Spawning of the zander in the spring. Pike perch after spawning

Sudak, a representative of the perch family, can be found only in clear lakes and rivers, where it keeps different depths, depending on the temperature of the water, the oxygen content and the food base in it.

general information

Pike perch is considered to be medium in size fish. On average, it grows to seventy centimeters with a weight of four kilograms, although sometimes trophy specimens are found more than a meter in length. The body of this predatory inhabitant of reservoirs is dense, elongated and compressed at the sides.

During the year, it basically keeps at the bottom, preferring a sandy or stony ground. On the ground or on the surface of water it can be found only during the pursuit of prey or during spawning. Sudak is considered a fish that leads a solitary life. And only the youngest of this representative of perch gather in small flocks.

In rivers in winter pike perch does not fall asleep, but concentrates at deep pits, continuing to feed. In small lakes, where, as a rule, there is not enough oxygen for activity, this fish, together with bream and other brethren, lies in depressions on the bottom.

It's time to multiply

Sexually mature this predator becomes at three or four years of age. In this case, males mature one year earlier. Spawning of the pike perch occurs in May or June, depending on the temperature. The optimal conditions for laying eggs are fifteen to eighteen degrees of heat in the pond. At this time, this predatory fish, getting into the marriage groups, begins to leave the place of ordinary hunting. The flocks, which consist of several males and one female, rise from great depths, from pits and desks, where strong currents help to extract food. They start looking for other places, those that are convenient for laying eggs.

Preparing for spawning

First of all, the female of the marriage group begins to prepare a nest. Having stopped at the places chosen for spawning, it starts actively swinging fins, forming waves, and thus removing the remnants of the soil from the flooded roots and branches. Then the males join it, which begin all together with their snouts to level the hard ground around the chosen spawning ground. As a result, around the branches and roots, a space is formed, deepened by five or ten centimeters in the shape of an oval. There, and then caviar will be swept out. In general, the size of the nest in the first place depends on the size of females and male producers. Sometimes they range in diameter up to sixty centimeters.

Time of spawning

For reproduction, this predatory representative of percids is sent after the water enters its shores. Pike perch before spawning becomes light color. The duration of the preparation for spawning is quite significant: it takes three to four weeks. Pike perch, leaving a deep place beforehand, comes closer to the shore, to the shallows, where there is a lot of grass, seaweed and snags. Marine and lacustrine subspecies prefer river fires, caves, as well as bays, ilmeni and small channels. Directly spawning a pike perch - the process of spawning - begins late at night and even at night.

The process of reproduction

This "sacred action" looks rather interesting: the males swim in pairs, and the female, head-down downright, gently shakes its tail evenly, releasing caviar at the same time. Spawning of a pike perch in the spring is very similar to the reproduction of crucian carp, only the latter makes more and more active. The male pike-perch swims around the female, sprinkling caviar with milk. If the fisherman is lucky, he will be able to see the tails sticking out on the surface of the water in the areas overgrown with mud and algae. In addition, pike perch likes to lay eggs in places where there are fallen trees.

Caviar

The female spawns in the dark and only once a year. The spawn is fertilized only by one male from her marriage group. He then remains to care for her and protect the future offspring.

"Watchdog" male is next to the eggs until the appearance of larvae from them. All this time he aerates them, constantly flapping the fins. At this stage, it is difficult to drive it away from the spawning grounds, and even if it is frightened off, it must return. If the male is prevented, all the eggs will die.

Spawning of a pike perch can go to waste if the marriage group does not find a suitable place. In this case, the female simply mows arbitrarily caviar and floats away. Apparently, for this reason, in some reservoirs of pike perch does not take root. In addition, this fish is not very fertile: the female sweeps out only about two hundred thousand eggs at a time.

Sad Statistics

Sudak, despite the fact that in some rivers still retains its strength, is threatened with the complete disappearance from the reservoirs of many regions of our country. The reason is that sometimes in reservoirs and large lakes it simply does not find a suitable place for reproduction. And if the spawning of the pike perch ended with spontaneous emission of eggs, they soon completely die. But this fish can still be saved. If a person comes to help her, who will create artificial spawning grounds for her everywhere, she will gladly spawn there.

Pike perch after spawning

After a period of reproduction, he begins a short zhor. However, this period ends very quickly, and the bite of the pike perch gradually weakens. Until spawning, pike perch is not caught because of very low activity.

After the deposition and fertilization of the roe, this predator again descends to the depth of the reservoir. The marine subspecies sails closer to the places of its main habitat. And since the pike perch practically does not tolerate dirt and turbidity in the water, it can very far migrate from the spawning grounds, because in May-June the flood floods the banks and already dirty snow flows into the rivers. Even the hatchlings hatched from the eggs are instinctively followed to the depth. Up to ten centimeters in length, they feed on only small invertebrates. And after reaching the coveted mark of a hundred millimeters completely pass to the diet of a full predator. In the open spaces of wide rivers in the spring even fry of pike perch is impossible to meet. They swim somewhere in the tributaries, which at this time of the year are the purest and deepest. In the channel, the pike-perch returns only to the middle of summer.