Fish kaluga - Amur giant

Kaluga is a fish of the sturgeon family from the genus Beluga. Inhabits the waters of the Amur basin. It is listed in the Red Book as a fading population. It used to be believed that these fish are freshwater. But later young individuals were met near the shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, near the islands of Sakhalin, Hokkaido and the peninsula of Kamchatka.

Fish-kaluga - the largest of freshwater, its length can reach 6 m, weight - up to 1200 kg. It can be safely attributed to long-livers. The period of sexual maturity occurs when the fish reaches a length of more than 2 m and a mass of the order of 80 kg. This fish is 18-22 years old. Males reach puberty a little earlier than females. Ichthyologists suggest that fish can live more than 55 years.

The head of the Kaluga is triangular in shape, covered with bony shields. The body is elongated, covered with ossified plates, which are arranged in 5 rows. Mouth large, transverse, partly passes to the sides of the head. On the lower side of the mouth there is a row of tendrils, flattened from the sides. White belly and greenish-gray back. That's it, fish-kaluga. The photo shows it well.

It reproduces at a depth of 3 to 7 m in the pebble-sand ridges of the Amur River bed. Spawning occurs every 3-4 years, falls on May-June and lasts 5-6 days. During this time, fish-kaluga can sweep up to 4 million eggs that are carried away by the current. Fry at first eat larvae of insects, small shrimps. They grow quickly, at an early age become predators. Cannibalism among them is the norm.

The fish-kaluga is very strong, it is not without reason that it is called the Amur tiger. Tail, she can knock rivets out of the seams of the boat. But it also has a weak side - turning the fish on its back, you can do anything with it.

Naturally, such a large fish is a predator. When pink salmon, smelt, keta, herring go to spawn, kaluga is attached to flocks and swallows five-kilogram fishes, as a small bird swallows flies. In other periods of the year, she can eat small fish, shrimp and even her own young.

An old fisherman from Nikolaevka-na-Amure told how he accidentally caught a kaluga. They were supplied with 3 networks, into which the fish fell. She broke two networks, exhausted, confused in the third. The fisherman had to hire a car and secure the steel cables with a wire to pull it out to the shore. The proceedings were in vain. From the fish they took out a whole barrel of caviar.

By the way, about caviar. It is black, the diameter of the eggs is up to 4 mm. The meat of this fish is a delicacy. And local residents assure that it has medicinal properties. Kaluga rightly referred to the best fish. Like all sturgeons, it does not have bones, only cartilages, i.e. In food it can be consumed entirely. On sale meat of this fish is almost impossible to meet, although it refers to commercial fish.

Over the past half century, the number of Kaluga has significantly decreased. This was due to poaching uncontrolled catches, as well as water pollution . For a while, the catch of super-fish was banned. Currently, the catch is limited, so the population is gradually recovering.

Fish-kaluga is very interested in scientists for its long migration, as well as the ability to live in freshwater as well as in marine waters.

Kaluga is a very coveted and rare trophy, the dream of any fisherman.