Fish from the Gubanov family are numerous and diverse. They have more than 50 genera, in which there are about 600 species. Among the representatives of these fish there are very small (gubanchiki), as well as giants (cheilinusy), weighing more than one hundred kilograms and growing in length under two and a half meters.
Family Characteristics
Gubanovye (or labrides) belong to the order of Perciformes. Biological and genetic characteristics of these fish allow them to exist in various environmental conditions of marine water bodies.
Gubans, to which the popular name "greenfinch" also stuck, are exclusively marine fish. They can exist in water with different salinity (from 12 to 38 ppm or more). Moreover, they can live without special problems in conditions of serious changes in water temperature.
The average description of guban fish:
- The body section is rounded.
- Big head with a hump.
- The “cheeks” between the eyes and the forewings have from three to five rows of scales.
- Caudal fin rounded.
- The middle row in the body has about 35 scales.
- On the side of the body there is a line running parallel to the back.
Guban fish has a retractable mouth, relatively small in size, which has fleshy thick lips. Teeth of incisal or conical shape. The coloring of the representatives of this family is very diverse and has bright colors.
What looks like a squiggle fish, sometimes it’s difficult to answer. In the process of growth, many representatives of the Gubanovs change their color. The mood is also affected by fish mood (spawning, stress, illness, etc.). Thus, an adult individual is significantly different in coloring from young fish. The males and females of the Gubanovs also differ significantly in color. When a guban dies, the color palette on her body quickly disappears.
Living conditions
Guban fishes usually live in coastal sea waters. In places where algae and coral reefs are abundant. As a rule, their main food is invertebrates, crustaceans, worms and mollusks inhabiting the bottom. Although, there are several species for which the source of food is vegetation.
Guban fish usually leads a solitary lifestyle. Each individual tries to acquire its own territories, which it actively protects from the penetration of outsiders. All representatives of the Gubanovs lead a daily life. With the onset of darkness, they sleep. At the same time, some of them prefer to bury themselves in the sand, and some, such as parrot fish, wrap themselves in a cocoon of mucus.
Spawning features
Males of the Gubanov family are prone to construction. This quality manifests itself in the pre-spawning period. The fish builds a crescent-shaped nest. In its middle, the male pulls out a depression, which fills with fragments of shells. He collects them with his mouth in the vicinity. After the female lays eggs in the nest, the male hides the clutch with scraps of algae, masking it from outsiders.
But before laying eggs, a courtship period is usually observed. In different types of guban, it is different. Some males show sensitivity and patience, while others are overly aggressive. Impatient boyfriends change color to brighter, furiously dig a hole in the nest and rush about in different directions. Females are beaten and bitten, inciting them to lay eggs in their nest. Mercilessly treating competitors who find themselves next to his abode.
Gubanovy reach puberty early - in the second or third year of life, depending on the size of the individual. Spawn in May-June, in several calls. Usually at a depth of 2.5-3 meters in thickets of algae or in coral fields.
For each season, a female gubana fish flies from 12 to 55 thousand eggs. Caviar develops on average five to eight days. Fish grow relatively slowly. Their life expectancy is about fifteen years.
Black Sea family representatives
Representatives of the Gubanovs live in the coastal regions of the Black Sea (off the coast of the Crimea and the Caucasus); they go through the Kerch Strait into the Sea of Azov. They live mainly in a rocky and rocky bottom covered with algae. Feeding in the daytime. To obtain food from bottom sediments, a large amount of sand is sieved.
In the Black Sea basin, the province is represented by 8 species:
- marine junker (coris, iris);
- lapin (red lips);
- petropsaro (green guban);
- guban grouse;
- guban quail;
- roulene (greenfinch);
- long-nosed (nosed guban);
- ocular sponge.
The most numerous are rugans-rulens, growing up to 35 centimeters.
Recently, in the area of the Crimean coast began to appear dark-skinned, the ichthyologists consider its appearance temporary, it comes from the Mediterranean Sea and is not able to create a population here.
Guban (Black Sea fish) usually swims alone. Sometimes it gathers in flocks of 10-15 individuals, mostly young.
The Black Sea governorates do not migrate. Belong to settled species of fish. Wintering is carried out at the coastline, gathering in packs of up to 50 pieces, descending into clefts to a depth of 70 meters.
Often the Black Sea living in the Black Sea are affected by ectoparasites, which are attached to the fish from the outside. Marine woodlice, representatives of the Aegidae family (crustaceans, blood-feeding fish) are especially common.
Crafts and taste
Fish of the Gubanov family for the Black Sea fishery are not of interest, due to their relative paucity and lifestyle.
To taste, this fish is an amateur. The ancient Greeks and Romans included it along with drums in the menu of holiday dinners. Her images were placed on trays and fish plates. However, according to the culinary experts in the field of fish preparation, it is most tasty in smoked form, with the addition of juniper and fir-tree cones to the smoked wood.
The best time for fishing for guban fish is considered the summer period.
Guban in the aquarium
Various representatives of the Gubanov family are permanent residents of marine aquariums. The variety of their species, differing in size and color, allows you to combine them with various other types of fish. They are unpretentious, get along well with surgeon fish, angel fish, triggerfish.
Small specimens of gubans well adjoin small fish and invertebrate inhabitants of aquariums. But together they get along with difficulty, constantly conflict, trying to get rid of the competitor. Close to each other species of gubans recommend not to settle in one aquarium.
They are unpretentious to feed; they consume any live or frozen food. Photos of guban fish in an aquarium are very popular and are often placed both in special and in ordinary literature.