Auha (or Chinese perch) is a typical representative of the Percichthyidae family, one of the few that live in fresh water. Its name is often mentioned in various epic works.
Description
The body of a perch has a bright color. Light yellow sides cast in silver. Against this background, there are many dark spots and specks of various shapes. The back is distinguished by a greenish-gray color. Such a motley appearance is due to the habitat - the Chinese aukh perch prefers to be among stones and aquatic vegetation, lying in wait for its prey. The basis of his diet is small fish, on which he sharply pounces from an ambush.
Like any predator, the main weapon of a perch is its teeth. They are located in several rows on both sides. The anal fin and ventrals are equipped with spikes. The length of an adult can be up to 70 cm, weight varies from 7 to 10 kg.
Distribution and habitats
Abroad, auha is found in the rivers of the People's Republic of China and Korea. In Russia, it lives mainly in the entire section of the middle Amur, in its tributaries (Ussuri, Sungari) and in the lake. Khanka. Single comes across on Sakhalin. There it is mostly seen on the northwestern coast of Lake Sladkoe. The Chinese perch tries to avoid cold mountain rivers and streams. Aukha loves clean warm water, so it often enters small floodplain lakes during high water. After spawning, the perch is distributed in the Amur channel and floodplain water bodies. All summer he builds up his weight, eating intensively. In autumn it migrates to the Amur River for wintering. Both young and adult individuals spend the cold season there, leading a sedentary and half-asleep lifestyle at the very bottom. And next spring, immediately after the ice drift, it will sharply activate again.
Auha Biology
Chinese perch reaches puberty by the age of five years of existence, at which time the length of the fish reaches from 30 to 40 centimeters.
Auha spawns in summer, when the water temperature reaches +20 … +26 ⁰С. Before that, it feeds heavily, spending several hours in ambush. Caviar spawns in portions and repeatedly. The fish is characterized by excellent fertility - one individual is able to sweep away about 160 thousand eggs in the summer season. Each of them is wrapped in a fat drop. Further development of eggs continues in the water column or on its surface, therefore it was called pelagic. This type of spawning increases the chances of survival of the species. After a few days, larvae appear from the eggs, and after two weeks - fry, which immediately begin to obtain food. Juveniles begin to hunt quite early. These tiny (no more than 5 mm), but very bloodthirsty creatures eatfry of other fish, but sometimes they can even feed on their smaller relatives. At the same time, the growth of perch begins to increase even more intensively. The diet of an adult individual is mainly made up of non-commercial fish, such as gudgeon, hawk, chebak, mustard, common carp. A large proportion of it falls on the river killer whale.
During the hunt, the Chinese perch suddenly rushes at small fish, grabs them from above by the ridge area, then quickly pulls, using the muscles of the head, and breaks the prey in half. The aukha starts eating from the tail, because eating a fish from the head can harm the predator, and in some cases even kill it. In terms of its predatory manifestations, the Chinese perch is in no way inferior to the pike and even surpasses it in this.
Numbers
Chinese perch, which is described at the beginning of this article, is one of the smallest species that live in the Amur. In the last decade, there are mostly single specimens. The reduction in its number is caused by intensive fishing by producers at the main spawning grounds located in China. Other causes are associated with the death of larvae during the transition to active feeding. By this time there is not enough food. They are served by the larvae of other fish, which appear a little later. Many young animals die during the first wintering. During the rapid decline of water in autumn, it remains in floodplain reservoirs. Environmental pollution has also played a significant role in reducing the number of Chinese perch.
Security measures
Unfortunately, the number of this fish in water bodies is only decreasing every year. The reason is illegal fishing in spawning areas, which led to the fact that perch was listed in the Red Book due to a decrease in the number of this species. Catching him fishing with a rod is not a common occurrence.
Chinese perch aukha (its photo can be found in this article) is protected in places recognized as natural state reserves, among which there are quite famous ones, such as Khankai and Bologna. There are also many contracts with Chinese partners regarding the protection, protection and ways to increase the population. This brings positive results.
Experts believe that today the risk of extinction of the Chinese perch in the vicinity of the Amur River is completely absent, and they propose to transfer this fish to the fifth line in the Red Book. They are confident in the possibility of full recovery and revival of this freshwater fish population through conservation, the creation of reserves, work with Chinese colleagues and many other factors.
It is known that in recent years, people engaged in fisheries have begun not only to grow this perch in ponds, but also to bring small representatives of the population into flowing reservoirs, thereby increasing the area of \u200b\u200bfish habitat. Perhaps, thanks to the above, there is already a sufficient amount of this fish on the Amur recently.
Fishing spots
In the middle and lower reaches of the Amur, Chinese perch is caught quite well. Where a lot of it lives is in the area from Blagoveshchensk to Malmyzh.
Here is the largest spawning ground in Russia. And if earlier perch in these places were caught mainly with nets by various firms and companies, then in recent years, aukha has increasingly begun to appear in the catches of ordinary amateur fishermen, which indicates a certain increase in the population of this fish, but so far only in the Amur basin.
