Pelecus cultratus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Sichel
Pelecus cultratus
photo by Otel, V.

 Family:  Cyprinidae (Minnows or carps), subfamily: Leuciscinae
 Max. size:  60 cm TL (male/unsexed); max.weight: 2,000.0 g; max. reported age: 11 years
 Environment:  pelagic; depth range - 20 m, anadromous
 Distribution:  Eurasia: Black Sea, Caspian Sea and Aral Sea basins; Baltic basin from Vistula to Neva drainages, southern Sweden and Finland, Lakes Ladoga and Onega. Occasionally on Baltic coast west of Vistula and on Finnish coast north of 61°N (Ref. 59043). In Appendix III of the Bern Convention (protected fauna).
 Diagnosis:  Mouth oblique. Low wavy lateral line. Belly with a sharp edge (Ref. 35388).
 Biology:  Adults shoal in lower reaches of large rivers and in the eastern Baltic, the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea. They spawn in spring in midstream (Ref. 9696) and return to estuaries to forage immediately after spawning (Ref. 59043). Juveniles may migrate to estuaries during first summer (Ref. 59043). Feed on zooplankton, terrestrial invertebrates and small fish (Ref. 59043).
 IUCN Red List Status:   (Ref. 96402)
 Threat to humans:  harmless
 Country info:   
 

 Entered by: Luna, Susan M. - 17.10.90
 Modified by: Luna, Susan M. - 30.08.13
 Checked by: Casal, Christine Marie V. - 14.01.03

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