Classification / Names
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa
Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Cypriniformes
(Carps) > Cyprinidae
(Minnows or carps) > Leuciscinae
Etymology: Pelecus: Greek, pelekys = hatchet (Ref. 45335). More on author: Linnaeus.
Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range
Freshwater; brackish; pelagic; anadromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 20 - ? m (Ref. 9696). Temperate; 10°C - 20°C (Ref. 2059); 63°N - 36°N, 8°E - 73°E
Eurasia: Black Sea, Caspian Sea and Aral Sea basins; Baltic basin from Vistula to Neva drainages, southern Sweden and Finland, Lakes Ladoga and Onega. Occasionally on Baltic coast west of Vistula and on Finnish coast north of 61°N (Ref. 59043). In Appendix III of the Bern Convention (protected fauna).
Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age
Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 60.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 556); common length : 25.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 556); max. published weight: 2.0 kg (Ref. 556); max. reported age: 11 years (Ref. 27368)
Mouth oblique. Low wavy lateral line. Belly with a sharp edge (Ref. 35388).
Adults shoal in lower reaches of large rivers and in the eastern Baltic, the Caspian Sea and the Aral Sea. They spawn in spring in midstream (Ref. 9696) and return to estuaries to forage immediately after spawning (Ref. 59043). Juveniles may migrate to estuaries during first summer (Ref. 59043). Feed on zooplankton, terrestrial invertebrates and small fish (Ref. 59043).
Open water egg scatterers.
Muus, B.J. and P. Dahlström, 1968. Süßwasserfische. BLV Verlagsgesellschaft, München. 224 p. (Ref. 556)
IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 120744)
CITES (Ref. 118484)
Threat to humans
Fisheries: minor commercial
ReferencesAquacultureAquaculture profileStrainsGeneticsAllele frequenciesHeritabilityDiseasesProcessingMass conversion
Estimates based on models
Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805
= 1.0000 [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00813 (0.00393 - 0.01681), b=3.13 (2.96 - 3.30), in cm Total Length, based on LWR estimates for this (Sub)family-body shape (Ref. 93245
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278
): 3.6 ±0.53 se; Based on food items.
Generation time: 10.0 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median LN(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179
): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.20; tmax=11).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153
): Moderate to high vulnerability (50 of 100) .