waters, the scorpion fish is most like a ruff. This is a ray-eater, the thorns of which contain a strong poison. It reaches half a meter in length and lives in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Since the scorpionfish belongs to a different order, further we will talk only about freshwater fish –river ruff.

Description and lifestyle of the ruff

Description of fish ruff you should start with its habitats. In the reservoir, the ruff keeps at the bottom, preferring places with deep and clear water. It rarely rises to the surface. It is most active at dusk, since it is at this time that it gets food. Dislikes places with fast flow, prefers quiet backwaters with cold and calm water.

Ruff is very unpretentious, therefore it also lives in city rivers, where the water is polluted with waste. However, this one is not found in stagnant bodies of water, as it is sensitive to lack of oxygen. In flowing ponds and lakes, it lives almost everywhere, keeping at the bottom at a depth.

Ruff loves cold water... As soon as it warms up to +20 in summer, the fish starts looking for a colder place or becomes lethargic. That is why the ruff appears in shallow water only in autumn, when ice becomes, and in spring: at other times the water is too warm when shallow. And in winter, the ruff is more comfortable at the bottom at great depths.

There is another explanation for the ruff's habit of staying at a depth: he cannot stand bright light and loves darkness. That is why ruffs like to stay under bridges, in pools near steep banks and among snags.

They find prey without the aid of sight, since a special organ - the lateral line - catches the slightest fluctuations in water and helps to find moving prey. Therefore, the ruff can successfully hunt even in complete darkness.

Fish food ruff

Fish ruff is a predator. The diet includes small crustaceans, insect larvae, as well as eggs and fry, so breeding ruffs can harm populations of other fish.

Ruff belongs to benthophages - that is, predators that eat the inhabitants of the bottom. The choice of food depends on the size of the ruff. The newly hatched fry feed mainly on rotifers, while the larger fry feed on small cladocerans, bloodworms, cyclops and daphnia. Grown-up fish prefer worms, leeches and small crustaceans, while large ruffs prey on fry and small fish.

Ruff is very voracious, and does not stop feeding even in winter, when most other fish species ignore food. Therefore, it grows all year round. Despite the sharp thorns on the fins, larger predatory fish are dangerous for juveniles:, and.

But the main enemies of ruffs are not fish, but waterfowl:, and. Thus, ruffs occupy an intermediate position in the food chains of fresh water bodies.

Reproduction and life expectancy of ruff

Ruffs spawn in early spring: in rivers before floods, in lakes and flowing ponds - from the beginning of ice melting. V middle lane Russia this time falls on the end of March - mid-April. Fish do not choose a special place and can spawn in any part of the reservoir.

Spawning takes place at dusk or at night, while ruffs gather in schools, which can number up to several thousand individuals. One female lays from 50 to 100 thousand eggs, connected with each other by the mucous membrane.

The masonry is attached to irregularities in the bottom: stones, driftwood or algae. The fry come out only after two weeks and immediately begin to feed and grow vigorously.

Ruffs become sexually mature only at 2-3 years of age, but the ability to spawn depends not only on age, but also on body length. What a fish ruff capable of breeding?

It is believed that for this the fish must grow up to 10-12 cm. But even with this size, the female lays fewer eggs during the first spawning - “only” a few thousand.

Ruff does not apply to centenarians. It is believed that females of ruff reach the age of 11 years, males live up to a maximum of 7-8. But the vast majority of fish in natural environment habitat dies much earlier.

In nature, approximately 93% of the ruff population falls on fish under 3 years old, that is, few survive even to sexual maturity.

The reason is that most fry and young fish are destroyed by predators or die from disease, lack of oxygen in winter or lack of food. That is why females lay such large clutches: only one out of tens of thousands of eggs will give life to an adult fish.

The ruff fish belongs to the perch family. Inhabits both fresh and sea ​​waters... It is difficult to confuse freshwater with other fish, it is given out by bulging eyes and a body covered with thick, unpleasant to the touch mucus.

Ruff lives in fresh and salt water

But despite this, experienced fishermen believe that an ear without an ordinary ruff is not an ear at all. The sea ruff is also a fairly popular commercial fish.

