Who is the most famous aquatic creature? Of course, fish. But without scales, its life in water would be almost impossible. Why? Find out from our article.

Why do fish need scales?

Fish without scales practically do not exist. In some species it covers the entire body from the head to the dorsal fin, in others it stretches parallel to the spine in separate stripes. If the scales are not visible at all, this means that they are reduced. It develops in the dermis, or corium of the skin, in the form bone formations. In this case, a dense protective cover is formed. Examples of such fish are catfish, burbot, snake catcher, sterlet, sturgeon and lamprey.

Chemical composition

Fish scales are bony or cartilaginous. Half of them are chemical elements make up inorganic substances. These include mineral salts, namely phosphates and carbonates of alkaline earth metals. The remaining 50% consists of organic substances represented by connective tissue.

Types of fish scales

While performing the same functions, leather derivatives differ in their origin and chemical composition. Depending on this, several types of scales are distinguished. In representatives of the class Cartilaginous, it is placoid. This species is the most ancient in origin. The skin is covered with ganoid scales. In bones, it has the form of scales that overlap one another.

Placoid scale

This type of fish scale has been found in fossil species. Among modern species its owners are stingrays and sharks. These are diamond-shaped scales with a clearly visible spike that protrudes outward. Inside each such unit there is a cavity. It is filled with connective tissue, permeated with blood vessels and neurons.

Very durable. In stingrays, it even turns into spines. It's all about its chemical composition, the basis of which is dentin. This substance is the basis of the plate. On the outside, each scale is covered with a glassy layer - vitrodentin. This plate is similar to the teeth of fish.

Ganoid and bony scales

Lobe-finned fish are covered with ganoid scales. It is also located on the sturgeon's tail. These are thick, rhombic-shaped plates. These fish scales are connected to each other using special joints. Their totality can be a solid shell, scutes or bones on the skin. On the body it is located in the form of rings.

This type of scale got its name from its main component - ganoin. It is a shiny substance that is a shiny layer of enamel-like dentin. It has significant hardness. Below is the bone substance. Thanks to this structure, placoid scales not only perform a protective function, but also serve as the basis of muscles, giving the body elasticity.

Bone scales, which are monogenic in composition, come in two types. Cycloid covers the body of herring, carp and salmon. Its plates have a rounded posterior edge. They overlap each other like tiles, forming two layers: cap and fibrous. In the center of each scale there are nutrient tubules. They grow in a cap layer along the periphery, forming concentric stripes - sclerites. They can be used to determine the age of the fish.

On the plates of ctenoid scales, which is also a type of bone scale, small spines or ridges are located along the posterior edge. They provide the hydrodynamic abilities of fish.

Long time no see...

Everyone knows that the age of a tree can be determined by the growth rings on the trunk. There is also a way to determine the age of a fish by its scales. How is this possible?

Fish grow throughout their lives. In summer, conditions are more favorable as there is enough light, oxygen and food. Therefore, growth is more intense during this period. And in winter it slows down significantly or stops altogether. Activation of the metabolic process also causes scale growth. Its summer layer forms a dark ring, and its winter layer forms a white ring. By counting them, you can determine the age of the fish.

The formation of new rings depends on a number of factors: temperature fluctuations, amount of food, age and type of fish. Scientists have found that in young and mature individuals, rings are formed in different time of the year. For the first, this happens in the spring. Adults at this time only accumulate substances for the summer period.

The period of formation of annual rings also depends on the species. For example, in young bream this occurs in the spring, and in mature bream in the fall. It is also known that fish also form annual rings. tropical zone. And this despite the fact that there are no seasons, fluctuations in temperature and amount of food here. This proves that annual rings are the result of a combination of several factors: conditions external environment, metabolic processes and humoral regulation in the body of fish.

Most most...

It would seem that what could be unusual about the scales? In fact, many fish have it unique characteristics. For example, the scales of coelacanth on the outside have a large number of bulges. This makes the fish look like a saw. No modern species has such a structure.

