Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Features of Burbor Lota lota (Gadidae) Biology in the Lower Volga

  • Published:
Journal of Ichthyology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract—

The study presents data on the biology of the marginal population of burbot Lota lota from the lower reaches of the Volga. Individuals aged from 3 to 7 years were recorded in the catches; a relatively short age range is due to mass die-offs of burbot in hot years. Spawning continues from mid-January to mid-February; the migration of larvae takes place until April–early May. The diet is dominated by the Ponto-Caspian kilka Clupeonella cultriventris and gobies (Gobiidae); among the latter, the most important are the round goby Neogobius melanostomus, the Caspian bighead Ponticola gorlap, and the monkey goby N. fluviatilis. At present, the southern populations of burbot of the Saratov reservoir and the lower reaches of the Volga are characterized by the highest growth rates in water bodies of Northern and Eastern Europe. This is primarily due to the high abundance and availability of prey that mostly represent fish species, which have expanded their presence in the Volga basin under conditions of regulated runoff.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 4.

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. Two more species of gobies—the racer and the tadpole goby, noted in the diet of burbot, were not found in the catches of the seine as their preferred biotopes are situated at greater depths.

REFERENCES

  1. Antonova, E.L., Feeding of raptorial fishes in Votkinskoe Reservoir, Sb. Nauchn. Tr. Gos. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ozern. Rechn. Rybn. Khoz., 1986, no. 250, pp. 41–45.

  2. Arkhiptseva, N.T., Ichthyofauna and abundance of fishes in the Krasnoe Lake, Sb. Nauchn. Tr. Gos. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ozern. Rechn. Rybn. Khoz., 1980, no. 158, pp. 94–99.

  3. Balagurova, M.V., The data on diet of the burbot in the Syamozero Lake, Tr. Karel. Otd., Gos. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ozern. Rechn. Rybn. Khoz., 1966, vol. 4, no. 2, pp. 55–70.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Bioresursy Onezhskogo ozera (Biological Resources of the Onega Lake), Kukharev, V.I. and Lukin, A.A., Eds., Petrozavodsk: Karel. Nauchn. Tsentr, Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Bogdanov, V.D. and Koporikov, A.R., Vosproizvodstvo nalima nizhnei Obi (Reproduction of the Burbot in the Lower Ob River), Yekaterinburg: Ural. Otd., Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2011.

  6. Bogutskaya, N.G., Boldyrev, V.S., and Naseka, A.M., The gobies Neogobiinae (Teleostei, Gobiidae) in ecosystems of Eurasia and North American Grate Lakes, in Biologicheskie invazii v vodnykh i nazemnykh ekosistemakh (Biological Invasions in Aquatic and Terrestrial Ecocsystems), Moscow: KMK, 2004, pp. 297–320.

  7. Bogutskaya, N.G., Kiyashko, P.V., Naseka, A.M., and Orlova, M.I., Opredelitel’ ryb i bespozvonochnykh Kaspiiskogo morya. Tom 1. Ryby i mollyuski (Guide for Identification of Fishes and Invertebrates of the Caspian Sea, Vol. 1: Fishes and Mollusks), Moscow: KMK, 2013.

  8. Boldyrev, V.S., Species composition of gobies (Gobiidae) from Volgograd and Tsimlyansk reservoirs, in Rybokhozyaistvennye issledovaniya v basseine Volgo-Donskogo mezhdurezh’ya na sovremennom etape (Modern Ichthyological Studies in the Volga-Don Interfluve), St. Petersburg: Gos. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ozern. Rechn. Rybn. Khoz., 2002, pp. 98–105.

  9. Boldyrev, V.S. and Bogutskaya, N.G., Revision of the tadpole-gobies of the genus Benthophilus (Teleostei: Gobiidae), Ichthyol. Explor. Freshwater, 2007, vol. 18, no. 1, pp. 31–96.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Chekhova, M.A. and Ponomareva, E.N., Fishery of inland reservoirs of Volgograd and Rostov oblasts, Tr. Volgogr. Otd. Gos. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ozern. Rechn. Rybn. Khoz., 1973, vol. 7.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Cherepanova, N.S., Shirokov, V.A., and Kovalenko, V.N., Role of the burbot (Lota lota L.) in fishery in Kumskoe Reservoir (Karelia), Materialy VII Mezhdunarodnogo Baltiiskogo morskogo foruma (Proc. VII Int. Baltic Marine Forum), Kaliningrad, 2019, vol. 3, pp. 178–183.

