Huchen

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Huchen
Conservation status
Endangered (EN)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Salmoniformes Family: Salmonidae Subfamily: Salmoninae Genus: Hucho Species: H. hucho
Binomial name
Hucho hucho (Linnaeus, 1758)

The huchen or Danube salmon (Hucho hucho) is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family (family Salmonidae) of order Salmoniformes. It is the type species of its genus. Native to the Palearctic ecozone, the huchen occurred originally in the Danube basin in Europe but has been introduced elsewhere on the continent. This food fish is threatened with extinction.

[edit] Appearance

The huchen has a slender body that is nearly round in cross-section. On the reddish brown back are several dark patches in an X or crescent shape. Smaller fish feed on the larvae of water insects or on insects dropped into the water; the larger individuals are predators of other species of fish and other small vertebrates such as mice crossing rivers.

[edit] Reproduction

This largest permanent fresh water salmonid spawns in April, once water reaches a temperature of 6 to 9 °C. For spawning, the huchen migrates up the river, where females excavate depressions in the gravel in which to deposit the eggs. Larvae hatch 30 to 35 days after fertilisation.

[edit] Commercial breeding

There is now a considerable effort to commercially produce huchen larvae for reintroduction into the wild. This requires the adults being caught just before spawning and kept in special tanks. Fry are released in appropriate places once they have reached 4 to 10 cm.

[edit] Record catch

The heaviest huchen ever caught was 35.1 kg at a length of 137 cm.

[edit] References

• Kottelat (1996). Hucho hucho. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 11 May 2006. Listed as Endangered (EN A2bcde, B1+2bce v2.3)
• "Hucho hucho". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. October 2004 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2004.
• Hucho hucho (TSN 162024). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 11 December 2004.