A gold fish so called due to its scales. In fact, this is a decorative form. The first goldfish were bred in the 6th century in China by Buddhist monks. Currently, more than 50 breeds of this species are known with red, golden and yellow colors.

At first glance, the eel is a fish without scales. In fact, it is so small that it is almost invisible. It is also difficult to feel because the eel's skin produces a large amount of mucus and is very slippery.

So, fish scales are a derivative of skin. It is one of the structural features that ensures adaptation to life in aquatic environment. Depending on the chemical composition, placoid, ganoid and bone scales are distinguished.

Among the wide diversity of the fish world, there is a common division into aquatic inhabitants covered with scales and some species without it. Common religions (Judaism, Islam) prohibit eating fish without scales. This is due to the fact that many scaleless aquatic creatures are scavengers, and some of them are poisonous. In this article we will look at which fish have no scales.

A dense layer of bony plates forms a shell that protects the insides from high pressure water. The scaly shell protects the body from injury from hard and sharp stones. Scales play a role in camouflaging fish in algae and against the background of the bottom landscape. Greenish and silvery shades of color reduce the visibility of the individual in water layers and sunlight.

The most common scaleless representatives of the ichthyofauna

Sometimes representatives water element do not have scaly cover. Fish without scales is a general name for all species, even those with small scales, like a shark. In some fish, for example, sturgeon, the remains of scales are represented by a number of bone plates.

A fish that does not have scales is often a bottom cleaner of a reservoir from carcass remains. various organisms, as well as a predator that performs a sanitary function to clear water spaces from sick or old individuals. Far from it full list scaleless species includes the following names:

• (river and sea);
• shark;
• flounder;
• icy;
• catfish (blue and speckled);
• lamprey;
• sturgeon (all types);
• leather carp;
• macrous;
• mackerel;
• loach;
• acne;
• golomyanka;
• pearl oyster;
• navaga;
• Alepisaurus

Som

The largest carnivore River fish without scales - catfish. It belongs to the class of ray-finned fish. The body of the catfish is long, flattened and powerful, covered with mucus for maneuverability and gliding. Contrary to the general belief that catfish have no scales, their skin is covered with invisible microscopic scales. A wide head with a large mouth ensures rapid swallowing of prey.

Catfish do not have good eyesight - its deficiency is replaced by whiskers that perform a tactile function. Catfish lead a bottom life, living in muddy pits. They feed on any living creature, not disdaining carrion. Cases of their attacks on birds, small animals and even people have been recorded.

Predators are nocturnal, hibernating during the winter. The historical weight of the record holder of this species reached 400 kg, and the length - up to 5 meters. But now catfish over 100 kg are rarely found. Good gastronomic qualities contribute to the massive catch of catfish, which does not allow them to live to a possible 80 years.

Loach

- a small river bottom fish that lives in stagnant muddy reservoirs overgrown with dense algae. Near swampy reservoirs you can hear the squeak of a loach that has risen to the surface for a portion of fresh air. The loach can live in places where, due to the lack of oxygen, no other individual lives.

It can survive dry times by burrowing deep into the mud and hibernating until rainy weather arrives. The length of the bindweed does not exceed 30 cm, and its weight is 150 g. They feed on larvae, worms, crustaceans, mollusks and detritus. Loaches eat the eggs of other species so actively that they can completely exterminate other individuals in the reservoir.

The fish has a serpentine shape, so it is amazingly resourceful. Some loaches crawl large areas of land from one body of water to another. Bindweed is called a living barometer: before bad weather, it pops up to the surface of the water up to 15 times a minute. The Japanese predict earthquakes and tsunamis based on the behavior of loaches.

Sturgeon

Sturgeon is a popular sea fish in industrial production. The variety and species of sturgeon include dozens of commercial fish.

On the sturgeon's elongated body, the scales sit in the form of five rows of spines, between which there are bony plates. There are no scales on the rest of the body. The elongated cone-shaped head has fleshy lips with four antennae and a toothless, retractable jaw. The cartilaginous skeleton is a chordate invertebrate structure.