  12. Dgebuadze, Yu.Yu., Ekologicheskie zakonomernosti izmenchivosti rosta ryb (Ecological Pattern of the Fish Growth Dynamics), Moscow: Nauka, 2001.

  13. Domrachev, P.F. and Pravdin, I.F., Fishes of the Il’men’ Lake and Volkhova River and their economic role, in Materialy po issledovaniyu reki Volkhova i ego basseina (The Research Materials of the Volkhova River and Its Basin), Leningrad: VolkhovGESU, 1926, no. 10, part 1.

  14. Ermolin, V.P., Ecology of nutrition of fishes and improvement of fish productivity of Saratov Reservoir, Extended Abstract of Cand. Sci. (Biol.) Dissertation, Leningrad: State Sci. Res. Inst. Lake River Fish., 1984.

  15. Fedorov, A.V., Fishery role of raptorial fishes in the Upper Don River basin, Tr. Voronezh. Gos. Univ., 1958, vol. 45, no. 1, pp. 35–53.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Fedorova, G.V., The burbot in the Ladoga Lake, Sb. Nauchn. Tr. Gos. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ozern. Rechn. Rybn. Khoz., 1979, no. 141, pp. 50–54.

  17. FishBase, Version 12/2019, Froese, R. and Pauly, D., Eds., 2019. http//www.fishbase.org.

  18. Gerasimov, Yu.V., Ivanova, M.N., and Svirskaya, A.N., Spatial distribution and population structure of the pike Esox lucius L. in the Rybinsk Reservoir during the climate warming period, J. Ichthyol., 2018a, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 38–51. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945218010058

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Gerasimov, Yu.V., Malin, M.I., Solomatin, Yu.I., et al., Distribution and structure of fish population in reservoirs of Volga Cascade in 1980s and 2010s, Tr. Inst. Biol. Vnutr. Vod, Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2018b, no. 82 (85), pp. 82–106. https://doi.org/10.24411/0320-3557-2018-1-0014

  20. Golovanov, V.K., Temperature criteria for fish vital activity: forecast, environmental risks, and expert assessment, Materialy II Vserossiiskoi konferentsii “Sovremennoe sostoyanie bioresursov vnutrennikh vod” (Proc. II All-Russian Conf. “Current State of Biological Resources of Inland Waters”), Moscow: Poligraf-Plyus, 2014, vol. 1, pp. 162–170.

  21. Gol’dentrakht, I.N., Commercial and biological studies in the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain in 1959, Tr., Kasp. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Rybn. Khoz., 1966, vol. 22, pp. 6–24.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Grimm, O.A., Kaspiisko-volzhskoe rybolovstvo (Fishery in Caspian-Volga Basin), St. Petersburg: Tipogr. V. Demakova, 1896.

  23. Isaev, A.I. and Karpova, E.I., Rybnoe khozyaistvo vodokhranilishch: Spravochnik (Fishery in Reservoirs: Handbook), Moscow: Agropromizdat, 1989.

  24. Ivanchev, V.P. and Ivancheva, E.Yu., Kruglorotye i ryby Ryazanskoi oblasti i prilezhashchikh territorii (Cyclostomata and Fishes of Ryazan Oblast and Adjacent Territories), Ryazan: Golos Gubernii, 2010.

  25. Ivanova, M.N., Nutrition of raptorial fishes during first four years of establishment of Gor’kovskoe Reservoir, Tr. Inst. Biol. Vodokhran., Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1963, no. 5 (8), pp. 81–86.

  26. Karabanov, D.P., Pavlov, D.D., Bazarov, M.I. et al. Alien species of fish in the littoral of Volga and Kama reservoirs (results of complex expeditions of IBIW RAS in 2005–2017), Tr. Inst. Biol. Vnutr. Vod, Ross. Akad. Nauk, 2018, no. 82 (85), pp. 67–80. https://doi.org/10.24411/0320-3557-2018-1-0013

  27. Kazancheev, E.N., Ryby Kaspiiskogo morya (Fishes of the Caspian Sea), Moscow: Legkaya Pishchevaya Prom-st., 1981.

  28. Kharlamov, A.M. and Kovalenko, V.N., Current fishery characteristics of the burbot Lota lota (L.) in the Onega Lake, Materialy II Mezhdunarodnoi konferentsii “Ozera Evrazii: problemy i puti ikh resheniya” (Proc. II Int. Conf. “Lakes of Eurasia: Problems and Solutions”), Kazan, 2019, pp. 346–351.

  29. Kiyashko, V.I. and Polovkova, S.N., Nutrition and food chains of fishes in the Pleshcheevo Lake, Tr. Inst. Biol. Vnutr. Vod, Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1983, no. 51 (54), pp. 112–125.

