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Species
Cyprinus rutilus L.
IUCN
NCBI
EOL Text
Can be diagnosed from its congeners in Caspian Sea basin by having the following characters: 39-48 (usually 42-44) scales along the lateral line; body laterally compressed, depth 24-37% SL; dorsal fin usually with 9½ branched rays; anal fin usually with 10½ branched rays; mouth subterminal; snout rounded; iris silvery grey; pectoral pelvic and anal fins grey with dark margins (sometimes slightly red in autumn, outside spawning season); breeding males with fine, scattered tubercles on top and side of head (Ref. 59043)
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Rights holder/Author | Armi G. Torres, FishBase |
Source | http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=65244 |
Europe north of Pyrnes and Alps, eastward to Ural and Eya drainages (Caspian basin). Aegean basin, in Pinios, Vardar, Vegoritis, Kastoria, Struma and Maritza drainages. Asia: Aral basin and Siberia from Ob eastward to Lena drainages. Naturally absent from Iberian Peninsula, Adriatic basin, Italy, Great Britain north of 56N, Scandinavia north of 69N. Locally introduced in Spain. Introduced and invasive in northeastern Italy.
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Rights holder/Author | International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/19787 |
Rutilus rutilus preys on:
Isoetes
Lobelia
Potamogeton
Sparganium
Microtendipes
Pseudochironomus
Tanytarsus
Cloeon
Caenis
Ephemera
Valvata
Gyraulus
Sphaerium
Pisidium
Oxyethira
Athripsodes
Diaphanosoma
Sida
Bosmina
Eurycercus
Molanna
Oecetis
Cyrnus
Asplanchna
Polyphemus
Lymnaea
Planorbis
Goera
Chironomidae
Based on studies in:
Finland (Lake or pond, Littoral)
This list may not be complete but is based on published studies.
- K. Aulio, K. Jumppanen, H. Molsa, J. Nevalainen, M. Rajasilta, I. Vuorinen, Litoraalin merkitys Pyhajarven kalatuotannolle, Sakylan Pyhajarven Tila Ja Biologinen Tuotanto (Lounais-Suomen Vesiensuojeluyhdistys R. Y., Turku, Finland, 1981) 47:173-176.
- J. Sarvala, Paarjarven energiatalous, Luonnon Tutkija 78:181-190, from p. 185.
License | http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ |
Rights holder/Author | Cynthia Sims Parr, Joel Sachs, SPIRE |
Source | http://spire.umbc.edu/fwc/ |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012) |
The roach (Rutilus rutilus), also known as the common roach, is a fresh and brackish water fish of the Cyprinidae family, native to most of Europe and western Asia. The name "roach" is not unique, but fishes called roach can be any species of the genera Rutilus and Hesperoleucus, depending on locality. The plural of the term is also roach.[1]
Contents
Description[edit]
The roach is basiclly a small fish, often reaching no more than about 35cm, maximum length is 45-50cm. The body has a bluish silvery colour and becomes white at the belly. The fins are red. The number of scales along the lateral line is 39-48. The dorsal and anal fins have 12-14 rays. Young specimens have a slender build; older specimens acquire a higher and broader body shape. The roach can often be recognized by the big red spot in the iris above and beside the pupil. Colours of the eye and fins can be very pale, however, in some environments.
In Central and Northern Europe, the common roach can most easily be confused with the common rudd (Scardinius erythropthalmus), the dace (Leuciscus leuciscus), or the ide (Leuciscus idus). They can be distinguished, though, by the following characteristics:
- The common rudd has a more yellow/greenish or golden colour. The backfin is placed more backwards and between the tip of the ventral scales and the first ray of the anal fin are only one or two scales. The roach has four or five scales there. The mouth of the rudd is more upturned and the head appears sharper.
- The dace has a greenish body, colorless eyes and fins and a distinct 'nose'.
- The ide has a higher number of scales along the lateral line (55-61), a rounder body, and a bigger mouth and head.
Distribution[edit]
The common roach is found throughout Europe except for the area around the Mediterranean, and its distribution reaches eastward into Siberia. Eastern Europe and Asia have several subspecies, some with an anadromous lifecycle living around the Caspian and Black Seas.[2] Around the Mediterranean and in northwestern part of Spain and Portugal, several closely related species occur with no overlap in their distribution.
It was introduced in Australia in the Murray River and coastal drainages of southern New South Wales and Victoria from Europe during the 1860s and 1880s for sport purposes.
Ecology[edit]
The common roach mostly feeds in the deeper parts of water bodies, but can be found in any water body deeper than 20 cm (7.9 in) and wider than 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in), and adapts to local circumstances, although in the summer, it can be caught using surface floats and bread. It tolerates organic pollution and is one of the last species to disappear in polluted waters, but is also often the most numerous cyprinid in nutrient-poor waters. It also tolerates brackish water. The lethal temperature is around 31°C (88°F).
In most parts of its distribution, it is the most numerous fish, but it can be surpassed by the carp bream in biomass in water bodies with high turbidity and sparse vegetation. The roach is a shoaling fish and is not very migratory with the exception of the anadromous subspecies. In the cold season, they migrate to deep waters, where they form large and dense shoals (small inland harbours are a favourite).
The roach mostly inhabits waters that are somewhat vegetated, because larval and young fish are protected by the vegetation and the mature fish can use it for food. The common roach eats plant material, bottom-dwelling (benthic) invertebrates, and plankton. Young fish feed mainly on plankton, while the mature fish feed mainly on benthos. They can adapt to environments where invertebrates are scarce by slowing their growth, maintaining slender body shapes, and early maturation.