To spawn, sturgeons enter the same shallow fresh water bodies. Sturgeon are highly fertile—adults can lay up to a million eggs. Sometimes they spend the winter in fresh waters. Eating sturgeon species shellfish and small fish: sprat, anchovy, gobies.

Why do fish have no scales?

Many scientists consider the absence of scales to be a loss of scales in some species during the process of evolution; others believe that the structure of the outer cover is a protective function of the body, developed by the necessity of a particular lifestyle and exposure to the external environment.

The long, serpentine bodies of scaleless fish require not so much lamellar skin protection as an abundance of mucus for maneuverability and the inability to be captured by a predator. For the same purpose, mucus is sometimes poisonous.

The shell created by the scales is necessary when the fish lives near stones, so as not to injure the body, and also serves as protection from predators. And if the fish lives in spacious water layers or near a muddy bottom, the scales lose their significance. Each species develops evolutionarily in accordance with its natural needs.

One of characteristic features fish is the presence of skin formations - scales. Fish have three main types of scales, differing both in shape and in the material from which they are built. These are placoid, ganoid and bone scales (Fig. 22).

Figure 22 – Types of scales:

A– placoid; b– ganoid; V– cycloid; G– ctenoid; 1 – center of scales; 2 – front radius; 3 – rear radius; 4 – power channels.

Placoid scales, called dermal teeth, consist of a plate lying in the skin and a spine sitting on it, covered with a layer of enamel; the tip of the spine extends out through the epidermis. The basis of placoid scales is dentin - a solid organic substance with calcium salts. Inside the scales there is a cavity with blood vessels and nerve endings. Placoid scales are located on the body of fish in diagonal rows, with each scale lying freely in the skin and not connected to the neighboring one, which does not interfere with the lateral mobility of the fish.

The spines of most sharks have their points directed towards the tail, which creates a streamlined body. Placoid scales are characteristic of cartilaginous fish. Modifications of placoid scales are the teeth of sharks and rays, spines in the dorsal fins of horned and spiny sharks, and various kinds of spiny plates on the body of rays. During life, the placoid scales undergo repeated replacement.

Many fossil lobefins, modern coelacanths, and fossil lungfishes are characterized by cosmoid scales. By their origin, cosmoid scales are fused and highly modified placoid scales. In the living coelacanth, the scales consist of four layers: superficial (enamel-like) with denticles and pores; spongy-bone; bone-spongy; lower, consisting of dense bone plates.

Ganoid scales evolved from cosmoid scales. It consists of a rhombic-shaped bone plate with a lateral hook-shaped protrusion, thanks to which the scales are tightly connected to each other, forming a shell on the fish’s body. The scales are covered on top with a dentin-like substance – ganoin. Such scales were characteristic of fossil paleoniscans and performed a protective function. Of the living fish, such scales are found in multi-feather-like fish (they have cosmoid-ganoid scales) and carapace-like fish (they have ganoid scales). In sturgeons, remains of ganoid scales are preserved on the upper lobe of the tail. Modifications of the ganoid scales are fulcra - saddle-shaped formations located on the outer edge of the fins of armored pikes and polyfins, and in sturgeons - along the outer edge of the upper lobe of the caudal fin.

