The Volga pikeperch, or Volga zander (''Sander volgensis''), is a species of fish in the perch family Percidae. It is found in Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, and Ukraine.

Description

The Volga pikeperch is considerably smaller than the zander or common pike-perch (''Sander lucioperca''). It grows to a maximum length of , weighing 2 kg. It differs from ''Sander lucioperca'' by not having large "vampire" like canine teeth, also the colour is more silvery-grey than green, with much more distinguishable dark stripes on the side. Its second dorsal fin has nineteen to twenty-one branched soft rays and the number of scales along the

lateral line The lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

is seventy to eighty-three.

Distribution and habitat

The Volga pikeperch is found in the northern Black Sea basin from the Danube, as far upstream as Vienna, to the Kuban River drainages. It is also present in the Caspian Sea basin in the Volga River and Ural River drainages. It inhabits large, turbid rivers and lakes, as well as brackish estuaries and may make short migrations to breed.

Biology

The Volga pikeperch is most active at dusk and dawn when it feeds on small fish and invertebrates. Males become mature by the age of three or four and females a year later, at a minimum length of . Breeding takes place during April and May in shallow water with a sandy or gravelly bottom. The male scrapes a shallow depression in the

substrate Substrate may refer to: Physical layers *Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached ** Substrate (locomotion), the surface over which an organism lo ...

or among the roots of vegetation in which the female deposits one of two or three small batches of eggs. The larvae and juvenile fish are pelagic and feed on zooplankton.

Taxonomy

The Volga pikeperch was first formally described as ''Perca volgensis'' in 1789 by the German naturalist,

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

entomologist Entomology () is the scientific study of insects, a branch of zoology. In the past the term "insect" was less specific, and historically the definition of entomology would also include the study of animals in other arthropod groups, such as arach ...

, herpetologist, and malacologist Johann Friedrich Gmelin (1748–1804) 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 Volga River and the Ural River in Russia. The Volga pikeperch is part of the European

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

within the genus ''Sander'' which split from a common ancestor with the North American clade, which the walleye (''S. vitreus'') and the sauger (''S. canadensis'') belong to, around 20.8 million years ago. Within the European clade the Volga pikeperch (''S. volgaensis'') is the most basal taxon and shares features with the North American clade, such as being a broadcast spawner. In contrast in the zander (''S. lucioperca'') and the estuarine perch ('' S. marinus'') the males build nests and the female spawn into these nests and the males then guard the eggs and fry. The lineage leading to the zander is thought to have diverged from the common ancestor with the Volga pikeperch circa 13.8 million years ago.

Status

The

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has listed the Volga pikeperch as being of " Least Concern". It has a wide range, and although the population trend is unknown, no particular threats have been identified.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q847041 Sander (fish) Freshwater fish of Europe Fish of the Black Sea Fish of the Caspian Sea Fish described in 1789 Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin Taxonomy articles created by Polbot