Ratan - a fish that leaves no chance for competitors

A few decades ago it was possible to meet Ratan fish in Russia only in the Far East. Today anglers from all parts of Russia are sounding an alarm, because in their native reservoirs appeared ratan - a fish that devours everything around. These unpretentious inhabitants of standing fresh water are unusually prolific, perfectly tolerate all the deprivations of the Russian climate and feed on the caviar of other inhabitants of ponds and lakes.

Rathan fish: description

The largest representatives have a length of 30 cm, the minimum size of an adult is 14 cm. Externally Ratan - a fish is not remarkable. Has an elongated shape resembling a firebrush. Coloration is often variable, during the mating season, the color of the scales becomes bright black, at all other times gray, brown and green tones prevail.

The body is dense, with a large head. On the back, you can see the implicit spots and bands of irregular shape. The Ratan fish is different, the photo of which is presented below, with its huge mouth. It was for this disproportionately large mouth that representatives of Perccottus glenii were given the name Ratan. A lot of small, but sharp teeth help to deal with prey.

Habitat conditions

Homeland of these predators were originally the waters of the Amur. In the 19th century, an innocuous, at first glance, fish began to be brought to central Russia, released into the rivers of St. Petersburg and other cities. And thanks to incredible vitality, Ratan so bred that he began to dislodge other fish from the reservoirs. This is due to the fact that eggs of valuable species of fish, fry, tadpoles, larvae, insects, molluscs became the basis of the diet. The very presence of this weedy fish in the pond indicates that the other species are doomed to extinction. Harm is applied to the whole ichthyofauna.

Getting rid of Ratan is very difficult, because this weed is very unpretentious to the habitat. In order to survive the drought, the ratan is buried in muddy sediments, and with the onset of rain continues its life activity as if nothing had happened. In the freezing ponds, the predator perfectly winters in the ice. In waters with a scanty food content, these fishes practice cannibalism, eating their smaller relatives.

Opinion of scientists and forecasts of economists

For the reason that ratan - a fish that destroys the ichthyofauna, its entry into large rivers and lakes is considered by scientists as pollution. People are not always to blame for this. Eggs are often carried by migrating birds. Several eggs are enough that in 4-5 years all the animals in the pond are gone. Pike-fish, perch and catfish can compete with the fish-head. Nevertheless, the annual damage from the decline in the number of valuable fish species is growing. Experts do not recommend planting a predator in artificial ponds, ratan fish will quickly get rid of competitors.

But for decorative mini ponds there is no better kind. Many anglers say that Ratan bites well, especially in winter. For bait, you can use any bait: worms, grasshoppers, meat. The taste of the fish is not bad, but the head occupies most of the body, and the belly is often stuffed with shellfish and shells of snails. For this reason, interest in fish is small, and most anglers note that the harm from ratan is much greater than the benefits.