Anyone who buys fish in a store usually does not ask what kind of species it is. Commodity experts have already identified everything, and the necessary information is on the price tag. The market is another matter. Fishermen often sell what they themselves caught. Before buying fish from them, try to determine what exactly you are going to take, because the cooking method depends on the type of fish.
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Instruction manual
1
Inspect the mouth of the fish. Note if there is a suction cup. This form of mouth occurs only in representatives of the lampreys family. Other fish do not have a suction cup, but a jaw.
2
Examine the skin of the fish and count the dorsal fins. If the specimen you like has five rows of bone bugs, then it belongs to the sturgeon. To distinguish different fish of this family can be on several grounds. This is the shape of the snout, the number of antennae, the ratio of length and height. A distinctive feature may be the presence or absence of stellate plates, which are found in stellate sturgeon, but are absent in other sturgeons. Baltic sturgeon has diamond-shaped plates.
3
Inspect your body shape. It can be flat, arrow-shaped, spindle-shaped, laterally compressed, serpentine. Acne fish have a serpentine shape.
4
In fish with a flat body, inspect the eyes. If they are located asymmetrically, then this is a fish from the flatfish family. The type of fish depends on the color. The presence or absence of spikes, the location of the dorsal fin and the lateral line are also important.
5
Count the fins. See how they are located. Rate their shape and size. Observe if the fish has a fat fin and a fat eyelid. Count the number of antennae at the mouth. Fat fin is a characteristic feature of salmon, grayling and smelt fish.
6
Pay attention to the shape and size of the scales. Count the number of rays in the dorsal fin. Pay attention to the structure of the jaw. The number of rays in the anal fin is also important. Count the transverse rows of scales.
7
A characteristic feature of cod and mackerel is the number of dorsal fins. Cod has 3, and mackerel usually has more. Different types of cod fish have a different number of antennae, their head and jaw shapes are different. An important sign is the color of the sideline.
8
If the fish has only 2 dorsal fins, see if it has a sideline. It is absent in the mullet.
9
In a two-fin fish with a lateral line, examine the first dorsal fin from the head. In perch, it will be hard. Goby fish have a soft and flexible first dorsal fin. In order to determine the type, look at the color, shape of the jaw, especially the head.
10
Fish with one dorsal fin may or may not have a lateral line. If it is not, the fish belongs to herring. Look at the shape of the abdomen and the structure of the dorsal fin.
eleven
Fish with one dorsal fin and lateral line can belong to cyprinids or pike. The second family has one very characteristic feature - teeth. Therefore, first of all, inspect the jaw. To determine the specific type, look at the shape of the scales, color, size of the head.
12
Remember or write down the characteristics that you have identified. Find in the identifier, the link to which is indicated below, the desired family and, for finer signs, establish the type of fish.