Bony scales are characteristic of most modern bony fish. Phylogenetically represents a modification of the ganoid scales. It looks like thin round plates lying on the body of the fish in skin pockets; one end of it is rounded, the other freely overlaps the adjacent scales. The appearance of bony scales contributed to the development of lateral mobility of fish, a decrease in their mass, and maneuverability of movement. In addition, the tiled-like arrangement eliminates the possibility of the formation of vertical folds on the skin during lateral movements, thereby helping to maintain a smooth, well-streamlined body surface. The scales consist of a main plate of bony origin, consisting of parallel fibers and a rigid, mineralized upper hyalodentine layer. The hyalodentine layer has irregularities in the form of concentrically located ridges - sclerites. The scales grow in the lower underlying layer: under the first plate formed by the fry, a new one of larger diameter appears. With further growth next year, another plate of larger diameter is laid below. On the edges of the newly formed plates protruding from under the old plate there is a hyalodentine layer in the form of sclerites. The smallest plate on top is the central one, the oldest, largest in diameter; below is the youngest. As a result of growth, the central part of the scales becomes denser than its edges. During the period of slow growth (autumn and winter), sclerites on the outer surface of the scales are laid close to each other or not at all. During the period of intensive growth (spring and summer), sclerites are laid at a distance from each other. The boundary between the close sclerites of autumn growth and the widely separated sclerites of spring-summer growth is the annual or annual ring. In addition to annual rings, during periods of slow growth, additional rings may form on the scales. The part of the scales covered by overlapping adjacent scales is called the anterior one; it is noticeably different from the free, uncovered posterior one and is separated by a clearly distinguishable border. The leading edge of the scales in most fish is uneven and wavy, which helps secure the scales in the skin pocket. At the intersection of the line separating the border of the anterior and posterior parts of the scales and the middle longitudinal diagonal lies the center of the scales. Radial stripes extend from it - feeding channels for the scales (see Fig. 22). The center of the scale does not necessarily occupy a central position on the scale. It may be shifted to the posterior edge of the scales.

Due to mechanical damage, individual fish scales often fall out, and new regenerated scales grow in their place. Its center lacks a regular sclerite structure and consists of cracks in the main plate running in different directions. The correct sclerite sculpture of the upper layer of the scales begins from the year when the scales re-formed. Such scales are unsuitable for determining age.

There are two types of bone scales: cycloid, with a smooth trailing edge, and ctenoid, along the posterior edge, free from the pocket, of which there are spines (ctenia). Ctenia are visible only with magnification, but are clearly distinguishable to the touch, which is why fish with ctenoid scales have a rough body surface. Cycloid scales are characteristic of low-organized fish of the orders of herring, pike-shaped, etc. Ctenoid scales are characteristic of highly organized fish (perch-like, flounder-like). However, this position is not absolute, and in these orders there are fish with cycloid scales. In some species (polar flounder), females have cycloid scales, males have ctenoid scales. Merou perches have ctenoid scales on their backs and cycloid scales on their bellies. The common perch has a body covered with ctenoid scales and its cheeks with cycloid scales.

The size of the scales is closely related to the way the fish moves. Fishes with eel-like and ribbon-like body shapes, which swim due to the strong bending of the body, have small scales (eels, catfish), and in some cases this method of movement leads to their disappearance (moray eels). Fish that move in the scombroid type have small scales due to a very high frequency of transverse locomotor bending of the body, in which the presence of scales would complicate the lateral bending of the body and with an increase in the frequency of bending, the scales decrease in size. In mackerels, in the front part of the body, at the pectoral fins and on the back, where lateral bending is practically absent, the scales are preserved and are larger, forming a so-called corset. Fish with tall bodies tend to have larger scales. The largest scales are found in sedentary fish, most of which are inhabitants of stagnant waters or coral reefs (sparfish, bristletooths and many cyprinids). On the inner surface of the scales adjacent to the body of the fish there is a layer containing crystals of guanine and lime, which gives the fish a silvery color. The guanine layer is especially abundant on the scales of pelagic fish (herring, sabrefish, bleak). The absence of guanine causes the transparency of the scales (smelt). The outer surface of the scales is covered with a layer of epidermis, under which there is a thin layer of connective tissue with pigment cells. On the body of some fish (carp, whitefish, smelt) during the spawning period, a so-called pearl rash appears on the body and head - tubercles formed by the growth of the epidermis, which moves outward in a cone shape. The top of the tubercle is covered with horny substance. Developing during the breeding season under the influence of sex hormones, the pearl rash later disappears, leaving no traces.

The body of some fish may be covered with bony scutes and plates that perform a protective function. In some cases, the scutes or plates, tightly adjacent to each other, form a shell on the body of the fish (sticklebacks, pipefish, boxfish, sea chanterelles).



What is a fish without bones? How to cut fish? What fish is the most delicious and healthy? How to cook bony fish? Let's try to answer these and other questions.

