Baikal is a freshwater sea that contains 19% of all lake water on the planet. The locals call the body of water the sea. This is due to its size and difficult character. Baikal is characterized by a diverse ichthyofauna, which is associated with its significant size and unusually clean water. Today, more than 55 species of Baikal fish are known, which differ in a number of characteristics.
Features of the place
Baikal is the largest freshwater lake on Earth. Its depth is 1637 meters and its age exceeds 25 million years. Researchers hypothesize that Baikal will subsequently turn into an ocean. This body of water shows no signs of aging.In addition, its banks are constantly expanding. The only river that flows from Lake Baikal is the Angara. Its length is 1779 kilometers. The source of the Angara is considered the widest and largest in the world.
Baikal is home to many species of fish that have become famous not only in Siberia, but also beyond its borders. Their taste is legendary. Having tried Baikal fish dishes at least once, travelers begin to plan their next trip there to again enjoy the beauty of nature and taste the taste of smoked omul, fried grayling or dried golomyanka.
To preserve the uniqueness of Lake Baikal, a biosphere reserve was created here in 1969. It is located on the eastern shore of the lake. This place occupies a significant territory of the Khamar-Daban mountain range, the area of which is 167,871 hectares. The boundaries of the reserve are located in the zones of the Mishikha and Vydrinnaya rivers. The mountains that surround the reservoir are considered a natural barrier to air flow.
The reserve has managed to preserve hundreds of species of unique flora and fauna. 12 species of fish live here. The most famous specimens include taimen, lenok and grayling. During the spawning period they enter rivers, and at the end of summer they return to Baikal again.
In total, there are more than 50 species of fish in the lake. At the same time, no more than 15 belong to the commercial category. The most famous representatives of this group include omul, whitefish and grayling. Less common varieties are sturgeon, lenok, and taimen. In addition, the reservoir contains sorog, perch, and ide.
According to statistics, the total biomass of fish in Baikal is approximately 230 thousand tons.At the same time, the share of commercial fish accounts for 60 thousand tons. To increase the number of valuable species, Baikal Fish LLC was organized in Irkutsk.
What kind of fish are there?
The fish living in Baikal are diverse. At the same time, they are characterized by different sizes, lifestyle and taste.
Whitefish
This cold-water fish lives and spawns in Lake Baikal. At the same time, there are lake and lake-river varieties, which are endowed with the status of subspecies. They differ in the number of gill rakers and perforated scales in the lateral line. The lake variety of Baikal whitefish has 25-35 gill rakers. It usually spawns in Baikal.
The whitefish is a river form, which is characterized by much fewer stamens - a maximum of 24. In Baikal and its tributaries, this individual is considered anadromous. She is constantly migrating. The whitefish moves to rivers to spawn, and it feeds in Lake Baikal. Unlike the lake variety, this individual is characterized by a rather low body and scales that fit tightly.
Whitefish have become widespread throughout almost the entire reservoir. However, its maximum quantity is observed in the Chivyrkuisky and Barguzinsky bays. There are also a lot of fish found in the Small Sea and in the Selenga shallow waters. Whitefish choose to live in shallow waters with sandy soil. Lake-river varieties live at depths of more than 20 meters. In winter they descend to 150 meters, and in spring and summer – to 40-50.
A fish aged 5 years weighs on average 0.5 kilograms, by the age of 7 its weight is already 1.5 kilograms, and by 15 it can reach 15. Fishermen note that they managed to catch whitefish weighing more than 10 kilograms.
This fish is considered quite valuable. Scientists believe that its fishing needs to be reduced. First of all, this concerns the spawning period. To increase the population, it is important to establish artificial breeding of whitefish with mandatory rearing of young animals.
Grayling
Baikal white grayling is one of the varieties of Siberian grayling. In the lake, this fish lives almost at the very shore. Most often it is found in the eastern region, where the depth is no more than 30 meters. To spawn, grayling moves to shallows with a pebble-sand bottom. Reproduction of these individuals starts at the end of April and lasts until mid-May. During this period, the water temperature is +7.5-14.6 degrees.