  30. Koblitskaya, A.F., Spawning of the burbot Lota lota L. in the Volga River delta, Vopr. Ikhtiol., 1964, vol. 4, no. 2 (81), pp. 392–393.

  31. Kottelat, M. and Freyhof, J., Handbook of European Freshwater Fishes, Cornol: Kottelat and Freyhof, 2007.

  32. Kozhevnikov, G.P., Fish resources of Gor’kovskoe Reservoir during first years of establishment, Izv. Gos. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ozern. Rechn. Rybn. Khoz., 1965, vol. 59, pp. 43–97.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Krasnaya kniga Respubliki Kalmykiya. Tom 1. Zhivotnye (The Red Data Book of the Republic of Kalmykia, Vol. 1: Animals), Elista: Dzhangar, 2013.

  34. Litvinov, K.V. and Podolyako, S.A., Species composition and state of ichthyofauna in the lower reaches of the Volga River delta in 2006–2011 in the Astrakhan Biosphere Nature Reserve, in Opredelitel’ ryb i bespozvonochnykh Kaspiiskogo morya. Tom 1. Ryby i mollyuski (Guide for Identification of Fishes and Invertebrates of the Caspian Sea, Vol. 1: Fishes and Mollusks), Moscow: KMK, 2013, suppl. 2, pp. 516–525.

  35. Lukin, A.V., Biology of Volga burbot (Lota lota (Linn.)), Tr. Tatar. Otd., Vseross. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ozern. Rechn. Rybn. Khoz., 1935, no. 2, pp. 85–86.

  36. Markun, M.I., Systematics and biology of the burbot in the Kama River, Izv. Biol. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Perm. Gos. Univ., 1936, vol. 10, no. 6, pp. 211–238.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Makhotin, Yu.M., Growth, feeding, and fecundity of the burbot im Kuibyshev Reservoir, Tr. Tatar. Otd., Vseross. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ozern. Rechn. Rybn. Khoz., 1960, no. 9, pp. 291–296.

  38. Medvedev, V.N., Fishing of the people living in Sarepta and Chernoyarsk district of Astrakhan province, Etnogr. Obozr., 2013, no. 5, pp. 14–21.

  39. Metodicheskoe posobie po izucheniyu pitaniya i pishchevykh otnoshenii ryb v estestvennykh usloviyakh (Practical Guide for Study of Feeding and Food Chains of Fishes in Nature), Moscow: Nauka, 1974.

  40. Movchan, Yu.V., Fauna Ukriny. Tom 8. Ryby. Vyp. 3. V’yunovye (Fauna of Ukraine, Vol. 8: Fishes, No. 3: Cobitidae), Kiev: Naukova Dumka, 1988.

  41. Nelichik, V.A., Feeding of the burbot in Verkhnetulomskoe Reservoir, Sb. Nauchn. Tr. Gos. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ozern. Rechn. Rybn. Khoz., 1975, no. 14, pp. 50–55.

  42. Nikanorov, Yu.I. and Nikanorova, E.A., Fishes of the Seliger Lake and their biology, Tr. Ostavshkovsk. Otd., Gos. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ozern. Rechn. Rybn. Khoz., 1963, vol. 1, pp. 70–145.

    Google Scholar 

  43. Pikhu, E.Kh. and Pikhu, E.R., Feeding of main raptorial fishes in the Pepsi Lake, Izv. Gos. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ozern. Rechn. Rybn. Khoz., 1974, vol. 83, pp. 136–143.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Pushkin, Yu.A., Ichthyofauna and fishery, in Biologiya Votkinskogo vodokhranilishcha (Biology of Votkinskoe Reservoir), Irkutsk: Irkutsk. Gos. Univ., 1988, pp. 118–143.

  45. Reshetnikov, Yu.S., Mukhachev, I.S., Bolotova, N.L., et al., Pelyad’ Coregonus peled (Gmelin, 1788): sistematika, morfologiya, ekologiya, produktivnost’ (The Peled Coregonus peled (Gmelin, 1788): Systematics, Morphology, Ecology, and Productivity), Moscow: Nauka, 1989.

  46. Reshetnikov, Yu.S., Popova, O.A., Kiyashko, V.I., et al., Obyknovennyi ersh Gymnocephalus cernuus (Linnaeus, 1758). Sistematika, morfologiya, obraz zhizni i rol’ ersha v ekosistemakh (The Eurasian Ruffe Gymnocephalus cernuus (Linnaeus, 1758): Systematics, Morphology, Life Strategy, and Role of Ruffe in Ecosystems), Moscow: KMK, 2016.

