Pearl fish
| Pearl fish | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Rutilus meidingeri | ||||||||||||
| ( Heckel , 1851) |
The pearl fish ( Rutilus meidingeri ) is a critically endangered carp fish . The pearlfish used to have a certain local economic importance, because of the time of catch it is sometimes referred to as allis shad in the areas concerned . For a long time the species was regarded as a subspecies of the Eastern European Kutum and therefore described and listed as Rutilus frisii meidingerii . But morphological similarity does not yet mean phylogenetic derivability, and the animal-geographical isolation supports the perception of the pearl fish as a separate species.
distribution and habitat
There are only a few pearlfish stocks left in Slovakia and in the Austrian Salzkammergut lakes Atter , Mond , Wolfgang and Traunsee . In particular for this and the Seelaube created Europe reserve Mondsee Attersee ( Natura 2000 ) as they are protected. In the territory of the Federal Republic of Germany, it has been considered extinct or lost since the early 1990s. The only German population in the Chiemsee was probably already extinct, but efforts are now being made to reintroduce citizenship.
The pearl fish lives in deep water layers close to the ground. It only visits shallow water areas during spawning time. The IUCN lists the species as "endangered"; its decline is probably due to increasing water eutrophication.
features
The slender body of the pearlfish is elongated and roughly cylindrical. Good swimming skills are also indicated by a long and narrow tail stalk. Compared to other Rutilus species, the gray scales are very small. The massive-looking head has a small, slightly lower mouth and small eyes. The total length is usually 40 to 50 centimeters, but can reach up to 70 centimeters.
On the back, the pearl fish shows a dark, brown-black to olive coloration that brightens on the sides. The belly is silvery white. The fins are gray, with the anal and ventral fins occasionally being reddish in color.
During the spawning season, the belly side turns red and the males have a pronounced spawning rash. These amber-colored elevations, roughly the size of a grain of rice, cover almost the entire body and are particularly pronounced on the head and back. The common name pearl fish is derived from them.
Fin formula : D 11–12, A 12–14, P 16–18, V 10–11, C 19.
Way of life
The living habits of the pearlfish have not yet been adequately researched, but it is believed that they feed on bottom-dwelling invertebrates, plants and smaller fish. During the spawning season in April and May it leaves the otherwise preferred deep water layers. He then looks for flat and gravelly bank areas or undertakes short hikes into the inflows and outflows of his home waters. Here it spawns over gravel or vegetation. The pearlfish probably only reach sexual maturity after four to five years and are generally slow-growing.
protection
The pearl fish is listed by the European Union in Annex II of the Habitats Directive and is therefore considered a type of community interest, for whose preservation special protection areas must be designated by the member states.
literature
- Roland Gerstmeier, Thomas Romig: The freshwater fish of Europe for nature lovers and anglers. 2nd revised and updated edition, Franckh-Kosmos Verlag, Stuttgart 2003, ISBN 3-440-09483-9 .
- Horst Müller: Fish of Europe. Neumann Verlag, Leipzig / Radebeul 1983, ISBN 3-7402-0044-8 .
- Simonetta Siligato, Clemens Gumpinger: The Perlfisch- A worldwide zoological rarity in the Mondsee-Attersee area. In: ÖKO.L. Journal for ecology, nature and environmental protection. Volume 27, Issue 3, Linz 2005, pp. 3–9 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
- Simonetta Siligato, Clemens Gumpinger: For the spawning migration of the pearl fish (Rutilus meidingeri) in the lake between Mondsee and Attersee. In: Austria's fishery. Volume 59, 2006, pp. 11–19 ( PDF on ZOBODAT ).
- Clemens Gumpinger, Simonetta Siligato: The pearl fish (Rutilus meidingeri) - a specialty of the Mondsee-Attersee area. Biology Center Linz, 2006, p. 1 (Natural History Object of the Month, PDF on ZOBODAT ).
Web links
- Perlfisch on Fishbase.org (English)
- Rutilus meidingeri in the endangered Red List species the IUCN 2006. Posted by: Kottelat, M., 1996. Retrieved on 21 August, 2007.
Individual evidence
- ↑ For example code designation 1139 Perlfisch (Rutilus frisii meidingeri) of the animal species listed in Table 2 in Annex II of the Habitats Directive (Section 5, line 1).
- ^ European protected area Mondsee and Attersee (FFH area, AT3117000). In: Geographical Nature Conservation Information System (GENISYS), e-gov.ooe.gv.at. Retrieved May 15, 2020 . .
- ↑ Simonetta Siligato, Clemens Gumpinger: Europeschutzgebiet (Natura 2000) Mondsee - Attersee. Study to improve the living conditions of pearlfish and sea pigeon in the lake.
- ↑ Perlfish repopulation project . in Bavaria's fisheries and waters . No. 4, 2008. Landesfischereiverband Bayern (Ed.), ISSN 0949-5215 . P. 15 ( PDF; 135.1 KB ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. )
- ↑ Regina Petz-Glechner: The names of our fish - an etymological search for traces . in Austria's fishery . 59 (1), 2006, ISSN 0029-9987 . Pp. 33-34. ( PDF, 28.4 KB ( Memento of the original on 28 September 2007 at the Internet Archive ) Info: . The archive link is automatically inserted and not yet tested Please review the original and archive link according to instructions and then remove this notice. )