Description and types

Ruff is a fish with an expressive appearance weighing 150-200 g. Life cycle- from 5 to 10 years old. What does a ruff fish look like:

• The head is proportional, the eyes are large, the wide gill covers are covered with thorns, the mouth is with bristly sharp teeth.
• Body - has the shape of a torpedo, with small scales, flat on the sides and covered with thick mucus.
• Dorsal fin well defined.
• Color - gray-green back with dark spots, light gray belly, golden sides.

Sex differences are clearly visible. In males, the dorsal and pelvic fins are larger than in females, and the eyes, on the contrary, are smaller.

Fish live in a flock at the bottom of reservoirs, in almost complete absence of light, with a water temperature of +2 to 30 degrees. They feed on leeches, small crustaceans, worms, larvae. Do not disdain other fish fry and their caviar.

They hibernate in deep holes. In the second half of the winter period, they stop eating until spring. It is not considered a commercial fish.

There are two main types of ruffs in nature.... Black Sea, or scorpion fish - a predator about 40 cm long and weighing up to 850 g, is poisonous (the poison is present in the fins and bone growths on the body). Inhabits all seas, Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It has only one similarity with its river relative - sharp thorns. With proper heat treatment, meat is tasty and healthy.

Freshwater - up to 15 cm in size. The ruff lives in any reservoirs with unsalted water. It has four subspecies:

• Common - can be found in Europe, Russia, USA. In any places where the ruff lives, its body length is about 12 cm.
• Baloni, or Czech, is an endangered species listed in the Red Book. Lives in the Danube.
• Striped - rare view, previously met in the Dnieper, Desna and Pripyat. Now found only in the Danube.
• Nosar, or privet. This ruff does not look like its other relatives. It has an elongated head with a retractable mouth and grows up to 20 cm. It is listed in the Red Book of Ukraine.

There are several types of ruffs

Spawning period

Ruffs become sexually mature at 1-3 years. Fish spawn in three stages from March to June. During this time, the female spawns from 10 thousand to 20 thousand eggs, the water temperature during spawning does not matter. Sticky caviar yellow color deposited on stones or plants. This is where the female's mission ends, she swims away, and the father remains to guard the clutch. The larvae appear in 6-12 days and in the first days feed on the yolk sac. Grown up brush fish eat zooplankton and rotifers with appetite.

Lures and fishing

Ruffs are caught year-round with a float rod with a strong fishing line. The baits are mainly used live:

• maggot;
• bloodworm;
• earth or dung worm;
• caddis flies;
• bark beetle larva;
• burdock moth.

The float is chosen lightweight, with a high antenna in order to quickly respond to a sharp bite. If you are late with the hook, the fish can swallow the hook with the bait deep in the throat, and it will be problematic to pull it out. Small hooks with a short forend should not be used.

V winter period small fish are well caught on nodding tackle with a small jig, on which bloodworms or maggots are planted. In winter, ruffs can be fed with chopped earthworms.

The best time to fish is in the morning and evening hours.

Cooking use

The meat is sweet and tasty. It is considered dietary (88 kcal per 100 g), saturated with vital substances. The composition includes:

• proteins;
• fats;
• vitamins of group B, PP, A, D;
• minerals - fluorine, chromium, phosphorus, nickel, sulfur, zinc.

Small fish are not gutted; in large ones, the entrails are taken out through the gap formed after the gills are removed. With the systematic use of ruff meat:

• the metabolism of carbohydrates in the body is stimulated;
• the figure is saved;
• the risk of diseases of the nervous and cardiovascular systems decreases;
• digestion improves;
• the condition of the bone tissue improves.

Ruff can be cooked different ways

Ruffs are dried, smoked, stewed, canned, fried, baked over coals or cooked in portioned pots. They also prepare first courses and appetizers:

• bouillon;
• aspic.

To improve the taste of dishes, spices are added: Bay leaf, myrtle, thyme, rosemary.

The mucus covering the body of the ruff, when it gets on the wound, causes severe inflammation.

Gutted small fish dried, crushed into powder and used as an additive to various dishes. The ruff is cooked without freeing it from the scales. The mucus is thoroughly washed off before cooking.

