Quail Wrasse (Symphodus Roissali)

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Quail Wrasse (Symphodus Roissali)
Quail Wrasse (Symphodus Roissali)

Video: Quail Wrasse (Symphodus Roissali)

Video: Quail Wrasse (Symphodus Roissali)
Video: Coris julis (Mediterranean rainbow wrasse) and Symphodus rostratus (Pointed snout wrasse) [HD] 2024, March
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The spotted wrasse, or quail greenfinch, or quail wrasse (Five-spotted wrasse) lives in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Marmara and Black seas. Lives near the coast among rocks and stones overgrown with green algae. Occurs at depths of 1-30 m. It keeps scattered, not forming flocks. Ripens in 1-2 years of life with a length of 5-7 cm. Life expectancy is up to 8 years. Fertility is up to 6600-36386 eggs. It feeds mainly on molluscs. It is an object of amateur fishing.

Quail wrasse (Symphodus roissali), photo photograph sea fish
Quail wrasse (Symphodus roissali), photo photograph sea fish

Appearance

The body is oblong, laterally compressed, covered with cycloidal scales. Head length equal to body height or less. The mouth is relatively small, the upper jaw is retractable. On the cheeks of the spotted wrasse, between the eye and the preopercular bone, there are 4, sometimes 3 rows of small scales overlapping each other with the posterior edges, extending in one row behind the eye; usually one row of larger scales on the back of the interopercular bone, under which there is often an incomplete row of small scales; on the operculum one vertical row of large scales, behind which sometimes the second of the smaller scales and constantly 2-3 rows on the upper and lower parts of the bone, its middle part behind is not covered with scales.

The teeth on the jaws are single-row; there are also pharyngeal teeth. The dorsal fin is long, its anterior part, consisting of spiny rays, is longer than the posterior, soft. The dorsal fin contains 13-16 spiny rays and 8-11 soft rays, and the anal fin contains 3 spiny and 8-10 soft rays.

Color

The main body color is greenish in males and brownish-gray in females, with dark brown, in females, brown spots located in 5 transverse and several longitudinal rows: in 2 rows in the middle of the body - solid along the lateral line and intermittent below, less distinct row of spots along the base of the dorsal fin and a row of 7-8 large spots along the lower edge of the body; there is often a spot at the base of the caudal rays under the lateral line. On the part of the operculum, devoid of scales, a longitudinal blurry dark brown spot; 2-4 of the same color oblique stripes below the eyes, in males lighter and separated by greenish, in females by grayish stripes; one wide stripe in front of the eyes, not reaching the top of the snout and often merging with the coloration of the upper part of the head.

Quail wrasse (Symphodus roissali), photo photograph sea fish
Quail wrasse (Symphodus roissali), photo photograph sea fish

The spiny rays of the dorsal and anal fins are brownish-red, branchy lighter, the membranes between them are green or blue, with a number of oblong brownish-red spots in the middle of the dorsal, sometimes with small spots at the base and apex of the spiny part of it, at the base of the branched part 2 large black spots, 2 smaller and lighter spots at the base of the branched rays of the anal fin, sometimes 2 of the same spots on the spiny part of the dorsal. The rays and membranes of the caudal fin are of the same color as the rays and membranes of the branched parts of the dorsal and anal, usually with several (up to 5-6) small spots of the same color.

Rays of pectoral fins in spotted wrasses are greenish, reddish or yellowish at apex; the rays of the pelvic fins are brownish, more intensely colored in the middle part; the membranes between the rays of the pectoral fins are colorless, in the abdominal parts of the same color with the rays or light blue.

Dimensions

For the Black Sea, up to 15-16 cm are indicated, but there are specimens up to 21 cm long and weighing up to 120 g.

Spread

Lives in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, Marmara and Black Seas. Found off the coast of the Crimea, the Caucasus.

Biology

The quail wrasse lives near the coast among rocks and stones overgrown with green algae, as well as cystosera. Occurs at depths of 1-30 m. It keeps scattered, not forming flocks. Sometimes it enters the mouths of rivers.

Puberty

Ripening occurs in the 1-2nd year of life with a length of 5-7 cm.

Life span

The average life span of a quail wrasse is up to 8 years.

Reproduction

In the Adriatic Sea near Trieste, spawning takes place in March, April and May. According to observations in these places, as well as in the Mediterranean Sea, males at a depth of 15 cm to 1.5-2 m, on the sand or among stones, rocks and underwater vegetation from the branches of cystoseira, sometimes partly from cladophora, build nests.

Quail wrasse (Symphodus roissali), photo photograph of fish
Quail wrasse (Symphodus roissali), photo photograph of fish

The nests of spotted wrasses are usually crescent-shaped with a diameter of about 10 cm, and the concave part of it is filled with large grains of sand and fragments of mollusks, which the males bring in with their mouths. The eggs are deposited on the sheer wall of the concave part of the nest and are covered with new branches of cystoseira as they are deposited.

Rulen, or ocellated wrasse (Symphodus ocellatus)
Rulen, or ocellated wrasse (Symphodus ocellatus)

Related article Rulen, or ocellated wrasse (Symphodus ocellatus)

Fertility in females with a length of 120-165 mm is 6600-36386 eggs. Caviar, apparently, is spawned in several portions, since the ovaries contain 3 groups of ripening eggs. Embryonic development at a water temperature of 16-18 ° C lasts 120-128 hours, in the Mediterranean Sea 80 hours.

Nutrition

Quail wrasse, mainly mollusks, accounting for up to 73.4% of stomach contents by weight; of these, Mytilaster lineatus is most commonly eaten. The rest of the groups of benthic animals are of lesser importance in nutrition.

Economic value

The spotted wrasse has no economic value. It is an object of amateur fishing. The meat does not have a high taste quality.

Literature:

1. N. Svetovidov. Fish of the Black Sea. Moscow-Leningrad, 1965

2. Commercial fish of Russia. In two volumes / ed. O. F. Gritsenko, A. N. Kotlyar and B. N. Kotenev. M.: publishing house VNIRO. 2006. - 1280 s. (Volume 2 - 624 p.).

3. Vasilyeva E. D. Fish of the Black Sea. Keys to marine, brackish, euryhaline and anadromous species with color illustrations collected by S. V. Bogorodsky. - M.: Publishing house VNIRO, 2007

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