Vertebrate Zoology - Practical Course - V. V. Kuibida - 2007

MODULE 1. Class Cyclostomata and Superclass Fishes

Fishes of the Pereiaslav Region

The Water bodies of the Pereiaslav region are home to 43 ichthyofaunal species, the majority of which inhabit the Kaniv Reservoir. The order Cypriniformes is the most widely represented here. From an economic perspective, the most valuable species include: the common carp or sazan (Cyprinus carpio), local names: river pig, blackfish, sharan — occasionally found in the wild; the bream (Abramis brama), local names: chebak, small bream, tarannik, pliskovania; the ide (Leuciscus idus), local names: yaz, zheltomiaska, klevaka; the asp or zhereh (Aspius aspius), local names: beloryba, kobila, khvat; the tench (Tinca tinca), local names: kalyniak, pshenychnyk, tsyganska ryba; the crucian carp or golden crucian carp (Carassius carassius), local names: marsh crucian, pidriiok; the unisexual gibel carp (Carassius gibelio); the European goldfish, tsarok; and the bisexual gibel carp (Carassius auritus), also known as the Chinese or Japanese crucian carp. The reproductive peculiarities of the European crucian carp astonish anyone who learns that its populations consist exclusively of "amazon" groups. In these populations, females reproduce without males, but The stimulation of egg development requires sexual material from other species (such as carp, tench, common crucian carp, etc.), which is why their spawning often occurs together. Embryonic development proceeds entirely under maternal Genetic control, resulting in the birth of females only.

The folk names of another widespread fish in the Pereiaslav region establish a close connection between its biological traits and mythology. The carp is commonly called chertan, chortanyk, chortanka, chortokrap. In her research for the dictionary of fish names, prominent expert V. V. Usacheva discusses the etymology of these names, pointing out that the semantic "shift" is explained by an accidental phonetic coincidence with the word "chort" (devil/unclean spirit). Indeed, one can find certain commonalities between the traditional perception of devils and the biology of carps that provide some grounds to consider this connection not entirely coincidental. In Ukrainian mythology, devils are zoomorphic and anthropomorphic creatures. They were imagined as impure, small, nimble beings with tiny horns, a pig-like snout, hooves, and a tail. Folk names with the ROOT "chort" refer to smaller-sized carps. Much like pigs (which are also considered unclean According to the Bible), they root around in the silt—hence another folk name, "river pig"—and are omnivorous, feeding on invertebrates, plants, feces, manure, and even their own young. Furthermore, carps possess a pair of "horn-rays": the dorsal and anal fins each contain one hard, serrated ray. If a carp is hooked, it attempts to use this peculiar saw-like horn to cut the fishing line, and sometimes it succeeds.

Somewhat less commercial significance is held by: the roach (Rutilus rutilus), local names: biblytsia, dunka, plyvachka, tarania, chervonoochka; the dace (Leuciscus leuciscus), local names: verblynyk, klen; the chub (Leuciscus cephalus), local names: holovan, klenchuk; the rudd (Scardinius erythropthalmus), local names: chornukha, cheremukha; the nase (Chondrostoma nasus), local names: svynka, chornopuz; the gudgeon (Gobio gobio), local names: piskar, bobir, koblyk; the bleak (Alburnus alburnus), local names: blyskavka, zhyvets, poverkhovychia, shviia; the silver bream (Blicca bjoerkna), which resembles a bream, local names: okatyi liasch, plesKavka, ploskusha; and the white-eye bream (Abramis sapa), local names: liasch bilookyi, biloglazka, klevchyk, pucheglaz; the blue bream (Abramis ballerus), local names: liasch-synts, lopatka, plotka sukhorebra; the sabrecarp (Pelecus cultratus), local names: ryba-shablia, sukhorebytsia; and the vimba bream (Vimba vimba), local names: glodovyk, misiatserot, shypshynnyk.

In the small rivers and village ponds of our area, you can find the smallest Representatives of the carp family: the Russian bleak (Alburnoides bipunctatus), local names: pysarka, shviia; the sabre-finned mudminnow or pond loach (Leucaspius delineatus), local names: verkhovodka, oves; and an interesting little fish with a transparent etymology — the European bitterling (Rhodeus sericeus), local names: popadia, pukasyk, sokyrka, synka. Its name derives from the bitter taste of its flesh. Its symbiotic relationships with certain freshwater mussels astonish not only laypeople but biologists as well. To protect their offspring from predators, the female and male bitterlings deposit their reproductive products between the hard Valves of a swan mussel (Anodonta) or freshwater pearl mussel (Unio). Under the sturdy shell, the pre-larvae, larvae, and fry of one of our smallest fish live and develop. For the sluggish bottom-dweller, the mussel, this encounter with the bitterling is also highly welcome: it attaches its own glochidia larvae to the fish's body, which then disperses the offspring throughout the water body. Thus, neither species loses out; their "cooperation" is mutually beneficial!

Belonging to the same order but a different family, the Cobitidae (loaches), are: the weatherfish (Misgurnus fossilis), local names: piskar, pyskir, pyskum, pyshukha; the spined loach (Cobitis taenia), local names: sykva, holytsia, slyzh, schypavka; and the stone loach (Barbatula barbatula), local names: golets, evdoshka, khavdiushka. It is worth noting that the folk names of the weatherfish — piskar, pyskir, pyskum, pyshukha — derive from the verb "pyschati" (to squeak). If a weatherfish is picked up, it makes a squeaking sound. These sounds are produced when, due to oxygen deficiency or right before rain, the fish swallows atmospheric air through its Mouth. The air passes along the digestive tract, and the rear part of the intestine acts like an accessory lung, absorbing oxygen while the remnants are expelled outward with a squeak.

