In sea waters, as we all know, there is a huge variety of different animals. A fairly large proportion of them are fish. They are an integral part of this amazing ecosystem. The variety of species of vertebrate inhabitants of the seas and oceans is amazing. There are absolutely crumbs, having a length of up to one centimeter, and there are giants, reaching eighteen meters.
Underwater world
And how delicious sea fish! The list of names familiar to us from childhood is impressive: pollock, herring, capelin, saury, cod, hake, halibut, notothenia … There are also more exotic specimens. For example, a seahorse, capable of moving vertically in the water column, it is also interesting that males give birth in the family of these fish. Or the whale shark - the largest sea fish, which, due to its size, got into the Guinness Book of Records (its weight reaches thirty-four tons, and its length can exceed twenty meters). Despite this, the whale shark has a very peaceful disposition and eats onlyplankton. Desperate divers sometimes manage to touch it and even ride on their backs. Another extremely interesting marine life is the mudskipper. For fish, it has a very unusual body structure: its tail allows you to jump high, and the fins serve as hands and make it possible to move on land. Mudskippers look like lizards, but the presence of fins and gills clearly indicate that these strange animals belong to fish.
It's hard to imagine how many more amazing inhabitants are hiding under the water. Both in the polar and tropical zones, marine fish are found. The names of hundreds of newly discovered individuals every year we hear from scientists. Yes, it is not in vain that they say that the depths of the World Ocean have been studied even worse than the expanses of space! In the article we will talk about what types of marine fish exist, talk about the usefulness and nutritional qualities of certain vertebrates. Of course, we can only touch on the most common species, because there are more than thirty thousand of them.
Commercial marine fish. Photos and titles
More than a third of the world's catch is made up of commercial fish - those that are characterized by high population density and high numbers. There are pelagic individuals living at the surface of the sea and in the upper layers (mackerel, herring, tuna), bottom and bottom fish living on the bottom, near the bottom or in bottom horizons (cod, flounder, pollock, halibut). It should be noted that commercial sea fish are bred under artificial conditions. Complete list of such specieswe will not: these are representatives of the families of flounder, mackerel, horse mackerel and many others. Next, we will talk about those individuals that make up the bulk of the commodity mass on store shelves.
Codfish
All representatives of this family are distinguished by low fat content of meat (usually up to one percent) and high reserves of fat in the liver (up to seventy percent). The main species are cod, black cod, haddock, navaga, hake, burbot, hake, pollock.
1. Cod
Perhaps one of the best edible fish, with firm white meat, an excellent source of protein, and no small muscle bones. It has unsurpassed nutritional qualities and acts as a natural raw material for obtaining fish oil. Cod liver and roe are also very useful.
2. Haddock
Has the most delicious and tender meat of all codfish. On the shelves can come under the name "cod", but haddock is easy to distinguish by a black stripe. This marine commercial fish ranks third in the world in terms of average annual catch, second only to pollock and cod. It is famous for its excellent balance of minerals in the composition. Good source of potassium and sodium. Haddock is often used in dietary dishes.
3. Black cod
Very popular marine fish. Its names can be found different - oil fish, coal fish. It differs from other codfish in scales that have a metallic sheen. It has excellent taste, rich in fats: omega-3 fatty acids in it for fifty percentmore than salmon. Black cod contains a lot of niacin, selenium, vitamin B12. Useful for people with weakened immune systems, high cholesterol, those who often experience stress and anxiety.
4. Navaga
It is divided into Pacific (Far Eastern) and northern. The first species is larger (individuals reach a weight of up to one kilogram), but it is less valued by consumers. The Pacific navaga has a rougher and not as tasty, fragrant and juicy meat as the northern one. This white sea fish is low in calories.
5. Burbot
There are two commercial types of burbot: red and white. It is better to buy fish of the first type: despite the fact that it is smaller (weight up to one kilogram, while white burbot can reach a mass of four kilograms), its taste is much better. In general, the consistency of the meat of this fish is coarser than that of cod. Virtually no fat (up to 0.1 percent).
