Nase
Encyclopedia
The Common Nase is a potamodromous fish
Fish
Fish are a paraphyletic group of organisms that consist of all gill-bearing aquatic vertebrate animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish, as well as various extinct related groups...

 found in the basins of the Meuse
Meuse River
The Maas or Meuse is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea...

, Rhine and Danube river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...

s. It is often simply called "the nase", but that can refer to any species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 of its genus
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 Chondrostoma
Chondrostoma
Chondrostoma is a genus of ray-finned fish in the family Cyprinidae. They are commonly known as nases, though this term is also used locally to denote particular species, most frequently the Common Nase Chondrostoma (from the Ancient Greek roots (khondros, “lump”) + (stoma, “mouth”) =...

. Another local name is sneep.

Vital statistics

Nases have a spindle
Spindle (textiles)
A spindle is a wooden spike used for spinning wool, flax, hemp, cotton, and other fibres into thread. It is commonly weighted at either the bottom middle or top, most commonly by a circular or spherical object called a whorl, and may also have a hook, groove or notch, though spindles without...

 shaped physique, with a blue-grey metallic-coloured scales and orange tail. It has relatively sharp lower lip. Generally, the fish range from 25 to 40 centimetres in length, and weigh about 1000 grams. However, specimens have been recorded up to 50 cm long and 1.5 kg in weight. The maximum recorded life span of the fish is 15 years.

Biology

This gregarious species is found in deep water with a fast current, often in the back water
Backwater (river)
A backwater is a part of a river in which there is little or no current. It refers either to a branch of a main river which lies alongside it and then rejoins it or to a body of water in a main river which is backed up by an obstruction such as the tide or a dam.-Alternative channel:If a river has...

s of bridge
Bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

s or in rocky outcrops. It feeds on algae
Algae
Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...

. Nase fish on the whole stay in shoals
Shoaling and schooling
In biology, any group of fish that stay together for social reasons are said to be shoaling , and if, in addition, the group is swimming in the same direction in a coordinated manner, they are said to be schooling . In common usage, the terms are sometimes used rather loosely...

.

Protection

The nase is protected by the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats
Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats
The Bern Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats 1979, also known as the Bern Convention , came into force on June 1, 1982....

.

External links

  • Nase, from Fishbase
    FishBase
    FishBase is a comprehensive database of information about fish species . It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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