Azov percarina (''Percarina maeotica'') is a species of
ray-finned fish in the family
Percidae.
Description
The Azov percarina is distinguished from the closely related
common percarina, ''Percarina demidoffii'', by its unique characteristics of having scaled cheeks, pigmented body back and grey flanks with numerous small dark dots, which may be fused into larger spots along base of the dorsal fins.
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Distribution
The Azov percarina is found in the eastern and northeastern parts of the Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське море, Azovs'ke more) is a sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, ...
, in the Gulf of Taganrog and Temryuk Bay
The Temryuk Bay (russian: Темрюкский залив, ''Temryuksky zaliv'') is a gulf or bay of the Sea of Azov located on the northern coast of the Taman Peninsula, Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It extends roughly 27 km inland and is 60 ...
, Bolshoi Akhtanizovski Liman, Kuban River delta, rare in Don River delta.
Habitat and biology
The Azov percarina is foun in coastal fresh and brackish waters, the maximum salinity they are found in is 7 ppt, and in river mouths. It is a social species which is found in shoals. Smaller fish, with a standard length
Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology.
Overall length
* Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish m ...
of feed actively on zooplankton, especially small crustaceans, Once they attain a standard length of they switch to feeding on larger crustaceans such as copepod
Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...
s and mysids. From their second year they are largely piscivorous feeding on ''Knipowitschia longecaudata
The longtail dwarf goby (''Knipowitschia longecaudata'') is a species of goby native to the Black Sea, Sea of Azov
The Sea of Azov ( Crimean Tatar: ''Azaq deñizi''; russian: Азовское море, Azovskoye more; uk, Азовське ...
'' and '' Clupeonella cultriventis'' as well as benthic worms, mollusc
Mollusca is the second-largest phylum of invertebrate animals after the Arthropoda, the members of which are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 85,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized. The number of fossil species is esti ...
s and insect larvae. They reach sexual maturity at a year old. They are known to spawn in the least saline part of the Gulf of Taganrog during June and July. Immediately following spawning the adults migrate to the open sea. The eggs are released over mud bottom and hatch in 2 days, after which the larvae lie on bottom, moving to the surface after 4 days.[
]
Taxonomy
The Azov percarina was first formally described in 1888 by I.D. Kuznetsov with the type locality
Type locality may refer to:
* Type locality (biology)
* Type locality (geology)
See also
* Local (disambiguation)
* Locality (disambiguation)
{{disambiguation ...
given as the northeastern Sea of Azov.subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of the common percarina (''Percarinde demidoffi'') but morphological and habitat differences support its treatment as a valid species.
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q140768
Percarina
Fish of Europe
Fish of Russia
Fish of the Black Sea
Fish described in 1888