6. Hake and hake
Sea fish very close to each other (pictures below). In total, about ten species are known. Skin-scaly integuments are colored from yellowish-silver and gray to brown and almost black. The meat is noticeably superior in quality to cod meat: quite tender, white, with good taste, rather fatty (up to four percent fat).
7. Pollock
This demersal marine fish is common in the North Pacific Ocean. In length reaches ninety centimeters, and in weight- four kilograms. It is found on the Asian (in the Bering, Sea of Japan, Sea of Okhotsk) and the American coast (in Monterey and Alaska bays). Atlantic pollock lives in the Barents Sea. The meat of this fish is very easy to cook: you can boil, dry, fry, bake in foil. It contains a wide range of useful substances: vitamins A, C, PP, E, B-groups, chlorine, potassium, iron, calcium, iodine and other minerals. Fat content - up to two percent.
Flounder fish
In this family, flounders and halibuts are distinguished. Their consumer properties are not the same. Among the Far Eastern flounders, the best are the yellow-finned flounder, which has bright yellow fins, the yellow-striped, dark and Japanese flounders. Among the flounders, the family of maritime tongues is also known. These fish are characterized by an elongated body and very tasty meat. In general, at least five hundred flounder-like individuals live in the depths of the sea.
1. Flounder
She is also called sea chicken. The meat of this fish is white, tasty, without small bones (with the exception of star-shaped flounder, in which bone formations are scattered throughout the body). Fat content - from one to five percent. North Sea species, as well as the ruff flounder, common in the Atlantic Ocean, are well-deservedly popular. This marine fish has a flattened body and an interesting arrangement of eyes. Flounder meat is a storehouse of selenium, vitamins A and D, it is loved by gourmets for its delicate taste, but at the same time, not everyone likes its specific strong smell.
2. Halibut
Mostwell-known species are blue-bark, black and white-bark halibut. This is a fatty sea fish (fat content - from five to twenty-two percent) with white, tasty and tender meat, which has a sweetish aroma. Halibut, especially white halibut, is an excellent source of fatty acids (one hundred grams of fillet contains one gram of omega-3 acids), it has very few bones. Enriched with magnesium, potassium, selenium, phosphorus, vitamins B6 and B12. This fish will save you from atherosclerosis and arrhythmias, improve blood flow by relaxing the arteries and veins and reducing their resistance.
Mackerels
In trade, individuals of this family are sold under different names. There are Far Eastern, Kuril, Atlantic (ocean), Azov-Black Sea mackerel, bonito, tuna. As a rule, the meat of these fish is quite fatty, without small bones, tender.
1. Mackerel
One of the most beloved fish in Russia. Not everyone knows that the most useful is autumn mackerel, it is at this time of the year that its fat content reaches thirty percent of its own weight, while the fat content of spring catch individuals is only three percent. This marine fish contains a lot of omega-3 acids, vitamins B12 and D.
2. Tuna
Distributed in the waters of the Atlantic, keeps in the adjacent layers and near the surface of the water. This is a schooling predatory large fish. It is very thermophilic, therefore it appears in the Black Sea only in July-August. It reaches four meters in length, and can weigh more than half a ton. This is a tempting trophy for any angler. There are striped, longfin, yellowfin, spotted, bigeye tuna. Meatdiffers in low fat content - up to two percent.
3. Bonito
The shape of the body resembles a tuna, only proportionally reduced. This predatory schooling fish lives in the Black Sea, reaches seven kilograms in weight, and eighty-five centimeters in length. Bonitos, like tunas, are thermophilic, therefore they go to the Sea of Marmara to spend the winter, while shoals return to the Black Sea waters already quite thinned, so it is rarely possible to catch such an individual. There are many types of bonito: king mackerel (wahoo), one-color bonito, savara, spotted bonito and others. The meat of these fish has a light color, a dense texture and a pleasant aroma, contains from two to five percent fat (with the exception of monochromatic bonito, which has a fat content of up to twenty percent).
Scadfish
In total there are about two hundred species. In addition to the horse mackerel itself, this family includes the trevally, vomer, lychia, seriola and others. In the meat of horse mackerel, which has a grayish color, the fat content is two to four percent. The most delicious is a ten-finned fish, by weight it is somewhat larger than usual. Horse mackerels are distinguished by a peculiar taste and smell (with sourness). The fat content of the caranx is half a percent, the vomer is one or two percent, dashing is three to five percent.
