Weatherfish

(Misgurnus), a genus of the Misgurnidae family. The body of a weatherfish is elongated and covered with small scales. The fish reaches 30 cm in length and has ten whiskers around the mouth. The float bladder is enclosed in an osseous capsule, and the rear section of the intestine is thickened and serves a respiratory function. Weatherfish swallow and release air through their intestines and thus easily survive oxygen deficiency in the water. There are several species, living in Europe and south and east Asia. There are two species in the USSR— Misgurnus fossilis, found in the rivers of the Baltic Region, in the basins of the Black Sea (from the Danube to the Don) and the Volga, and occasionally in the lower reaches of the Kuban’; and M. anguillicaudatus, found in the Amur basin. They feed on tiny river-bottom animals. They spawn in April or May, and their roe stick to plants. The fingerlings have threadlike external gills. Weatherfish are exceptionally good subjects for laboratory research and are also used in experiments for testing the activity of the gonadotropic hormones of the pituitary body.