Wobla

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Wobla
Dried wobla

Dried wobla

Systematics
without rank: Otophysa
Order : Carp-like (Cypriniformes)
Subordination : Carp fish-like (Cyprinoidei)
Family : White fish (Leuciscidae)
Genre : Rutilus
Type : Wobla
Scientific name
Rutilus caspicus
( Jakowlew , 1870)

The wobla ( Rutilus caspicus , Russian Вобла ) is an endemic species of fish found in the Caspian Sea and on the Lower Volga . It is related to the roach ( Rutilus rutilus ), as a subspecies of which it was considered for a long time. In Russia it is consumed in dried form as a snack with beer and other alcoholic beverages. It is considered an edible fish .

features

The normal weight of the Wobla is 800 g, the normal size is 30–35 cm. But they can also reach a length of up to 45 centimeters with a weight of up to two kilograms. Wobla have a laterally flattened body. The fish's mouth lies slightly below the rounded snout. The iris of the eye is silvery gray. The pectoral, ventral and anal fins are gray with dark edges, often slightly reddish in autumn outside the spawning season . The dorsal fin usually has 9½, the anal fin 10½ branched rays. The lateral line organ runs through 39 to 48, mostly 42 to 44 scales. During the spawning season, the males have fine tubercles on the top and sides of the head.

Distribution and way of life

The Caspian roach on an Azerbaijani postage stamp

The Caspian roach (Wobla) is endemic to the Caspian Sea, according to the distribution a distinction is made between the North Caspian and Azerbaijani Wobla in the south-western and southern part of the Caspian Sea and the Turkmen in the south-eastern part of the Caspian Sea.

The Wobla spends the winter in the Caspian Sea. In autumn, large swarms come to the coast and overwinter in depressions directly at the mouth of the Volga , in which, unlike other subspecies, however, it never swims into the winter. In early spring or even towards the end of winter, when the other fish species are still in the depressions, the wobla begins to migrate into the river. The beginning of the Wobla's migration from the sea into the river is influenced by the weather; if there is wind from the sea, the migration begins earlier, and cold weather delays the migration. Individual specimens already begin the migration under the ice sheet, but on a large scale it does not begin until April, when the river has long been ice-free. The swarms of the Wobla spread over all arms of the Volga, but they do not migrate very high up. They hardly ever get further than Volgograd .

A large proportion of the Caspian roach also stay in the estuaries to spawn. Many die on the migration, when the water withdraws from the floodplains that the fish have sought to spawn. Spawning takes place once a year in April / May, the spawning is at a depth of 10 to 70 cm. A four-inch wobla lays up to four thousand eggs; a 30 cm wobla with an age of about 9 years 170 thousand eggs. After spawning, they return to the sea, so that no more specimens can be found in the river from mid-May. Over the summer, the adult fish usually stay in brackish water on the coast, at depths of 2.5 to 4 meters.

Wobla (center) along with other types of dried fish in a Russian market

The Caspian roach serves as food for Caspian seals and sturgeon . The wobla feeds on invertebrates , especially shellfish and small crabs. It reproduces an average of five to six times over the course of its life and can live for up to 10 years.

Preparation and consumption

Wobla is traditionally consumed in Russia in a dried form, while other fish are offered both as dried fish, marinated or smoked. The dried Wobla has a high protein content, which is up to 50%.

For processing as a dried fish, after removing the gills, the Wobla is placed in brine for at least three days up to two weeks and then air-dried for a further two weeks. The fish character of the Wobla is covered by a different, stronger aroma (for example the salt), so that even those who like Wobla who absolutely do not like other fish, such as children, can do so. Wobla is much more like smoked sausage than any other fish.

Wobla is sold and consumed in shops and also at beverage kiosks. A typical Russian custom is to drink beer and eat wobla after the sauna. Since the small dried fish has shrunk badly and has become very hard, it is often not actually eaten, but chewed for the sake of taste, or is only licked or sucked on. In order to eat the fish, the scarce meat has to be torn off into fibers. The beer washes away the extremely salty taste of the dried fish.

Wobla beer restaurants

Wobla as a snack with beer in a Moscow beer restaurant

Following on from a tradition of eating dried fish with beer that was widespread in Russia and goes back to the times of the Soviet Union , the newly created beer restaurants, breweries and beer bars ( pubs ) (people's bars, Russian: народный бар ) often offer dried fish, including wobla, with the beer. The "Goldene Wobla" chain is one of these special beer restaurants with rustic furniture and historical design, in which 20 types of beer are offered. It was opened in 1998 and is now represented with four restaurants in Moscow and others in Kazan , Kursk , Ryazan and Kaliningrad .

The menu is not limited to Wobla, but ranges from German sausage and meat dishes to Japanese sushi . There are also beer houses that offer dried Wobla for beer in St. Petersburg , Togliatti and in Almaty, Kazakhstan .

supporting documents

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Maurice Kottelat, Jörg Freyhof: Handbook of European Freshwater Fishes . Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-2-8399-0298-4 , pp. 239 .
  2. ↑ a b Fish Encyclopedia: Wobla (Russian)
  3. ↑ a b We catch the Caspian wobla ( Memento of the original from May 11, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on: Angling (Russian), accessed October 7, 2010 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.sfish.ru
  4. ↑ a b Rutilus caspicus (Yakovlev, 1870) on fishbase.org, accessed October 6, 2010
  5. ↑ About the restaurant chain "Golden Wobla" (Russian)

Web links

Commons : Rutilus caspicus  - collection of images, videos and audio files