Scorpionfish
All species of this family are sold under the name "sea bass". In the Atlantic, common perch and beaked (beaked) are of commercial importance, in the Pacific Ocean - red perch. Atlantic species contain six percent fat,Pacific fish has almost half the fat content. Sea bass is a valuable raw material for culinary specialists, it makes very tasty fish broths.
Pair fish
Pagrus, Cuban crucian, sea bream, chon fish, zuban, scap are all representatives of the spar family. On the shelves of stores, they can come under the single name "ocean carp". They have low-fat (up to two percent), juicy, tender meat. The exception in terms of fat content is only scap, its meat contains seven to ten percent fat. To taste, this representative of the pair resembles a carp. Dorado is also called crucian carp and golden spar. Its appearance is a little ferocious, but the meat is tasty, fragrant, with a minimum number of bones. Due to the presence of unsaturated fatty acids, including myristic, palmitic, lauric, this sea fish is very useful. By eating dorada, you will protect your heart from the effects of free radicals and prevent the formation of blood clots.
Notothenia fish
In Antarctica, in recent years, they have mastered the fishing of delicious fish - notothenia and other representatives of the family under consideration: oceanic goby, toothfish, squam. Of the species mentioned, the fattest individuals are toothfish (contain from twenty to twenty-five percent fat), followed by marble notothenia (eight to sixteen percent), squams (four to six percent) and ocean gobies (half a percent). The meat of these fish is white, dense, aromatic, without small bones.
croaker fish
The family has up to one hundred and fifty species. Among the commercial names of individuals entering the store shelves, we are best known for sea trout, captain fish (otolith), croaker, umbrina. In the catch, there are specimens weighing from one to ten to twelve kilograms, the fat content is up to three percent. In medium-sized fish, the meat is not rigid and not too coarse, in large fish it is coarse-fibered. All representatives of the croaker family, especially umbrine and otolith, are valuable species, because they are practically devoid of marine taste and smell, and in terms of nutritional properties they resemble traditional fish that live in inland waters. Trout is rich in pyroxidine, vitamins A and D, omega-3 acids. This nutritious and tasty fish is much loved by consumers and is an ingredient in many dishes.
Herring fish
Perhaps there is no person who has not eaten a herring at least once in his life. Every Russian child knows her since childhood. This fish has a very valuable commercial value; it lives mainly in the northern parts of the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Herring has a lot of protein, vitamin A, polyunsaturated fats. However, it also has a lot of bones, which, nevertheless, did not prevent it from gaining wild popularity among the population. Often, herring is used in s alted form. In Holland, large smoked fish are called “zal”, and small s alted fish are called “beckling”.
Smelt fish
The most famous representative of this family is capelin. This small marine fish has an almost circumpolar distribution: innorthern parts of the Atlantic (in the Barents Sea) and the Pacific Ocean, in the Arctic. Consumers sometimes overlook affordable small fish. And in vain. You should definitely include it in your diet! Where else can you find so much potassium, iodine, sodium? But cat owners do not pass capelin in the store - pets adore this fish. It has few connective tissues and at the same time a lot of valuable fatty acids and protein (about twenty-three percent), which lower blood cholesterol levels and carefully remove plaques from the walls of blood vessels. Capelin can be cooked very quickly, it is most delicious when smoked and fried.
In conclusion
Sea fish, the photos and descriptions of which were given in this article, are, of course, only a small part of all vertebrate animals that live in the waters of the oceans. We talked only about those species that are essential for consumers. Once in our country, Thursday was considered a fish day. Now all kinds of fish, especially sea fish, appear on our tables almost daily. This is easy to explain: the meat of the inhabitants of the deep sea contains fats, amino acids, and vitamins necessary for human he alth. At the same time, according to sanitary and hygienic assessments, sea fish is much more useful than freshwater fish, it is practically not affected by anthropogenic impact on the habitat, therefore the inhabitants of the seas are less contaminated with heavy metals, do not contain radionuclides and pesticides dangerous to people.
