Brook loach
| Brook loach | ||||||||||||
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Brook Loach ( Barbatula barbatula ) |
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Barbatula barbatula | ||||||||||||
| ( Linnaeus , 1758) |
The loach ( Barbatula barbatula , Syn. : Noemacheilus barbatulus ), often short Loach or stone loach called, is a European fish . It was placed in the Cobitidae family until around 1980 - then it was realized that it must be more closely related to the Balitoridae, which otherwise do not occur in Europe. The brook loach was named Fish of the Year in Germany in 1984 .
features
The brook loach is a bottom fish . The body has a rounded shape and a light gray color with slightly darker spots. It has very small scales or is flake-free, but has a thick mucous membrane over which, like the mud whip, it can also cover part of the oxygen requirement. It also has the ability to breathe intestines . She has 6 barbels on her mouth . Your height is between 8 and 12 cm, maximum 18 cm. The spawning season extends from March to June, and in some populations until August. Thereby 2000 to 3000 eggs with a size of approx. 1 mm are deposited. However, other sources speak of only 400 eggs. Sexual maturity occurs after 1–2 years. The brook loach can live up to 8 years.
distribution and habitat
The creek loach lives in shallow, fast-flowing streams and rivers with gravel to sandy subsoil. In doing so, it inhabits certain stationary benthic sections, in which it hides under stones or roots during the day. The brook loach is also found less frequently in the shores of clear lakes . Because of its high nutritional value , the brook loach has been known as a food fish in Central and Eastern Europe for several decades.
It is less sensitive than other small fish species and is therefore also found in waters of water quality class 2–3. If the water is more polluted, the loach will soon disappear - but after the water quality has improved, it is also one of the first fish to colonize the water again. Their population can advance by about 1.5 km per year.
Cave fish population
In April 2017, the discovery of a population of the brook loach occurring in the branched cave system of the Aachtopf in southern Baden-Württemberg was announced. It is the first known cave fish in Europe. The fish are probably found in the entire 250 square kilometer cave system between the Aachtopf and the Danube sinking . In adaptation to life in the lightless cave waters, the animals are largely pigmentless and have receded eyes. The horizontal eye diameter is only 6.6 to 9.7% of the lateral head length, while the corresponding eye diameter for creek loaches that occur in surface waters is 16 to 19% of the lateral head length. The maxillary barbels, on the other hand, are longer and the posterior nostrils larger. Cave loaches are completely free of scales, their lateral line only extends to a point above the anal fin , while in the above-ground brook loaches it extends to the tail stalk.
Way of life
The nocturnal brook loach rummages through the gravel or sand for something to eat. She is mainly looking for organic waste, insect larvae , small crustaceans , leeches or snails . Also fish spawning will not despise.
Others
The name Schmerle comes from Middle High German , where "Schmerl" stands for fatty . This is probably due to the slimy skin.- barbatula (Latin) means “the little bearded one” (from barba “beard”); the old name Nemachilus or (partly distorted, partly more correct) Noemacheilus meant (from the Greek) "thread lip".
literature
- D. Vinyoles, A. De Sostoa, C. Franch, A. Maceda-Veiga, F. Casals, N. Caiola: Life-history traits of the stone loach Barbatula barbatula . In: Journal of Fish Biology . Volume 77, Issue 1, 2010, pp. 20-32 , doi : 10.1111 / j.1095-8649.2010.02653.x .
- Erika Nilsson, Anders Persson, P. Anders Nilsson: Interspecific competition and predation: relative effects on foragers and their densities . In: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology . Volume 64, Issue 5, pp. 729-736 , doi : 10.1007 / s00265-009-0890-7 .
Web links
- Brook loach on Fishbase.org (English)
- www.pivi.de
- Barbatula barbatula inthe IUCN 2012 Red List of Threatened Species . 2. Posted by: Freyhof, J., 2011. Retrieved on April 9, 2013. ("Least concern")
Individual evidence
- ↑ Overview "Fish of the Year" in Germany. German Fishing Association, accessed on February 26, 2018 .
- ↑ a b A. G. Skryabin: The biology of stone loach Barbatula barbatulus in the Rivers Goloustnaya and Olkha, East Siberia . In: Journal of Fish Biology . Volume 42, Issue 3, 1993, pp. 361-374 , doi : 10.1111 / j.1095-8649.1993.tb00339.x .
- ^ D. Vinyoles, A. De Sostoa, C. Franch, A. Maceda-Veiga, F. Casals, N. Caiola: Life-history traits of the stone loach Barbatula barbatula . In: Journal of Fish Biology . Volume 77, Issue 1, 2010, pp. 20-32 , doi : 10.1111 / j.1095-8649.2010.02653.x .
- ↑ V. Sorić, K. Ilic: The biology of reproduction of Nemachilus barbatulus in the River Gruza . In: Ekologija . Volume 21, 1986, pp. 101-109 .
- ↑ Cave fish: blind, pale, sensational. In: The time . April 3, 2017. Retrieved April 3, 2017 .
- ↑ Jasminca Behrmann-Godel, Arne W. Nolte, Joachim Kreiselmaier, Roland Berka, Jörg Freyhof: The first European cave fish. Volume 27, Issue 7, pR257 – R258, April 3, 2017 doi: 10.1016 / j.cub.2017.02.048
Brook Loach (1984) | Bitterling (1985) | Schneider (1986) | European mud lamb (1987) | Brook lamprey , river lamprey (1988) | Bullhead (1989) | Brown trout (1990) | Minnow (1991) | Atlantic salmon (1992) | Cod (1993) | Nose (1994) | European eel (1995) | Sea trout (1996) | European grayling (1997) | Strömer (1998) | North Sea Bill † (1999) | Atlantic salmon (2000) | European sturgeon (2001) | Burbot (2002) | Barbel (2003) | Allis shad (2004) | Brown Trout (2005) | Bullhead (2006) | Tench (2007) | Bitterling (2008) | European eel (2009) | Crucian carp (2010) | Grayling (2011) | Lamprey (2012) | Trout (2013) | European sturgeon (2014) | Huchen (2015) | Pike (2016) | Flounder (2017) | Three-spined stickleback (2018) | Atlantic salmon (2019)