From a scientific point of view, fish are divided into bony and cartilaginous. These are two different classes of fish. Cartilaginous fish do not have gill covers and lack a swim bladder - these are different sharks, rays and chimeras. Bony fish have a developed bony skeleton, consisting of a vertebra and costal bones, and the gills cover the gill covers, and they have a swim bladder - this is all river fish and most sea fish.

When we say “fish without bones,” we mean the absence of small fork bones, the number of which determines the bonyness of the fish.

In cooking, sea and river fish are divided according to their bonyness:

1. Fish without bones;
2. Fish with a small number of small fork bones;
3. Bony fish (bony).

Within the framework of one article it is impossible to provide the entire list of river and sea ​​fish boneless, low-bone and bony fish - there are thousands of names. We will name only those types of fish that we often hear about, that we catch, cook or eat; there are no sharks or moray eels. The lists include fish that some people like and others don’t, some that are affordable and some that are expensive, some that are rare and some that are not so rare, and that vary in their degree of usefulness, safety, and taste. To avoid offending anyone, the names of the fish are in alphabetical order.

Fish without bones, or without small bones, are sturgeon, some cod and salmon. It can be river, lake, migratory or sea fish.

Migratory fish is a fish that enters the fresh waters of rivers to spawn. Migratory salmon rise upstream in rivers, overcoming any obstacles in their path, spawn, and then slide downstream and die. Migratory sturgeons enter rivers, but do not rise high and return to the sea until the next spawning season. The river eel, on the contrary, goes to sea to spawn. Migratory and semi-anadromous fish can live in both fresh and salt water.

River fish and migratory fish

Sturgeon, sturgeon, is the general name for freshwater sturgeon, anadromous and semi-anadromous fish. This is an osteochondral fish species that can live 50, 100 or more years. Black caviar is a product of sturgeon fish.

• Beluga (largest freshwater fish sturgeon family, listed in the Red Book)
• Kaluga (sturgeon freshwater fish of the beluga genus)
• Russian sturgeon
• Sevruga (sturgeon family, migratory fish)
• Sterlet (freshwater fish of the sturgeon family, grown in ponds and lakes)
• Thorn (sturgeon anadromous fish)

Other river fish without bones —

• Burbot (freshwater representative of cod)
• River lamprey (jawless predatory fish)
• River eel (migratory fish, spawns in sea water)

River fish with a few small bones:

• Carp (wild carp)
• Catfish (large freshwater predator)
• Pike perch (perch family)

Salmonidae

Salmon, salmon, is the general name for fish of the salmon family, including freshwater inhabitants and migratory ones. Red caviar is a delicacy, the roe of salmon fish.

• Pink salmon (genus of Pacific salmon)
• Chum salmon (salmon fish)
• Salmon (Atlantic salmon, lake salmon)
• Whitefish (salmon, there are many varieties of whitefish)
• Taimen (freshwater fish, the most major representative salmon, listed in the Red Book)
• Trout (several species of fish of the salmon family that live in fresh water)

Sea fish

Sea fish without bones are mainly fish from the cod, mackerel and horse mackerel families. In parentheses are notes and key features.

List of boneless (or almost boneless) sea fish:

• Vomer (selena, moonfish)
• Yellowtail, or lakedra (mackerel fish)
• Catfish (sea wolf, perciformes)
• Flounder (flat bottom fish)
• Mullet (there are freshwater representatives)
• Icefish (white pike)
• Mackerel (mackerel fish)
• Macrurus (rattail, deep-sea cod-like fish)
• Pollock (cod fish)
• Sea bream (perciform fish)
• Sea bass (Scarpenidae family)
• Conger eel (passively poisonous fish)
• Sole sole (European sole, flounder fish)
• Navaga (Far Eastern navaga, cod family)
• Halibut (flounder)
• Haddock (cod family)
• Seabass (from sea bass, laurel, koykan, sea wolf, sea pike perch, etc.)
• Mackerel (mackerel family, order Perciformes)
• Horse mackerel (different types of fish from the horse mackerel family)
• Tuna (tunas are a group of fish of the mackerel family)
• Hake (hake, cod-like fish)

What fish has no scales? In fish, depending on the species, there are five different types scales. Most fish have scales, some are partially scaled, and a few fish have no scales.

