Aquatic Fauna of Water Bodies in the Maly Patok River Basin (the Subpolar Urals). I. Fishes

Abstract

The materials of long-term studies (1996–2017) on the fish fauna in the basin of the Maly Patok River, which is the key river in the watershed of European and Siberian rivers and the boundary between the Subpolar and Northern Urals areas, have been generalized. The local ichthyofauna consists of 11 species, including anadromous (Atlantic salmon or summer salmon), semidiadromous (Siberian whitefish), and nonmigratory species. The Siberian whitefish, an invader, forms a semidiadromous lake-and-river form here. A trend towards an increasing role of Siberian whitefish in the formation of the fish part of the aquatic community in a wide range of the lakes located in the mountainous belt area has been identified along with a decreasing share of the previously dominant perch.