Beluga is a fish that is the largest predator of all living in fresh water reservoirs. According to historical data, in the old days there were specimens weighing 1.6 tons. Now some individuals reach 1.2 tons. Scientists suggest that the beluga can live for more than a hundred years. At the same time, the longest officially recorded life expectancy of these sturgeons was 46 years. As of the 70s of the last century, the average length of females that were caught on the Volga was 267 cm, and their weight was 142 kg. Similar indicators for males were 221 cm and 81 kg, respectively. In addition, the fish differs from other species in its sharp short nose and thick cylindrical body. A massive lip surrounds a huge mouth, stretching across the entire width of the head of a beluga species. The fish, the photo of which is located below, due to this expression of the "face" has the nickname "sad". It belongs to migratory varieties and leads a different lifestyle in large rivers. For example, the Volga River is dominated by the winter variety, which spends the winter in pits, while in the Urals most of the individuals migrating for spawning are spring.
Habitats
Archaeological evidence suggests that beluga fish were found in the basins of the Adriatic, Black, Caspian and Azov seas and rose to the mouths of such rivers as the Volga, Kama, Oka, Sheksna and many others. There are notes on the capture of individual specimens of this species in the Moscow River. Now the habitat is limited approximately to the lower dams of the hydroelectric power station. As for the Sea of Azov, it has already disappeared there. Despite everything, the beluga is a fish that can swim very far. There is an opinion among scientists that this distance depends on the size of a particular individual, and the larger it is, the further it spawns. There are cases when individual specimens reach the Mediterranean, Adriatic and Black Seas. According to historical data, in 1850 the beluga was caught in the vicinity of the Italian city of Venice.
Food
Beluga is a fish that begins to hunt in the river while still a fry. At this time, it is mainly interested in small shells with a thin shell, so the young are most concentrated in the mouths of the rivers. Gobies, sprats, sprats, pike perch, herring, mollusks and other inhabitants usually become food for beluga in the sea. In the stomachs of some of the individuals caught in the Caspian Sea, even seal pups were found. The beluga does not disdain eating its own juveniles and other varieties of sturgeon.
Reproduction
Male are ready to breed at about twelve years of age, while females are stilllater at sixteen. Beluga is a fish that spawns at the peak of floods. At the same time, the water temperature at its initial stage is 6-7 degrees. For the deposition of eggs, a rocky, deep place (from 4 to 15 meters) with a fairly fast current is necessary. Each individual female, depending on her size, can lay from 200 thousand to 8 million eggs. Their embryonic period lasts about 200 hours, provided that the water has a temperature of about 12 degrees. Both mature fish and juveniles enter the sea immediately after spawning, without lingering in the river. It should also be noted that reproduction does not occur every year.