Some fish species are mistaken for fish without scales. An example is sharks and rays. Indeed, sharks and rays do not have lamellar scales, since they are a different structure called placoid scales - rhombic plates with a spine protruding outward. Next, the list edible fish completely or partially without scales.

Sea fish without scales:

• Mackerel (spines present on the lateral line)
• Sea eel

River fish without scales:

• Naked carp (mirror carp is partially covered with large scales)
• Burbot
• Sturgeon (scales present on the tail)
• river eel
• Catfish (catfish are considered scaleless, but they have very small, dense scales that form a covering similar to skin).

Tench is sometimes mistaken for a fish without scales, but it has them. Tench have rather small and dense scales, covered with a dense layer of mucus, so the cover looks like skin.

Cutting river and sea fish

Before cutting the fish, it is prepared - thawing (if frozen) and soaking. Cutting a fish involves removing everything unnecessary - scales, entrails, skin, head, fins and bones. At the same time, according to the processing method, fish are divided into groups: scaly, scaleless and sturgeon. Fish with very small scales (catfish, navaga) are cut like fish without scales.

When preparing frozen fish for cutting and cooking, it is useful to know the following points:

1. The faster frozen fish thaws, the better they are preserved. taste properties meat and the juicier it will be.
2. Scaly and scaleless fish are thawed in lightly salted water for two to five hours, depending on size.
3. Sturgeon, catfish, frozen fillets are thawed in air at room temperature.
4. Mackerel, navaga, hake, mackerel - do not thaw, they are easier to cut frozen.

Different types, methods and schemes for the primary cutting of different fish are demonstrated in the video below. Cutting river fish (perch, pike, burbot, pike perch, bream) and sea fish, cutting salmon and sturgeon:

Which fish is tastier and healthier?

We looked at many types of fish, some with more bones and others with fewer bones. We found out that there is fish without bones and scales. But is this enough to judge the culinary value of fish? Not, no so much.

In addition to the number of small bones, the meat different fish differs in many properties: taste, fat content, amount of protein, presence of useful minerals and vitamins. Availability and price of fish are also important.

Let's find out which fish is the most delicious and healthy, which fish you should stay away from, and what the cost of fish depends on.

The most delicious fish is the fish that you personally like best. There is an opinion that there is no such thing as tasteless fish - only improperly prepared fish. Generally recognized delicious fish considered: salmon, sturgeon, tuna, luvar. But some people will prefer grilled bream, fried pike perch, or grilled pike perch to all these delicious fish.

The healthiest fish is the one whose meat contains more omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which are simply necessary for the body. This means that these are “fatty” fish - tuna, halibut, mackerel, salmon. Let's arrange them in descending order by the amount of healthy fats:

• Wild salmon (any wild fish salmon family)
• Mackerel
• Cod
• Halibut
• Rainbow trout
• Sardines
• Herring
• Tuna

Contrary to what most healthy fish often called tuna, it falls to the bottom of the list of the healthiest fish. This is because we used an objective approach and facts. The healthiest fish in terms of omega-3 content is wild salmon. It is the wild one, as well as the one grown in captivity, that often turns out to be harmful due to the feed additives that are used when growing it on fish farms. Just one hundred grams of wild salmon meat contain daily norm omega-3 fatty acids.

In general, any fish is considered dietary. A more dietary fish is one whose meat contains fewer calories and fat. Among river fish, these are pike, perch, and pike perch.

Marine dietary fish are hake, pollock and cod. It should be borne in mind that the dietary properties of fish largely depend on the method of its preparation. If you fry or smoke fish, the dietary properties of the fish will be lost. The most suitable methods for preparing dietary fish dishes, there will be boiling or steaming.

The safety of fish depends on how you look at it. There are fish that you can eat even raw without worrying about the dangers of raw meat. The safest river fish can be considered fish from cold, clean and transparent fast rivers. However, sea fish is safer.

