Chinese Sleeper

The Chinese Sleeper, also known as the Amur Sleeper, is common in the Amur River basin, it doesn’t migrate to the sea and spawns in the fresh water. Nowadays it is spread in European Russia as well. It inhabits water bodies around St. Petersburg and Moscow as well as in the Urals. The Chinese sleeper is rather undemanding, it feels good in small polluted poorly aerated water bodies, that are dried out in summer and frozen in winter. It can bury itself in silt to wait out adverse conditions. The Chinese sleeper lives in cold marshes, in overgrown lakes, in warm water bodies. It is voracious and almost omnivorous. It feeds on insect larvae, small crayfish, tadpoles, newts and juvenile fish, including that of its own species. In the water bodies, inhabited by Chinese sleeper, there are no mosquito larvae, as it consumes them as soon as they appear. In small water bodies its population grows continuously, and may initially exterminate all other fish species. Chinese sleeper’s short firm body is covered with dim scales. The back is grayish green with spots of irregular shape. The belly is lighter than the back. In the period of spawning males turn black. Its large, slightly flattened head in its length equals about one third of the body. There are small sharp teeth in its mouth. The lower jaw is protruded forward. Fins are soft, with no spikes. Pelvic fins are placed close to each other, which is Chinese sleeper’s characteristic feature and makes it different from his look-a-like the Goby. It’s a small fish, normally from 8 to 12 cm long, but it may reach a length of 25 cm and a weight up to 300 g.