Description
Invasive Asian species.
How to identify it
Large head and wide mouth, two dorsal fins, dark body with iridescent spots.
Appearance
A small, stocky fish with a head that is large for its body, eyes set high, a rounded snout and a protruding lower jaw. The two dorsal fins are almost joined, the second longer than the first, and together with the anal fin and the tail they have a rounded outline. The pelvic fins are separate and do not form the sucker typical of gobies. The colour is greenish-brown with a chequered or barred dark pattern, and dark lines radiate from the eye. It resembles a perch or a bullhead.
Habitat and habits
Native to the Amur basin, it has spread across much of eastern and central Europe; in Czechia it has been recorded since 2023. It lives in ponds, pools, oxbow lakes, marshes and slow streams, preferably shallow and choked with plants, and tolerates very different conditions. It hunts by ambush among the vegetation: insects and larvae, small crustaceans and fry. In small bodies of water without predators it can become the only fish present, while in large rivers its spread is held back by native predators. It spawns in warm, shallow water among plants.
There's more in the app
This species' bite index, recommended baits and methods, and the rules of the day for every water. Offline too.
Soon on Android and iPhone
