Many foodies love fish, which has almost no bones. In the restaurant menu, it is offered under the name sea bass, seabass, sea bass, spigola, lubina and so on. For some reason, there are a lot of names, but we are talking about the same fish - laurel.
Description
Lavrakov belong to radiant fish and belong to the family of moron.
Bay leaf (sea wolf) - the fish is quite large. The body length of some individuals reaches 1 m. In this case, the weight of the fish can gain about 12 kg. And to live in a natural environment Laurack is capable of up to 15 years.
Laurak is a fish with an elongated body, covered with small ctenoid scales. The body is silver on the sides, and the back is a grayish-olive hue. The upper edge of the gill cover is decorated with a dark spot, the edges of which are blurred. Young seabasses are often decorated with dark spots on the body, but they disappear with age.
The dorsal fins have a separation, but the gap is small. The first dorsal fin has 9-10 spiny rays, the second has 1 spiny ray and about 13 branchy soft rays. Anal fin consists of 3 spiny and ten soft rays. The pectoral fins are pointed in shape, and the caudal fin has a distinctive notch.
The teeth are located in a wide strip in the central part, and closer to the edges of the strip narrowed.
Lifestyle
This is not to say that the lifestyle of the seabass has been thoroughly studied. Some people think that Lauraq is a lone fish. But only adult large individuals behave this way. Laurak feels calm in the open sea. However, in the warm season, it often enters cozy lagoons and visits estuarine river zones. In winter, sea basses depart from the coast, moving to greater depths, into colder water.
But not everyone agrees with a solitary lifestyle. Sometimes a lavrack is a flock of fish, but schools are small and mostly composed of young animals.
This species of fish reproduces in December-March. Caviar throwing occurs once a year. She is pelagic at the lavraka. This means that it has a low protein content and small eggs rise to the surface of the water. The mass of eggs is not sticky, each is smooth and painted in a bright color. The embryo develops on the order of 3 days, for this it needs a temperature of no higher than 14 ° C. Larval growth takes approximately 40 days. At first they are very small (3 mm).
To grow fry from the larva, it takes more than three months. Almost 80% of the larvae hatching from eggs die during this period. The fertility of one female reaches 200 thousand eggs per kilogram of her body weight. The puberty of individuals depends on the habitat. In the Mediterranean Sea, for example, it occurs at the age of 3-4 years, and in the Atlantic - at 4-7 years.
Where does the fish live?
Lavraq populations are common in many seas of the Atlantic Ocean. This fish comes across in the Atlantic - from the coast of Norway to the coast of Senegal. An insignificant catch of laurel is conducted off the coast of Morocco. In addition, this species of fish enters the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
Why so many names?
It so happened that laurel is a fish with many names. This is due to the fact that the species quickly gained popularity in those places where its capture began. And the fish was given a name that became popular with the delicacy. So, the Spanish fishermen gave the name "Lubina" (which meant "sea pike perch"). The Italians called Lavrack the sonorous word "Branzino", which can be translated as "sea bass." But the word “sea bass” appeared in Russian restaurants. The English name sea bass, which also meant sea bass, was simplified to sea bass. It was easier to pronounce.
Economic value
Laurak is a commercial fish, but it is not allowed to catch it in large quantities everywhere. In many countries, this species is listed in the Red Book. However, the demand for fish without small stones is quite large; both restaurants and housewives are buying it.
It is especially convenient to prepare dishes from this fish for children, since the fish is very tasty and there is little chance of injuring the baby with a bone. The situation was contradictory: there is demand and supply is limited, but a solution was found. Laurak was made an object of aquaculture.
Artificial cultivation
For those who like bayfish, fish caught in the sea are much more valuable than artificially bred. But in any case, the popularity of the sea wolf does not fall. On the shelves of our stores most often is fish bred in captivity.
For breeding sea bass, the pond method, the so-called basin cultivation and cage method, is used. Growing pools are filled with salt water. And with cage cultivation, cages can be placed in lagoons or estuaries. Most often, a passage is built along which fish tanks are equipped, which are equipped with air feeders.
Connoisseurs are able to distinguish between a lavraq, grown in the wild and in an artificial reservoir:
- In case of artificial cultivation, the carcass of a lavra is fatter, thicker and shorter.
- On artificial feeding, fish grows fatter.
- Each copy in a batch weighs about 500 g.
Cooking Lavrack: Fish Recipe
In restaurants, seabass dishes are prepared very tasty. But even housewives can create culinary masterpieces. Very often, lavraq is fried in portioned slices or whole. To emphasize the taste and tenderness, this can be done like this. First marinade is prepared. For this, 2 tablespoons of lemon juice are squeezed out, mixed with an incomplete teaspoon of angry mustard and paprika. The carcass is carefully rubbed with the marinade, including the inside of the gutted belly, and left for 2 hours. Sea bass is fried over high heat on both sides. Then the fire is turned off, the pan is covered with a lid, and the dish is infused for 10 minutes.
It is very tasty to bake laurel in foil. To do this, rub the fish with olive oil and lemon juice, sprinkle with salt and seasonings, be sure to use rosemary. Next, the fish is wrapped in foil and sent for 30 minutes to a preheated oven. Temperature - 200 ° . 5 minutes before readiness, the foil should be opened or removed altogether. So you can get a beautiful crust.