The waters of the Far East are filled with southern migrants: clownfish, triggerfish, anglerfish

Experts have counted dozens of previously unseen fish species on our shores

About dozens of species of southern migrants – fish that first appeared off the Russian coast over the past ten years, Far Eastern biologists report. Not all of them are safe – There are poisonous Japanese puffers and sharp-nosed Korean garfish jumping out of the water. Scientists are conducting a census and, as new species become available, they warn local coastal fishermen about the risks that some fish pose.

If previously the cold Primorsky Current prevented tropical invaders from swimming to our shores in the Sea of ​​Japan, then in recent years, due to the warming of its waters, many heat-loving species have come to us.

The very last of the newcomers to swim  into the waters of the Russian Federation, the sharp-billed terapon  (Rhynchopelates oxyrhynchus) – a heat-loving fish that until recently lived only off the coast of Vietnam, the Philippines, and southern Japan. There it is considered commercial, its meat has high taste qualities. The Russians only met her this year.

  An unusual catch of sharp-billed terapon off our shores was reported at the National Scientific Center for Marine Biology named after A.V. Zhirmunsky. The fish was caught by amateur fishermen in the Sukhodol River, which flows into the Ussuri Bay (a large inland bay off the northern shore of Peter the Great Bay in the Sea of ​​Japan). And the teacher of biology and chemistry at Lazovsky secondary school No. 1, Lazovsky district, drew attention to the unusual representative of the ichthyofauna. It was she who provided the material to ichthyologists in hot pursuit.

  Scientists note that catches of southern fish species in the Far East, which have never been found in Russian waters, are being recorded more and more often, especially in hot years and only in the summer-autumn period, when surface waters are well warmed 

< p>Peter the Great Bay – This is probably their favorite place. So, in recent years, the following have been seen here: clownfish, mirror sunfish, small striped triggerfish, yellow-tailed barracuda, Far Eastern anglerfish, white-finned cavalla and many others.

We also saw here a meter-long subtropical garfish, which is also a seasonal migrant – he «comes in» to the Russian Gulf from Korea, when the water here warms up to 11-12 degrees. The fish has chosen our coastal shallow parts of the bays for spawning.

The garfish is distinguished by a very long beak with sharp fangs and green bones (the biliverdin pigment is responsible for it). Scientists warn that this fish can easily injure fishermen with its sharp beak when jumping out of the water.

Thus, in the Indonesian magazine “Malay Naturalist” in 1968, a case was described when a customs vessel took a small boat with fishermen in tow.  At some point, one of those in the boat fell, received a strong blow to the neck, and died a few minutes later. Having examined the wound of the unfortunate man, surgeons found a fragment of a garfish jaw in it. Apparently, the bustle and noise in the water area frightened him, and he reacted in such an unexpected way.

After this incident, fishermen are advised to stay away from the garfish’s habitats. However, its tasty and nutritious meat does not stop them. 

Another unsafe migrant – the famous fugu fish, which has recently been represented in our Primorye by all known species.   

Fugu (or dog fish) – it is a member of the family Tetraodontidae (Four-toothed, Pufferfish). Many of them are valued for their tasty meat, but few chefs can cook it. Ichthyologists recommend that inexperienced cooks not even touch this fish.

In Primorye, they still remember the incident that happened last July, when a fisherman's family almost got poisoned by the meat of a fugu caught in Peter the Great Bay. This story happened near the town of Bolshoy Kamen. The fishermen were attracted by the brightly colored fish, which came to the shore in a whole school. Having caught a whole bucket, they were ready to cook fish soup for the whole family, but at the last moment someone decided to find out what kind of fish they were dealing with and sent a photo of the catch to a specialist. The biologist advised to immediately release the fish back into the sea. From the photo, he identified it as a yellowfin dogfish — a species common in the Japanese, Yellow, East China and South China Seas. Scientists are distributing photos of different types of fugu and warning that its poison is very dangerous. It affects nerve cells, disrupts the functioning of the heart and lungs. Death after eating its meat occurs within a few minutes. 

 Scientists from the Ichthyology Laboratory of the Zhirmunsky Center are asking all amateur fishermen to send them photos of any unusual fish they encounter in the waters of Primorye.