The second most species-rich order in the waters of the Pereiaslav region is Perciformes (perch-like Fishes). The family Percidae (perches) includes: the pikeperch (Sander lucioperca), local names: chopyk; the European perch (Perca fluviatilis), local names: kostryz, strykhan, shvets; the ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernuus), local names: kostrubach; and the Don ruffe (Gymnocephalus acerinus), local names: bubyr, bobir.

Another family within this order is the Gobiidae (gobies). These former marine inhabitants, which gradually adapted to freshwater life, are represented in our region by five species: the monkey goby (Neogobius fluviatilis), local names: piskovyk, babets, baba holovata; the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus); the racer goby (Neogobius gymnotrachelus); the tadpole goby (Proterorhinus marmoratus); and the stellate tadpole-goby (Benthophilus stellatus).

Valuable commercial fishes include: the northern pike (Esox lucius), local names: berezivka, schupak — order Salmoniformes; the wels catfish (Silurus glanis), local names: sum — order Siluriformes; and the burbot (Lota lotta), local names: lezhen, mniukh — order Gadiformes.

Of great cognitive interest are two species of small fishes from the order Gasterosteiformes (sticklebacks) — the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) and the southern ninespined stickleback (Pungitius platygaster), which are sparsely found in the overgrown bays and shallow areas of the Kaniv Reservoir. Local names include rohachka and chortyk. Both species possess sharp dorsal spines that prevent large predators from swallowing them. During the breeding season, these fish build a special spherical nest where the female deposits her eggs, after which the male diligently guards the fry from all potential enemies.

Our ichthyofauna even includes a representative of the order Clupeiformes (herrings) — the tyulka or Black Sea sprat (Clupeonella cultriventris), which is also a former marine inhabitant that gradually spread into the freshwaters of the Dnieper cascade. The population of tyulka in the Kaniv Reservoir increases significantly from mid-June to October, serving as a primary food source for other fish species and wetland birds.

Very rarely encountered is a representative of the famous order Acipenseriformes (sturgeons) — the sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus), local names: nertcha, chechuga. In the summer of 2004, students of the Faculty of Natural and Geographical Sciences caught two specimens of this species near the pumping station close to the town of Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi.

Equally rare is the European eel (Anguilla anguilla), a representative of the order Anguilliformes. This snake-like fish has always been considered a European delicacy, but it strikes considerable fear into our fishermen if caught on a bottom line, spinning rod, or setline.

A representative of the Class Cephalaspidomorphi, order Petromyzoniformes (lampreys) — the Ukrainian brook lamprey (Eudontomyzon mariae), local names: piskoryika, semidirychnynia, slipe haddia — according to literature, was found until the mid-1970s in both the Kaniv Reservoir and its tributaries. Over the past 20 years, we have not had a single reliable record of this species in the waters of the Pereiaslav region. The lamprey larva (ammocoete) lives buried in the sand for 4–6 years before transforming into an adult, sexually mature individual. Adult Ukrainian lampreys do not feed at all (unlike their parasitic relative, the Carpathian lamprey, which attaches to the bodies of fish and feeds on their Blood). They live for only a year and die immediately after spawning. Traditionally, ammocoetes were used by Dnieper fishermen as good bait for bottom fishing, but this is now prohibited because lampreys are rare and endangered species.

The Red Book of Ukraine includes:

✵ Ukrainian brook lamprey (Eudontomyzon mariae) - Category III (rare);

✵ Sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus) — Category II (vulnerable).

Due to human Introduction activities, some non-native fish species have appeared in the waters of the Pereiaslav region. These include cyprinids: the grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella), the silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), and the bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis). These newcomers from East Asia have successfully adapted to life in Ukrainian water bodies. Silver carps are primarily herbivorous, and thanks to this, they clean ponds of overgrowth caused by aquatic plants and Algae; fishermen refer to them as "river cows." Interestingly, after changing their habitat at human behest, silver carps lost their natural ability to reproduce because the eggs in females fail to mature and, at a certain stage, even begin to "resorb." By intervening in the natural life of the fish, humans have provided stores with cheap, delicious fish, but in return, they must administer follicle-stimulating hormone injections to female silver carps to complete egg maturation, artificially fertilize the eggs, and then stock the resulting fry into water bodies.

In the late 20th and early 21st centuries, in slow-flowing, marshy rivers — such as the Alta River in the Pereiaslav-Khmelnytskyi district — another fish species appeared (resembling a goby with a flattened HEAD) originating from the Far East in the Amur River basin: the Amur sleeper or rotan (Percottus glehni), which belongs to the order Perciformes. It is called "goloveshka" (firebrand) due to the dark color the male acquires during the spawning season, and "rotan" (big-mouth) because of its large mouth. The rotan lives and multiplies in natural conditions that no native fish species can endure. It survives extreme water stagnation and pollution, summer droughts, and winter freezing. During spawning, the male guards the eggs—sometimes even charging at a human hand—and fans them with water to ensure an oxygen supply, which is scarce in warm, polluted waters. Considering that this is a predatory fish which actively consumes insect larvae (areas where rotan live have very few mosquitoes), the young of other fish species, its own fry, and amphibian tadpoles, it is clear that after a certain period, only the rotan may remain in a water body! Large rotans feed on smaller ones. Thus, danger can arise not only when an animal species disappears, but also when a new one appears that is capable of disrupting the balance and interconnections within a long-established ecosystem. This example vividly illustrates the delicate interrelations among living creatures in nature, the vulnerability of the environment, and the necessity of preserving it for future generations.