NINE-SPINE STICKLEBACK PUNGITIUS PUNGITIUS FROM THE LAKES OF THE LOWER STREAM OF THE OBLUKOVINA RIVER (WESTERN KAMCHATKA)

Abstract

racteristic of the size-weight composition and nutrition of the nine-spine stickleback Pungitius pungitius in the small fl oodplain lakes Thuklu and Krivoe, located on the western coast of Kamchatka in the lower stream of the Oblukovina River is given. It has been established that the maximum length of this stickleback here reaches 70 mm, and the body weight is about 2 g. In these lakes, the nine-spine stickleback is a nektobenthophage, the main food objects of which are various small benthic organisms (mainly Ostracoda, Bivalvia and Amphipoda), larvae of Chironomidae and adults of Hemiptera. The habitation of the ninespine stickleback in small closed water bodies with limited food resources, together with the pond smelt Hypomesus olidus, has led to an almost complete divergence of their food spectra.