Zander, a member of the perch family, can only be found in clean lakes and rivers, where it holds at different depths, depending on the temperature of the water, its oxygen content and food base.
general information
Zander is considered to be medium-sized fish. On average, it grows to seventy centimeters with a weight of four kilograms, although sometimes there are trophy specimens more than a meter in length. The body of this predatory inhabitant of the reservoirs is dense, elongated and compressed on the sides.
During the year, it mainly stays at the bottom, preferring sandy or rocky soil. Stranded or on the surface of the water, it can be found only during the pursuit of prey or during spawning. Zander is considered a fish leading a solitary life. And only the young of this representative perch is going to small flocks.
In winter, pike perch does not hibernate in rivers, but concentrates in deep holes, continuing to feed. In small lakes, where, as a rule, there is not enough oxygen for activity, this fish, along with breams and other brethren, lies in depressions at the bottom.
It's time to breed
This predator becomes sexually mature at three or four years of age. At the same time, males mature one year earlier. Zander spawning takes place in May or June, depending on the temperature. The optimal conditions for laying eggs are considered to be fifteen to eighteen degrees of heat in a pond. At this time, this predatory fish, straying into mating groups, begins to leave the places of usual hunting.
The flocks, which consist of several males and one female, rise from great depths, from pits and dumps, where a strong current helps to get food. They begin to look for other places, those that are convenient for laying eggs.
Preparation for spawning
First of all, the female of the mating group begins to prepare the nest. Having stopped at the places chosen for spawning, it begins to actively fan its fins, forming waves, and thus removing soil from flooded roots and branches. Then males join it, and they all begin with a snout to level the hard ground around the selected spawning ground. As a result, a space is formed around the branches and roots, deepened by five or ten centimeters in the shape of an oval. There and will subsequently be swept caviar. In general, the size of the nest primarily depends on the size of the females and male males. Sometimes they fluctuate in diameter up to sixty centimeters.
Spawning time
This predatory representative of perchs is sent for breeding after the water enters its shores. Pike perch before spawning acquires a light color. The duration of preparation for spawning is quite significant: it ranges from three to four weeks. Sudak, having left a deep place in advance, comes closer to the shore, to the shallows, where there is a lot of grass, algae and snags. Sea and lake subspecies are preferred by river rivers, backwaters, as well as bays, ilmeni and small channels. Directly spawning of zander - the process of spawning - begins late in the evening and even at night.
Breeding process
This “sacred action” looks quite interesting: the males blur in pairs, and the female, having taken her head down and upright, uniformly smoothly swings her tail, releasing caviar. In the spring, spawning of zander is very similar to breeding of crucian carp, only the last one is doing more and more actively. A male pike perch swims around a female, pouring milk over caviar. If the fisherman is lucky, he will be able to see tails sticking out on the surface of the water in areas overgrown with mud and algae. In addition, zander likes to lay eggs in places where there are fallen trees.
Caviar
The female spawns in the dark and only once a year. Only one male from her mating group fertilizes eggs. He then remains to care for her and protect future offspring.
The “watchdog” male is located next to the eggs until the appearance of larvae from them. All this time he aerates them, constantly fanning his fins around. At this stage, it is difficult to drive him away from spawning grounds, and even if he is frightened off, he will definitely return. If the male is disturbed, all eggs will die.
Zander spawning can be wasted if the mating group does not find a suitable place. In this case, the female simply spawns at random and swims away. Apparently, for this reason, in some reservoirs pike perch does not survive. In addition, this fish is not very fertile: the female swallows only about two hundred thousand eggs at a time.
Sad statistics
Sudak, despite the fact that it still maintains its abundance in some rivers, is in danger of complete disappearance from the water bodies of many regions of our country. The reason is that sometimes in reservoirs and large lakes he simply does not find a suitable place for reproduction. And if spawning of zander ends in spontaneous release of eggs, then soon they will all die. But this fish can still be saved. If a person comes to her aid who will everywhere create artificial spawning grounds for her, then she will gladly throw eggs there.
Zander after spawning
After a breeding season, he begins a short zhor. However, this period ends very quickly, and the bite of pike perch is gradually weakening. Zander is not caught before spawning due to very low activity.
After laying and fertilizing eggs, this predator again descends to the depth of the reservoir. The marine subspecies swims closer to the places of its main habitat. And since the pike perch practically does not tolerate dirt and turbidity in the water, it can migrate very far from the spawning grounds, since in May-June, floods flood the banks and already dirty snow flows into the rivers.
Even fry hatched from eggs instinctively follow to the depth. Up to ten centimeters in length, they feed only on small invertebrates. And after reaching the cherished mark of one hundred millimeters, they completely switch to the diet of a full-fledged predator. On open spaces of wide rivers in spring, even juvenile fry cannot be found. They swim somewhere in the tributaries, which at this time of the year are the cleanest and deepest. However, zander returns only to the middle of summer.