At the same time, it should be remembered that there are no completely safe products suitable for absolutely everyone. The safety of fish largely depends on the method of preparation.

The most harmful and dangerous fish

If there is the most useful fish, it is logical to assume that there is also the most harmful fish. And this is by no means a poisonous fugu fish. Telapia and pangasius, for example, often live and breed in simply terrible conditions. They normally exist and multiply almost in sewage waters where they feed on any waste from these waters. Just don't buy telapia of dubious origin.

It is more difficult with semi-finished fish products made from the meat of quite noble fish. To give it a fresh look, dyes are added to the fish meat, and for weight, it is pumped with substances that retain large amounts of water. I don’t even want to talk about chemicals that dissolve bones in fillets.

An unscrupulous manufacturer can make any fish harmful and dangerous.

The most expensive and cheapest fish

The most expensive fish is not found on store shelves, and not at all because no one can afford it. This rare species fish specially supplied only to restaurants. These include pufferfish, beluga and its caviar, kaluga and some other sturgeon. Tuna is also an expensive type of fish. People have learned to raise salmon and sturgeon, so the price for them has become quite affordable for many.

The cheapest fish in stores are fresh frozen hake, pollock, halibut, haddock, cod and the like. River fish that is not exported can be cheaper than sea fish.

The price of fish is not directly related to the value of fish as a food product, its taste and usefulness. It depends more on demand on the global and local markets, the ability to satisfy this demand, and other factors not related to the quality of fish.

Bony (bony) fish

Small and large fish of the same species have approximately the same number of small bones, but in large fish the fork bones are larger and more noticeable. Select dice from large fish much easier. Almost all small river fish are very bony - these are perch, pike, bream, roach, crucian carp, etc.

Why don't people like bony fish? Bony fish, or as they say - “bony”, does not mean that it is tasteless. It can be very tasty, but picking small bones from the fish instead of eating it is a dubious pleasure. In addition, there is a risk that a small fish bone may get stuck in the throat. How to cook bony fish? What to do if a bone is stuck in your throat? We will answer these questions too.

Frying small fish without bones

Heat treatment of fish softens fish bones. Vegetable oil, unlike water, warms up significantly above 100 degrees. Under the influence of this temperature, small bones in boiling oil almost completely dissolve. It turns out to be fish without bones.

This way you can fry fish that are not very suitable for frying due to large quantity small bones - medium-sized roach, bream, silver bream, ide and similar fish. Crucian carp is traditionally fried, and transverse cuts on the sides, definitely during the frying process, rid the crucian carp of many fork bones.

See what it looks like:

If a fish bone gets stuck in your throat

A fish bone is stuck in my throat, what should I do? How to remove it at home?
Anyone who has eaten bony fish at least occasionally knows the unpleasant sensations when a small fish bone gets stuck in the throat or tonsils. It becomes difficult to swallow, any swallowing movements cause pain. What to do if a bone is stuck in your throat? The main thing is not to panic.

In most cases, it is possible to get rid of a fish bone without outside help, on your own, if it is a small and soft bone. There are several simple and relatively safe ways get rid of such a bone in the throat.

We warn you: Doctors do not welcome “amateur activity” and advise you to immediately consult a doctor. The fact is that the results of manipulations with a fish bone may turn out to be impossible to get rid of it and you will still need to go to the doctor. At the same time, the bone may become even more stuck in the throat, and even for a specialist it will be more difficult to remove it.

So, there are two options - we do everything at home, at our own risk, on our own, or we go for professional help.
All methods of getting rid of a fish bone at home are based on mechanical action on the fish bone by swallowing something that can drag the bone into the esophagus, or rinsing.

1. Bread pulp. The bread is partially chewed until moist and swallowed with a pronounced gulp. The bread can be soaked in fresh honey. This is perhaps the most effective way.
2. Enveloping products. Instead of bread, you can use thick drinks (yogurt, fermented baked milk, kefir), fresh flowing honey, or eat, for example, a banana. If the bone is caught slightly, this may help.
3. Vegetable oil. If you take a small sip vegetable oil, there is a possibility that the bone, under the influence of lubricant, will slip out and move towards its destination.

