The Caspian roach (''Rutilus caspicus'') is a species of

roach Roach may refer to: Animals * Cockroach, various insect species of the order Blattodea * Common roach (''Rutilus rutilus''), a fresh and brackish water fish of the family Cyprinidae ** ''Rutilus'' or roaches, a genus of fishes * California roach ...

fish living in the Caspian Sea. The Caspian roach can be distinguished from other roaches by its laterally compressed body, silvery grey iris, rounded snout and grey pectoral pelvic and anal fins with dark margins. The Caspian roach is semi-

anadromous Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousan ...

and inhabits mostly shallow coastal waters. It enters Volga, Ural, Emba,

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and

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drainages for spawning. Newer research however suggests that ''R. caspicus'' is part of a more widely distributed species or

, whose range extends to Siberia. The proper name of that species is ''Rutilus lacustris''.Levin, B.A., Simonov, E.P., Ermakov, O.A., Levina, M.A., Interesova, E.A., Kovalchuk, O.M., Malinina, Y.A., Mamilov, N.S., Mustafayev, N.J., Pilin, D.V., Pozdeev, I.V., Prostakov, N.I., Roubenyan, H.R., Titov, S.V. & Vekhov, D.A. (2017)
Phylogeny and phylogeography of the roaches, genus ''Rutilus'' (Cyprinidae), at the Eastern part of its range as inferred from mtDNA analysis.
''Hydrobiologia'', 788: 33–46.

Description

The Caspian roach has a typical size of 30–35 cm (maximum published 45 cm) and a weight of 800 g (maximum published 2000 g). It can be distinguished from its congeners in the Caspian Sea by these characteristics: * usually 42-44 scales along the lateral line * dorsal fin usually with 9½ branched rays * anal fin usually with 10½ branched rays * rounded snout and subterminal mouth * anal fins and pectoral pelvic are grey with dark margins

Distribution

The vobla is found in brackish coastal waters of the northern and northwestern Caspian Sea, and enters Volga, Ural, Emba,

, and

drainages for spawning. There it is locally known as ''vobla''.

As food

Salt-dried ''vobla'' is generally eaten without sauces or side dishes. Many people like to eat their vobla with a glass of beer, which lessens the salty taste of the fish. Vobla could be considered a raw fish, but, in fact, it is neither raw nor cooked, but rather salt-cured. It is soaked in brine for some days and then is thoroughly air-dried for another two, which in the end denatures the protein, as a form of chemical "cooking". File:Wobla 3.JPG, Salt-dried vobla

References

External links

''Rutilus rutilus caspicus'' (Jakowlew, 1870)
www.caspianenvironment.org

Description

Distribution

As food

References

External links

See also