''Alburnus tarichi'', known as the tarek, pearl mullet, Van fish or Van shah kuli, is a species of

cyprinid 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 ver ...

fish, found only in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

, where it is the only

fish Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of ...

known to inhabit

Lake Van Lake Van ( tr, Van Gölü; hy, Վանա լիճ, translit=Vana lič̣; ku, Gola Wanê) is the largest lake in Turkey. It lies in the far east of Turkey, in the provinces of Van and Bitlis in the Armenian highlands. It is a saline soda lake ...

. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the Lake Van basin. It is locally known in tr, İnci kefalı/balığı, ku, darex ''darach'', and hy, տառեխ ''taṙex''. The tarek is the 'jewel' of Lake Van in Turkey. Found nowhere else in the world, this fish thrives in the lake's salty and carbonated waters, which are inhospitable to other forms of fresh water and marine fish. In May and June of each year it travels upstream through the lake's tributaries to lay

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

, flying through the air like

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhy ...

. Many locals have become accustomed to sticking out bags and catching fish as they jump out of the water, catching so many fish in May–June that they do not have to fish for the rest of the year. Locals prefer to catch the fish during reproduction season, when the females are filled with eggs, which are considered a delicacy in the town and region of

Erciş Erciş (; ku, Erdiş; hy, Ականց, Akants, historically , ''Arjesh'') is a town and district located in the Van Province, Turkey on Lake Van. History of Artchesh During Classical Antiquity, the town was known as Arsissa, and Archesh (Arč ...

. YYÜ and Doğa Gözcüleri Derneği have been developing a conservation strategy since 1997 (Sari, 2012). Despite a government ban on fishing during reproduction season, this kind of fishing has become a big business. In the 1960s, 600 tons of the fish were harvested annually; today that figure is 15,000 tons. The species was considered

Endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and in ...

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 ...

in 1994, but was downgraded to

Near Threatened A near-threatened species is a species which has been categorized as "Near Threatened" (NT) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as that may be vulnerable to endangerment in the near future, but it does not currently qualify f ...

in 2014.

References

External links

* *Informations and Image
www.incikefali.net
*Turkey - Sustainable Fishing and Consumption of Pearl Mulle

{{Taxonbar, from=Q612453 Alburnus, tarichi Fish described in 1814 Endemic fauna of Turkey Lake Van Taxa named by Johann Anton Güldenstädt