If, as a result of the actions taken, the bone from the fish does not go into the digestive tract, you should consult a doctor. This cannot be delayed, otherwise the inflammatory process will begin and the pain will intensify.

That's all. Let's end on a beautiful note: salmon, going to spawn, crosses the road.

“Scaly world” is what we lovingly call fish. But which of us has been more involved in these remarkable external signs many fish, from pike to carp? Is the scale structure of all fish species the same? Are there fish without scales? What do scales tell us about a fish and what is their role?

Based on the scientific definition, scales are the skin of most fish, which is formed in the subcutaneous layer and consists of bony plates. So, in any case, it is written in zoological books. The scales of our local fish have a complex structure. It mainly consists of a transparent integumentary layer and an underlying bony base layer. It is reinforced with cartilage fibers and is characterized by so-called growth rings, which are interrupted in the radial direction, so that the scales remain flexible.

There are different types of scales. We are primarily interested in large groups of round and comb scales. The placoid scales of sharks are not true scales. The so-called ganoid scales consist of a ganoid layer covered with bony plates, which therefore are not true fish scales.

Characteristic signs

In ichthyology, round scales are divided into six types.

1. Herring scales(small, tender, easy to separate).
2. Trout scales(small, round, without radial stripes).
3. Carp scales(large, hard, from silvery to golden-shiny, for tenches - small, inconspicuous).
4. Pike scales(firm, typically built).
5. Acne scales(very small, buried deep in the skin, almost invisible).
6. Burbot scales(small, tender).

The scales of some fish are so distinctively shaped that they can be used to identify their owner. In the burps of cormorants, for example, along with fish bones, undigested scales are found. Her research provides fairly accurate information about the food spectrum of piscivorous birds. The large, silvery, shiny scales of the “white” fish are noteworthy. In some fish species it is very thin and, like bleak, falls off very easily when touched. The scales of such fish, which have a silvery sheen, are used to make artificial pearls. Characteristic are the hard golden-shiny round scales of the carp or the large “mirror” scales of its selection forms. The reticulate pattern of the chub's scales is an important identifying feature of this species.

Ganoid scales are found in perch fish such as river perch and pike perch. It is small, firmly adheres to the skin and has small teeth. The side of the scales sticking out from under the skin is jagged, so these fish seem rough to the touch. Round and ganoid scales form a tiled-like covering on the surface of the fish’s body. Thanks to its ideal location, it does not interfere with the movement of fish when swimming and also provides sufficient protection from damage. Under the scales there is an integumentary skin. It contains mucous cells that form a smooth, closed mucous layer. If the scales are very small, like those of eels or tenches, the mucous layer is strengthened. Scaleless fish such as catfish are very slimy. Their skin is elastic. And the color cells are located here on top of the scaly layer. When the scales are removed, the fish lose their beautiful color, only the basic tone under the skin, gray or green, remains.

Growth and regeneration

In summer, fish grow (and their scales grow with them) faster than in winter, so that distinct growth rings form on the scales, which can be used to determine the age of the fish. By the time of spawning, growth slows down, which leaves marks on the scale rings. From an enlarged image of an individual scale, experts can learn a lot about life story fish.

The formation of scales occurs in fish at a young age. The number of scales remains the same throughout her life. The scales grow evenly along with the fish. Scales lost as a result of wounds are quickly restored. The newly formed scales grow very quickly, but often the harmonious original scaly appearance is no longer achieved. In scar tissue of the skin, scales most often grow at random.

Some scales, especially those located along, are striking. There they have clearly visible holes, thanks to which the sensory organs lying under the scales come into contact with water. In some fish species, similar scales are located outside the lateral line. Outwardly very similar cyprinids, such as the Danube roach and ide, whitefish (madder) or gold and silver crucian carp can be accurately distinguished by the number of scales along their lateral line.

Scales in some areas also have mystical meaning. Some people put a Christmas carp scale in their wallet every year to ensure it never gets empty.