Post #13808

Wilderness: Survive in the darkness without oxygen. The worst time for any fish If for us winter is a reason to dress warmly, then for fish every arrival of cold weather is a local apocalypse, whose name is the wilderness. This is the time when the busiest body of water turns into a lifeless wasteland, bound by ice, cold and fear of the future. The wilderness is approaching gradually, almost imperceptibly. With each new frost, the fish become slower and more passive. This is not the autumn blues, this is physiology: gill-breathers are cold-blooded creatures. The temperature of the environment directly affects their energy levels. Meanwhile, the surface of the reservoirs is gradually frozen by ice, and real difficulties arise. By January, the thin crust turns into a wall several centimeters thick. The inhabitants of lakes, ponds and rivers become completely cut off from the surface. No oxygen is supplied. In addition to the fact that it becomes cold and stuffy under water, it also becomes dark there. A layer of ice already blocks direct sunlight. But when a layer of snow is added to it, the underwater kingdom turns into a kingdom of darkness. Photosynthesis of green algae stops. But the decomposition process is still ongoing! As a result, a layer saturated with carbon dioxide and poor in oxygen gradually forms at the bottom and in deep holes. Breathing stops here in the most literal sense of the word - if you swim here, the fish will die from suffocation. At this moment, the same wilderness begins, lasting from January to mid-February or longer. Lethargic fish are trying with their last strength to get to shallow, secluded places where they can breathe with full gills. Slightly running water, the proximity of plants, depressions and holes - these are the lucky ticket to survive the winter and not suffocate. However, not everyone meekly accepts the impending doom. For example, nocturnal and bottom predators feel great in the dead of winter - now the entire reservoir lives according to the rules of twilight. Some fish are so resilient that they accept new rules of the game and live at an increased level of difficulty. Ruffs overcome cold and suffocation. The roach swims in a shuttle between the bottom and the surface, shallow water and the water column. These cruising schools are followed on the heels of hungry pike. And for burbot, the wilderness is a time to breathe out. In the warm season, this fish is lethargic and inactive. The peak of its vital activity occurs during the most bone-crushing frosts. Burbot not only survives the dead winter, it spawns at its peak, right under the ice! While the rest of the inhabitants of rivers and lakes are in a semi-fainting state, the burbot, left without competitors for resources, is fattening up its sides. Thus, between apathetic melancholy and active gluttony, the darkest hour in the life of underwater inhabitants gradually recedes. The weak and sick have already fallen, strangled b