Predatory Fish

Fish are divided into two groups: predators and peaceful . Predatory fish eat animal food. These are small and medium fish, birds, mammals, insects and invertebrates. Peace fish eat plants and also insects and invertebrates. There are still omnivorous fish that feed on both fry and plant food. These include ide and chub.

Predatory freshwater fish are considered to be such:

Volga zander
Asp
Burbot		Chinese sleeper
Perch
Sheatfish		Zander
Eel
Pike

Predator Nutrition Features

Asp, gaining weight, becomes a full-fledged predatory fish. At the stage of maturation, this fish behaves as a typical representative of cyprinids, to which it refers. The asp eats at this time worms , larvae and insects. Having matured, the asp goes on feeding by fry; its behavior is no different from the way of life of an ordinary predator.

Very often, the habitat and the amount of food affect the behavior of the predator. For example, if there are a lot of pike and perch on the river, the fish willingly eat their smaller relatives. Sometimes even typical peaceful fish become predators. Carp, for example, does not hesitate to fry and caviar. The rudd can eat fry in summer. And this is not so rare. Fishermen, knowing about this feature of the above-named fish, try to catch them on silicones and other baits.

Typical predators are distinguished by extraordinary strength, dexterity, energy, and great greed. Their body is sharpened on a constant hunt. Sharp teeth easily bite through the body, and the stomach quickly absorbs food and converts it into energy.

Food is necessary for the predator as a source of energy. If you see a big pike perch , a pike or a zherekh , then their body is sled, full of strength, and there is not much fat in it. The exception is catfish , which leads a more passive way of life and plays, as they say, “in long”.

It often happens that a predator consumes an excessive amount of food. This affects the natural greed and life cycles: spawning, winter, etc. For example, the pike in March becomes a swallow, and hunts for everything. It seems that she and the fox and with hares easily digest. This is successfully used by fishermen. Take another perch . Despite its modest dimensions, this predator boldly attacks roach, dace, and even smaller perch, which are slightly smaller in size. Zherekh and zander also actively hunt in the autumn.

Predators have periods when they consume little food and hunt little. This usually occurs during spawning or during periods of so-called deaf-and-frost. Before spawning, they productively hunted, having accumulated a lot of energy, which is enough for several tens of days.In winter, predators gather in deep holes and winter there, behaving very passively. The most active at this time is burbot . This fish is well caught in the winter and in the cold autumn time. In burbot and spawning occurs in December.

Predatory fish can endure hunger for a long time. The reasons for fasting may be different. These are diseases, environmental disasters associated with human activities. During this period, fish can lose up to 30% of the total mass, but nevertheless remain alive.

After starvation, predators try to catch up. The most aggressive in this regard is the soma . When they are hungry, they can eat everything, just to eat more. It is said that the largest individuals eat large muskrats, foxes and even people. But these are more stories than facts.

Smell of predatory fish

Predators are divided into those whose sense of smell is very well developed and those who have it sharpened to a certain range of smells. Fish that distinguish many smells are called macrosmatics, and the second category with a small spectrum of distinguishable smells is called microsmatics.

There are also visual signs. Often a peaceful fish has a rounded body and a decent supply of fat. Many representatives, such as carp , crucian carp , bream , roach , white bream have rather large scales of a round shape. It is well peeled off, not like a predator, whose scales are bristly and small.

Mikrosmatik is pike , chub , perch , bersh . These predators are well distinguish fish by smell. When hunting, they are guided by sight and smell. Other smells are weakly distinguished. These fish are most active during the day. At night, they practically do not hunt.

The second category of predators is macrosmatics. This pike perch , burbot , eel . These fish have a more advanced sense of smell and are able to distinguish more odors. This feature of the body gives them the opportunity to hunt at night.

For example, catfish distinguishes very well where the fish is, and where the frog is or bird, or mouse. Such a developed sense of smell allows him to successfully hunt many representatives of the flora and fauna. The same chub , which is omnivorous, easily eats mulberry and cherries from trees, beetles and fry in water. About him we can safely speak as a river gourmet.

Ichthyologists have found that macroscopic fish capture many odors very well, even if they are weak. That is, they, being at the bottom, feel the fry, which swims in the middle or upper horizon. Som , for example, will easily smell the meat if it is 4-5 meters away from it.

A good example with perch . Many spinningists purposefully catch him at night. At this time, perch closer to the coastal zone and “includes” his sense of smell to the fullest to hunt for fry. At the expense of his advanced scent, he spends a minimum of time searching for a fry, because he knows exactly where his parking lot is. If perch and pike spend a lot of energy in search of food, pikeperch spends it more efficiently and productively. This, perhaps, can be explained by the fact that pike perches peck at spinning baits for periods with long pauses.