The heroine of our article will be the rudd fish. A photo, a description of the life and habits of a small predator are of interest to those who crave to have it in their catch. And for cooks it will be important to know what dishes to cook from rudd. Many confuse this small fish with roach. However, these distant relatives have differences. And the rudd has a "namesake". A fish of the same name, living in the Far East of Russia, Kamchatka and Sakhalin, has nothing to do with the heroine of our story. She has another name - Ugay. But the rudd itself has several names. It is called the red-eyed, red-winged, red-fronted roach, as well as a magpie, a magpie, and a gray-headed. We figured out the names, and now we will determine the scientific classification of fish. It belongs to raypurs and cyprinids. Its Latin name is Scardinius erythrophthalmus.
Appearance
A photo of a rudd fish shows us a seemingly small roach. But do not rush to confuse these two inhabitants of fresh water bodies. Take a closer look: our beauty has golden scales, while roach has silver. The heroine of the story also has fiery red fins. And in the eyes you can distinguish two types of fish. In roaches, they are just bloody. But the rudd - orange. Only in the upper segment a scarlet spot is visible. If you are still in doubt which fish came to your hook, take a closer look at the dorsal fin. The roach has about a dozen soft rays on it, while the rudd has only about nine. Otherwise, both fish are very similar. The body of the rudd reaches 51 centimeters in length (the largest specimen caught). The maximum recorded weight of the fish reached 2.1 kilograms. But usually fishermen catch individuals 16-19 centimeters in length and weighing 100-300 g. The body of the rudd is slightly flat on the sides. It is covered with scales large enough for the size of the fish. The back of the fish is dark brown with a greenish tint, the abdomen is silver. The head is small, and the mouth is facing up. The only dorsal fin is offset to the tail. In the mouth of a small predator are two rows of sawtooth teeth.
Spread
Like roach, rudd fish can be found in all freshwater bodies of Europe, with the exception of the Far North of Russia and Scandinavia. But this species is also found in Asia - Small and Middle, as well as in the Caucasus. Man deliberately resettled rudd in other regions. So, this species is now found in the rivers and lakes of Ireland, Tunisia, Morocco, Spain and even Canada and New Zealand. By the way, in these last two countries the rudd is not very happy. She is considered there as an aggressive neophyte, crowding out and depriving the forage base of local fish. The main habitat of the rudd is considered to be fresh water bodies of the Black, Azov, Caspian, Baltic, White and Aral Seas. But she is also found in Siberia, although there, most likely, she was resettled.
Habits and lifestyle
The rudd is a calm fish. She does not like to leave their homes and migrate. It is found in reservoirs where there is no strong current. In the mountainous stormy rivers Sorog does not live. This fish prefers to swim near the coast, overgrown with reeds and sedge. Krasnoperka leads a daytime lifestyle and is most active from May to September. It floats mainly in medium water column, but in sunny weather it moves closer to the surface. At night and in the winter hut, it goes into the bottom pits. It easily tolerates a lack of oxygen. In general, a magpie is an unpretentious and very tenacious fish. It is characteristic in that it coexists peacefully with relatives and does not force out from its territory. Krasnoperki gather in flocks of dozens of individuals of the same age. Peacefully coexist with other cyprinids, and even with roach, hive and breeding.
What does the rudd eat
Why is it that very small clumps most often come into the catch, as in many photos? The rudd is a long-growing fish. She lives up to nineteen years. But only one to two percent of the brood reaches this age. Young animals have more silver scales and less red fins. Therefore, fry rudd is often mistaken for roach. A clover feeds on a variety of foods. Until the fry reach the size of an adult, they eat plankton. Then they switch to filamentous algae. At the beginning of summer, even adult twigs become “vegetarians”. They prefer young shoots of algae. And only then a predator wakes up in the rudd. She eats worms, insects and their larvae. And when the rudd reaches adulthood, it attacks small fish species. But the biggest delicacy for the magpie is the clams roe. After it, the fish goes to the surface layers of reservoirs and examines the leaves of water lilies and duckweed. Then she comes to the shores to look for food in the reeds.
Breeding
The description of the rudd fish will not be complete unless we pay attention to the reproductive cycle. A larva is capable of giving life to 232 thousand fry in one spawning. But she lays her small, only a millimeter in diameter, caviar not immediately, but in parts, attaching it to the roots of water plants. Eggs are produced in the mother's body in two portions before spawning. And the third party ripens directly during the breeding season. Three days later, fry hatch from eggs, most of which, alas, will become food for other fish species. Newborns reach a length of only five millimeters. And fry reach puberty in the fourth year of life, when their body grows to 12 cm. Spawning lasts depending on the climatic conditions of the reservoir, when the temperature of the habitat reaches 16-20 degrees. At this time, in adults, the fins become fiery red.
