The asp (''Leuciscus aspius'') is a European

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine conditions in many ways, especially the difference in levels of s ...

of the

Cyprinidae Cyprinidae is a family of freshwater fish commonly called the carp or minnow family. It includes the carps, the true minnows, and relatives like the barbs and barbels. Cyprinidae is the largest and most diverse fish family and the largest verte ...

family. It is sometimes considered by taxonomic authorities to be one of two members of the genus ''

Aspius ''Leuciscus'' is a genus of fish belonging to the family Cyprinidae. They are inland water fishes commonly called Eurasian daces. The genus is widespread from Europe to Siberia. Species broadly distributed in Europe include the common dace ''Le ...

''. It is protected under Appendix III of the Bern Convention and listed as

least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

. Normally, asps are between in length, with some reaching , and weighing up to . They inhabit lakes and lower reaches of rivers and estuaries. In April to June, asps migrate from lakes to streams for

spawning Spawn is the eggs and sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, and the act of both sexes is called spawning. Most aquatic animals, except for aquati ...

. Spawning is triggered by the rise in temperature and usually starts at . The eggs attach to rocks, gravel, and water plants. After around two weeks, they hatch and the fry drift downstream to calmer waters. They tend to be active during the evening, when they may create large splashes as they hunt near the surface of the water. Asps can be found in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania, Russia, Switzerland, Slovenia, the Netherlands, and Belgium. In Switzerland, asps have migrated through the

Rhine–Main–Danube Canal The Rhine–Main–Danube Canal (German: ''Rhein-Main-Donau-Kanal''; also called Main-Danube Canal, RMD Canal or Europa Canal), is a canal in Bavaria, Germany. Connecting the Main and the Danube rive ...

, as in Serbia, Croatia, Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia. In the eastern regions of Europe, it is a common species in flowing waters, and popular for

fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

and other types of fishing. Image:Asprom.jpg, Eggs from asp File:Asp 4kg.jpg, A 4-kg asp caught in Biesbosch, NL File:Aspius aspius Prague Vltava 1.jpg, Asp on exhibition ''Subaqueous Vltava'' in Prague

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q182894 Cyprinid fish of Asia Cyprinid fish of Europe Fish described in 1758 Fish of Russia Fish of the Caspian Sea Leuciscus Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus