Bitterling

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Bitterling

 

(Rhodeus sericeus), a fish of the Cyprinidae family. The body is high and drawn in from the sides; the bitterling is up to 9 cm in length. It is found in Europe (east of France) and in East Asia (in the Amur basin and in the rivers of Sakhalin, northern China, and Korea). It usually lives in slowly flowing and standing bodies of water. The fish lays about 100 eggs; during the spawning season (from March to August) the female grows a long ovipositor, which enables her to lay the eggs in the gill opening of bivalve mollusks, particularly of the genus Unio.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.