Meat marine species prized in Turkey and considered a delicacy there. It is not recommended to freeze the ruff meat - it becomes tough, dry and fibrous.

Despite its small size and slimy body, the fish is considered one of the most popular. The fishing process does not require any special skill or special knowledge and brings a lot of pleasure. And you can do what you love at any time of the year.

Ruff fish, a common species of the genus perch. It can be found in the reservoirs of Great Britain, in the East of Europe. The Aral Sea habitat in Russia extends from the European part to Siberia.

Characteristics and varieties

There are 4 types of ruffs:

• ordinary;
• Donskoy lives in the rivers of the Kuban, the Black and Azov seas, the Taganrog Bay;
• striped has dark stripes on the sides;
• The Czech Balloon ruff is listed in the Red Book of Ukraine as an endangered species.

What does a ruff look like

Outwardly, it looks like a perch, but differs in fused fins and color. The fin, tail and back have dark spots, the lateral fins are colorless. The body is short and flattened. V oral cavity many small teeth. Bulging eyes with bluish iris.

There are no scales on the head, and the body is covered with small scales and a mucous protective film, therefore it is called "snotty".

This mucus is poorly tolerated by other fish. If you put a ruff and other fish in one container, then the fish do not live long.

The operculums are provided with sharp spines. In danger, the fish spreads its gills and fins. Everyone who held the ruff in their hands was sure to get hurt.

The color can range from sandy to brownish gray. It depends on where the fish lives. If in sandy places, then the color is lighter, if winding and rocky rivers and reservoirs, then darker tones.

The back can be gray-green, the sides are yellowish, the abdomen is white. Donskoy ruff is larger than usual and the fin on the back is divided into two parts, one of which is higher and the other is lower.

You can hear the name of the sea ruff. This is not true, ruffs do not live in salt water exclusively in freshwater bodies. This is the name of the formidable scorpion fish.

Immediately on the back behind the head of the fish there are 12 spines with strong poison... These two fish have nothing in common and belong to different species.

Lifestyle

Favorite places are rivers and reservoirs with a weak current off the coast. Keeps the bottom in reservoirs, does not like daylight and warmth. Prefers places with cold and calm water.

If the water warms up plus 20 degrees, it starts looking for a cool place at the bottom. It rises to the surface mainly at night.

The fish is unpretentious and can live even in polluted city rivers. It is not found in stagnant water bodies due to lack of oxygen.

Ruff leaves to winter when the ice on the river or reservoir becomes. V summer time prefers depth. In ponds it can be found where there is coolness and shade.

Nutrition

Ruff predatory fish and refers to benthophages that eat the inhabitants of the bottom. It feeds on crustaceans, eggs and fry, worms and zooplankton, molluscs and small insects.

Food depends on age, fry feeds on worms, older fish - crustaceans, water fleas, mosquito larvae.

The prey is felt not by sight, but by the lateral line, which senses the slightest movement of water. Therefore, a predator can hunt in complete darkness... It is a voracious fish and eats food around the clock.

Ruffs occupy an intermediate link in the food chain of waterfowl fish. Despite the sharp fins, the younger generation can become food for catfish, perch, and pike. But the main enemy is waterfowl, bittern, stork and cormorant.

Ruff belongs to trash fish and commercial catch is not carried out. Ruff fishing is carried out in summer and winter with a fishing rod with a float. This is the only fish that is caught with the line.

Valued only fresh fish for cooking fish soup, but is mostly considered garbage. For example, on the Volga, fishermen do not take it home, but leave it to the delight of the crows.

Reproduction

The ability to produce offspring appears at 3-4 years of age.

Spawning begins in rivers until high water levels, and in ponds and lakes from the beginning of ice melting.

With the onset of spring, large flocks leave their wintering places. In the photo of ruffs, you can see schools of fish for spawning.

Fish for spawning do not have specific place and spawn anywhere. For example, in rivers these are branches that connect to the main channel, in estuaries there is a rocky bottom. Spawning time is mostly at night.

All eggs in the amount of about 100 thousand pieces are connected by a slimy coating, which is attached to stones and plants. recent times the number of ruff dropped sharply. This is due to the large pollution of rivers and reservoirs.