The mating season is accompanied by a change in body color. Males become dark gray and acquire a metallic sheen. At the same time, copper-red spots appear above the ventral fins and on the back. In addition, the upper part of the dorsal fin is complemented by a dark red border. Grayling eggs take about 17 days to develop.
Waste fish
Through various rivers, fish well known in Siberia entered the lake. These include crucian carp, perch, pike, dace, sorog, and ide. However, the deep lake was not suitable for the life of such individuals. This was due to differences in depth, food, and temperature. As a result, the fish took root in the sors, which are shallow bays of Lake Baikal. At the same time, lenok and taimen ended up in the lake through large tributaries of Baikal. That’s why they can often be found only in river mouths.
Golomyanka
This species of Baikal fish is considered the most numerous. The biomass of golomyanka is twice that of other fish living in the lake. It reaches 150 thousand tons.A distinctive feature of the golomyanka is that it does not lay eggs, but gives birth to live larvae. That is why the fish is called viviparous.
There are 2 species of golomyankas living in the lake – large and small. Both species live at different depths all the way to the bottom. In addition to zooplankton, such individuals also eat their fellow fish - juveniles. Even despite this, the growth of this fish reaches 150 thousand tons per year. This means that during a given period it is able to completely renew its population.
Golomyanka cannot be mined on an industrial scale. It leads a dispersed lifestyle and represents the main food source for seals and omul. This is due to the fact that the fish's body is half fat.
The largest females of the large golomyanka reach a length of 25 centimeters, and males - 15. At the same time, females of the small golomyanka can grow up to 15 centimeters, and males - up to 12. The offspring of the large variety appear from September to October. At the same time, the small golomyanka reproduces in the spring. This happens after the ice melts.
During spawning, individuals move to the surface layers so that the young can eat fry of macrohectopus, cyclops, and epishura. Large individuals of a large variety are capable of giving birth to 2-2.5 thousand larvae. As for the small golomyanka, this figure is 1.5 thousand pieces.
Omul
The omul living in Baikal has several varieties - Posolsky, Chivyrkuisky, Selenga, Barguzin, North Baikal. The last type is considered the most famous. It has the most outstanding taste qualities. In the region, this fish is found literally everywhere - in any shops, in small villages and at railway stations.On the way to Baikal, the local population offers tourists dried and salted omul. At the same time, you can see freshly caught fish on the lake itself.
Previously, this fish was enormous in size and was a very popular representative of the lake. Today its dimensions have decreased significantly. In addition, the omul is on the verge of extinction. The body length of this fish is no more than 50 centimeters, and its weight is 3 kilograms.
Sturgeon
This is the oldest and largest fish in Baikal Kamchatka. The first information about it appeared in the messages of Archpriest Avvakum and Nikolai Spafari, who visited the lake in the first half of the seventeenth century. Gmelin also recorded a large number of sturgeon in Baikal when he described his trip to Siberia in 1751. The famous naturalist Georgi at the end of the seventeenth century described in detail in his works the sturgeon living in the lake.
Egorov also studied this fish. He did a lot of work aimed at exploring bays and river mouths. At the same time, the scientist was able to describe the number, distribution, and biological characteristics of the fish. The famous Russian writer Astafiev called sturgeon “the king fish.”
This is the only representative of cartilaginous fish that lives in Baikal. Sturgeon has different colors - from light brown to dark brown. In this case, the abdomen always has a lighter color. There are 5 rows of bone bugs along the entire body.Between them there are small bone plates that differ in shape. In this case, the upper lobe of the caudal fin is much longer than the lower one.
Lake Baikal is home to many valuable species of fish, which differ in appearance, lifestyle, nutrition, and taste. This makes the reservoir attractive to anglers throughout the country.