Reproduction[edit]
The spawning season is in April and May. Most often, spawning occurs on sunny days. Roach generally spawn at the same location each year. Large males form schools where females enter. Males trail the females and fertilize their eggs. The behaviour is rough and the fish often jump out of the water. A female can lay up to 100,000 eggs. When the pH of the water is below 5.5, the roach cannot reproduce successfully.
Fishing[edit]
Fishing for roach in Britain is relatively easy because the species is found in most rivers, lakes, and ponds throughout the country. Larger specimens tend to be elusive, but smaller ones are easy to catch on relatively light line and with a bait such as maggots or worms. They also take particle baits such as sweetcorn, and can be caught on a variety of baits. The only limit is the size of the bait, because the mouth of the roach is relatively small and the pharyngeal teeth are not particularly strong. A popular bait, particularly in France and Belgium, is germinated, cooked hemp seed.
Essential for good catches is regular feeding to keep the shoal active and feeding around the bait. Mostly fixed rods and floats are used for a controlled presentation of the bait, and for larger distances and specimens, match rods and swim feeders are used. The line doesn't need to be thicker than 0.12 mm and the hook not more than a size 12. Thinner lines and smaller hooks produce more fish especially when the roach are of small size. The best catches with fixed float fishing are often made when the bait is presented just a few centimeters above the bottom.
Boilies and luncheon meat are generally avoided by roach because they are too large for roaches to swallow. It is a schooling species, and it is not unusual for an individual to be caught and released many times during a single session. Sometimes, a larger specimen can be waiting outside the shoal. Roach are infamous for their ability to throw the hook during retrieval, which perpetuates the idea that larger roach are notoriously difficult to bank. The maximum recorded weight for the species in Britain is 4 lb (1.8 kg). Any fish over a pound is regarded as a specimen individual.
Laran be made in harbours where large shoals concentrate in the winter season. Flyfishing in such places with sinking artificial flies with a gold-colored bead for a head on long leaders can produce good catches.
See also[edit]
- Vobla - related Caspian Sea species or subspecies, Rutilus caspicus
References[edit]
- ^ Froese, Rainer and Pauly, Daniel, eds. (2006). "Rutilus rutilus" in FishBase. April 2006 version.
- ^ http://www.caspianenvironment.org/biodb/eng/fishes/Rutilus%20rutilus%20caspicus/main.htm Rutilus rutilus caspicus (Jakowlew, 1870)] Roach fact sheet about a Caspian subspecies. www.caspianenvironment.org
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Rights holder/Author | Wikipedia |
Source | http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Common_roach&oldid=652887059 |
Habitat and Ecology
Spends most of year in shallow brackish coastal waters. At sea, adults are most abundant at 2.5-4 m depth and 2-4 salinity during summer. Enters freshwater of estuaries, lagoons and lower reaches of large rivers to spawn.
Biology:
Semi-anadromous. Lives up to 10 years. Spawns for the first time at 2-5 years. In September, adults moves close to coasts and overwinter in shallow waters from middle of November until ice melts. Spawning migration commences in late March-early April at 1-3C and peaks at 7-9C. Spawns in April-May on shallow shores of coastal lakes and flooded areas at 10-17C. Eggs are sticky, laid among plants. Annual spawner, but some females spawn only every second year. After spawning, adults return to sea where they join groups of immature juveniles, not travelling for long distances, staying in areas with high abundance of prey. Larvae migrate to sea, first passively, then actively. By August, juveniles reach coastal waters. While in river, juveniles feed on plankton (mostly Cladocera) and small benthic animals. At sea, they feed on oligochaetes and chironomid larvae, sometimes algae. At one year, starts to feed on molluscs and large benthic crustaceans. Adults also feed on crustaceans, worms and chironomid larvae.
Systems
- Freshwater
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Rights holder/Author | International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources |
Source | http://www.iucnredlist.org/apps/redlist/details/135601 |
Europe: north to Pyrenees and Alps, eastward to Ural and Eya drainages (Caspian basin); Aegean basin in Pinios, Vardar, Vegoritis, Kastoria, Struma and Maritza drainages. Asia: Marmara basin and lower Sakarya in Anatolia, Aral basin, and Siberia from Ob eastward to Lena drainages. Naturally absent from Iberian Peninsula, Adriatic basin, Italy, Great Britain north of 56 N, Scandinavia north of 69° N. Locally introduced in Spain; introduced and invasive in northeastern Italy. At least one country reports adverse ecological impact after introduction.
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Rights holder/Author | Susan M. Luna, FishBase |
Source | http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=272 |
Worm Cataract. Parasitic infestations (protozoa, worms, etc.)
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Rights holder/Author | Allan Palacio, FishBase |
Source | http://www.fishbase.org/Diseases/diseasesList.cfm?ID=272&StockCode=286 |
benthopelagic; freshwater; brackish
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Rights holder/Author | Armi G. Torres, FishBase |
Source | http://www.fishbase.org/summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=65244 |
Europe and Asia; introduced widely elsewhere.
Black Spot Disease 1. Parasitic infestations (protozoa, worms, etc.)
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Rights holder/Author | Allan Palacio, FishBase |
Source | http://www.fishbase.org/Diseases/diseasesList.cfm?ID=272&StockCode=286 |