Minnow fish is a small variety of cyprinids. She has rather small scales and bright coloring. Its beauty becomes especially noticeable during spawning. Minnow fish belongs to freshwater, therefore, they distinguish river minnow and lake minnow.
Habitat
Minnow fish lives in the rivers of North America, Asia and Europe. It is quite common in the rivers of the Northern Urals, especially on the eastern and western slopes of the ridge. Some species prefer bog ducts, irrigation ditches and well-aerated reservoirs. Lake Yakutia is well known in Yakutia. Locals call this small (no more than fifteen centimeters long and weighing about one hundred grams) small fish "munchushka" from the word "mundu". Translated from Yakut, this name just means "lake minnow fish."
Fishing value
Minnow fish during the Soviet Union was of high commercial importance in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). However, today its large-scale fishing has stopped. Only amateur fishermen indulge in fishing for minnow. Basically, its significance today comes down to the fact that it is food for waterfowl predators. Although some are trying to breed minnow like aquarium fish. But only lake species are suitable for these purposes, since river ones require a flow of running water. Minnow fish feeds on crumbs of bread, small midges and mosquito larvae. This fish lives for six to seven years.
Appearance
Minnow is a fish (photos are presented in the article), which has a spindle-shaped elongated body no more than twenty centimeters long. The fish is covered with extremely small scales, and the abdomen is bare. She has a rather shallow head with a blunt and short stigma, a small mouth. The minnow has rounded fins, the tail stalk is long and low. Its coloring is interesting. On the sides of the minnow there are mottled vertical irregularly shaped spots, the number of which ranges from ten to seventeen. Below the lateral line they sometimes merge.
Coloring during spawning
Especially attractive is the minnow male. During the mating season, the back and sides of the fish darken, the anal and side fins turn red. The corners of the mouth and abdomen become the brightest in his appearance during spawning - they acquire a crimson color. A pearl rash appears on the head of the fish, and the gill covers shine with a greenish light. Males and females at maturity differ from each other in the shape of pectoral fins. In females, they are shorter and narrower - barely reaching the base of the ventral fins. And males are more beautiful. They can boast that their pectoral fins are much wider and longer, have a fan-shaped shape.
Catching minnow by amateur fishermen
Due to its small size, this small fish is not specially caught even by amateurs. But during fishing, she often gets hooked by anglers. Although the miner's taste is low, especially river (fish meat is bitter), no one thinks throwing away this tiny fish. And all because it is perfect for bait. Small fish are used as bait fish when catching perch, pike, chub, trout, zander, grayling, burbot. It’s easy to catch minnow, as he eagerly and deeply swallows a bait hook, so you need to hook a fish right away. He pecks on maggots, small insects, worms, flies, pieces of bread, balls of dough, as well as on the roots and shoots of algae. Larger individuals of minnow live closer to the bottom, and the smallest small fishes mostly swim on the surface. You can catch a dozen live bait fish for fishing on large river or lake predators in a fairly short period of time. However, it should be remembered that minnow "falls asleep" extremely quickly in a bucket, even though the angler will change water quite often.
Minnow content in the aquarium
Thanks to the pickiness and bright color, today many aquarists dream of getting this beautiful fish. Minnow are distinguished by a good disposition, mobility, jumping ability. Watching them is very interesting. For maintenance, a common aquarium with rounded stones and small snags, as well as with thickets of algae, is suitable. The water temperature should be from four to twenty degrees. It should be remembered that minnows in nature are more mobile in cool water.
Aquarium miners breeding minnow
During spawning, a special tank should be equipped that will be well aerated, the water temperature should be from 19 to 24 degrees. In the aquarium in April, a group of fish should be planted, in which males predominate. After spawning, both males and females should be separated from eggs. The incubation period lasts from four to eleven days, on the eighth day usually fry already begin to swim on their own. At this time, they should be fed live dust. Minnow usually become sexually mature at the age of two, but sometimes the process of maturation is delayed, so some individuals are able to produce offspring only four years after their birth.