  47. Ryby Rybinskogo vodokhranilishcha: populyatsionnaya dinamika i ekologiya (Fishes of Rybinsk Reservoirs: Population Dynamics and Ecology), Gerasimov, Yu.V., Ed., Yaroslavl: Filigran’, 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  48. Sandlund, O.T., Klyve, L., and Næsje, T.F., Growth, habitat and food of burbot Lota lota in Lake Mjøsa, Fauna, 1985, vol. 38, pp. 37–43.

    Google Scholar 

  49. Semenov, D.Yu., The role of alien species in the nutrition of predatory fishes in Kuibyshev Reservoir, Povolzh. Ekol. Zh., 2009, no. 2, pp. 148–157.

  50. Sergeev, R.S., The data on burbot biology in Rybinsk Reservoir, Tr. Inst. Biol. Vodokhran., Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1959, no. 1 (4), pp. 235–258.

  51. Shatunovskii, M.I., Dgebuadze, Yu.Yu., Bobyrev, A.E., et al., Some regularities of population structure and dynamics variability in bream Abramis brama in water bodies of Eastern Europe, J. Ichthyol., 2009, vol. 49, no. 7, pp. 503–515.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  52. Slyn’ko, Yu.V. and Tereshchenko, V.G., Ryby presnykh vod Ponto-Kaspiiskogo basseina (raznoobrazie, faunogenez, dinamika populyatsii, mekhanizmy adaptatsii) (Freshwater Fishes of Ponto-Caspian Basin: Diversity, Faunogenesis, Population dynamics, and Adaptation Mechanisms), Moscow: Poligraf-Plyus, 2014.

  53. Sorokin, V.N., Nalim ozera Baikal (The Burbot of the Baikal Lake), Novosibirsk: Nauka, 1976.

  54. Sovremennoe sostoyanie rybnogo khozyaistva na vnutrennikh vodoemakh Rossii (Modern Fishery in Inland Reservoirs of Russia), Ivanov, D.I. and Pechnikov, A.S., Eds., St. Petersburg: Gos. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ozern. Rechn. Rybn. Khoz., 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  55. Strel’nikov, A.S. and Permitin, I.E., Ichthyofauna of the Pleshcheevo Lake and fishery, Tr. Inst. Biol. Vnutr. Vod, Akad. Nauk SSSR, 1983, no. 51 (54), pp. 97–112.

  56. Tikhomirova, L.P. and Shumakova, E.N., Fishery role and biology of the burbot in the Vrevo Lake, Sb. Nauchn. Tr. Gos. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ozern. Rechn. Rybn. Khoz., 1979, no. 141, pp. 55–58.

  57. Tolonen, A., Kjellman, J., and Lappalainen, J., Diet overlap between burbot (Lota lota (L.)) and whitesh (Coregonus lavaretus (L.)) in a subarctic lake, Ann. Zool. Fenn., 1999, vol. 36, pp. 205–214.

    Google Scholar 

  58. Vekhov, D.A. and Gorskii, K., Ichthyofauna composition of reservoirs in the northern part of the Volga-Akhtuba floodplain, Materialy nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii “OOPT Nizhnei Volgi kak vazhneishii mekhanizm sokhraneniya bioraznoobraziya: itogi, problemy i perspektivy” (Proc. Sci.-Pract. Conf. “Strictly Protected Nature Areas in Lower Volga Region as an Important Mechanism for Conservation of Biological Diversity: Results, Problems, and Prospects”), Volgograd, 2010, pp. 58–64.

  59. Vøllestad, L.A., Age, growth and food of the burbot Lota lota in two eutrophic lakes in southeast Norway, Fauna Norv., Ser. A, 1992, vol. 13, pp. 13–18.

    Google Scholar 

  60. Zaloznykh, D.V., Feeding of predatory fishes in Cheboksary Reservoir during first years after establishment, Sb. Nauchn. Tr. Gos. Nauchno-Issled. Inst. Ozern. Rechn. Rybn. Khoz., 1987, no. 267, pp. 118–128.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Volgograd Branch of the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography—VolgogradNIRO, Volgograd, Russia

    V. S. Boldyrev

Authors
  1. V. S. Boldyrev
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to V. S. Boldyrev.

Additional information

Translated by D. Pavlov

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Boldyrev, V.S. Features of Burbor Lota lota (Gadidae) Biology in the Lower Volga. J. Ichthyol. 61, 576–584 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945221040019

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1134/S0032945221040019

Keywords:

Search

Navigation