How to catch a plot
The rudd is a very careful fish. It’s not easy to catch her. Only fry of a five-centimeter-long shoot are carelessly worn in shallow water, on the sunny side of the shores, where there is no grass. At the slightest sign of danger, the rudd goes into the reeds or inland. This species is of interest for sport fishing. Outsmarting a rudd is not easy. She ignores bait and lure. But what she simply can not resist against is the bait of bright yellow color. This fish does not have industrial significance due to the fact that its meat is slightly bitter and smells of mud. Not every self-respecting cook knows how to cook rudd. Fish are often bred in ponds, as it peacefully coexists with other cyprinids and destroys eggs and insect larvae.
Other close relatives of rudd
The species Scardinius erythrophthalmus is widespread in western Russia, and throughout Europe. This is a common rudd. And the abundance of this species is huge. But there are shaggy relatives and close relatives who are on the verge of extinction. In the south of Greece, in the Achelus river, the scardinius acarnanicus is still found. This rudd is larger than ordinary (27-33 centimeters in length), and she lives up to eleven years. There are also scardinius grekus. The vast habitat of this species has now narrowed to Lake Iliki in the center of the country. If you are interested in what kind of fish is Greek rudd, you need to know that an adult reaches 40 centimeters. Skardaf once lived in rivers and lakes of the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas. But now representatives of this species are found only in the Italian lake of Scanno. The fins of this lane are not red, but dark gray. But the most exotic cousin of shrimp is the scardinius rakvittsay. Small, up to eight and a half centimeters in length, the fish lives only in the thermal spring of Petcea in Western Romania, and nowhere else. And finally, occasionally, but everywhere in Europe there is a king or princes - the same rudd, only with brownish-bronze scales.
Fishing tips
Interesting and cunning rudd is interesting to catch. And although it is not of interest to an ordinary cook, a sports fisherman will experience many exciting moments with her. For hunting you need to have a modern 4-6-meter fishing rod and float tackle. The nozzle should be thrown into the windows of clean water. The sinker in the summer should be lighter, freely plunging into the water column. And in the fall - more difficult. Grasshoppers and maggots are used as bait. Pecks a sorghum and on mormyshka, as well as on an artificial nozzle of bright yellow color. Redfin is hunted both from the shore and from a boat. The hook is thrown on the border of reed thickets. But the caution of a magpie turns fishing into fascinating entertainment.
Cooking Tips
How to cook rudd - a small, slimy fish, the meat of which gives mud and bitter taste. Do not rush to give the cat a catch. From rudd you can make some delicious dishes. Recipes will be given below, but for now we will be engaged in the primary processing of the product. First, we will make several cuts along the ribs - this technique will allow the bones to fry so that they will not be felt at all. Then the rudd should be soaked in a very concentrated saline solution and, in addition, sprinkle the fish with lemon juice. This will help get rid of the characteristic "swamp" smell. As in any fish, in a plump, despite its bitter taste, there is a lot of useful phosphorus and chromium. Of vitamins, PP is present in it. But the calorific value of this type of fish is small - one hundred units.
Redfin fish: recipes
If the whole catch consists of a maggot, without hesitation, make cutlets from it. This is the most successful dish of bitter fish. The rudd is washed from mucus, cleaned from scales, gutted, removed bones. Then everything that remains of the small fish is passed through a meat grinder. Add onions and garlic, be sure to a little fat, crumb of bread, soaked in milk. Drive an egg into the minced meat, salt it and season with spices. Cutlets are fried in vegetable oil, diced in flour breading.
You can continue to conjure over a rudd, having welded a broth from its bones, head and fins. This liquid needs to be filled with cutlets laid on a baking sheet or in a goose bowl. After that, the dish is stewed over low heat until cooked. You can bake fish cakes differently. We lay them between two layers of foil, grease with mayonnaise or sour cream. Bake at 180-200 ° C degrees for about an hour.
Dried fish
The rudd is very tasty when dried. But it should be salted longer than other small fish. Is it worth it to gut a crochet before the cooking process? It depends on the size of the fish. Most often, the catch consists of rudd weighing 100-200 grams each. Such a trifle can be dried completely.
Besides the fact that we sprinkle the fish with salt, we still have to contrive to put the crystals in the mouth and gills of each rudd. We set the oppression, but so that the edge of the vessel is open to the influx of fresh air. The bottom of the pan or other container should have holes for the brine drain. The fish, ready to be dried, has a hard back and pale red eyes. We wash each carcass of salt, fill with fresh water and soak for three to four hours. Then we string the rudd on a fishing line and hang it head down. We install a bunch in a well-ventilated place, away from direct sunlight. We cover with a gauze canopy from flies. When liquid drains from the fish’s mouth, turn it with its tail down. Now you know what kind of fish it is - rudd, how to catch it and how to cook it.