Abstract The article presents the taxonomic characteristics of a fish fauna of the middle Amur and of some areas of the Far East: the next sites of a river basin the Amur, lake Khanka, the rivers of coast of Primorski Krai and northwest Sakhalin, Chukotka. For the first time attempt of the comparative analysis of structure of a fresh-water fish fauna of various territories of the Far East region of Russia is undertaken

Vitaliy N Burik

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3rd International Geography Symposium - GEOMED 2013 
Symposium Proceedings, ISBN: 978-605-62253-8-3 
 
 
42 
The Taxonomic Characteristics of The Fish Fauna of The Middle - 
Amur in Comparison With The Freshwater Fish Fauna of Some 
Areas of The Far East of Russia 
VITALIY N. BURIK 
Institute for Complex Analysis of Regional Problems Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of 
Sciences, 679000, Russia  
Birobidzhan, Sholom – Alejhem street, 4, vburik2007@rambler.ru 
 
Abstract 
The article presents the taxonomic characteristics of a fish fauna of the middle Amur and of 
some areas of the Far East: the next sites of a river basin the Amur, lake Khanka, the rivers of coast f 
Primorski Krai and northwest Sakhalin, Chukotka. For the first time attempt of the comparative 
analysis of structure of a fresh-water fish fauna of various territories of the Far East region of Russia is 
undertaken. 
Keywords: fishes, species, river, representation, generality, basin, area. 
Introduction 
The water system of the Jewish Autonomous region (JAR) is represented by the South bend 
of the middle Amur river and the network of its left tributaries. A  in the rest of the Amur fish 
fauna, here  the Sino-Indian by origin of taxa are dominated (Cypriniformes,  Siluriformes, etc.), 
the Palearctic species  of fish (Esociformes,  Salmoniformes,  etc.). From the Sino-Indian taxa in 
the  fish fauna the most  numbers of fish represented by the group of the fish species of the 
Chinese plain. The freshwater fish fauna of territories of the Russian Far East, representing the 
basins of the Pacific and Arctic oceans connected with the Amur fish fauna. It is either a 
widespread throughout the Far East of a number of species in past geological epochs (tertiary fish 
fauna, boreal ichtiocomplex, etc.), or secondary area of distribution of some species of fish from 
the basin. 
The purpose of this article is comparison of data available today about structure of a fish 
fauna of various territories of the Far East region of Russia and a fish fauna of the Jewish 
autonomous region, identification of a filogeniya and degree of similarty of fish fauna of various 
territories.  
Study Area, Material, Methods 
From 2001 to 2012 we studied taxonomical structure of a fish fauna in the river basin of an 
middle watercourse of Amur in the Far East of Russia, in the Jewish autonomous region.  
Methods of work were field route and stationary researches, icthyological control fishing, a 
method of direct supervision in the nature. When studying specific stru ture determinants of 
fresh-water fishes and vertebrate animals of fauna of the USSR were used. 
When writing article the analysis of the scientific data published by the Russian scientists on 
a fresh-water fish fauna of the Far East of Russia was carried out: Amur River, rivers of 
Primorye, Sakhalin, Chukotka. 
Systematic groups are given according to the book of N.G. Bogutskaya, A.M. Naseki «The 
catalog Cephalaspidomorphi and fishes of fresh and saltish waters of Russia with nomenclature 
and taxonomical comments». 
3rd International Geography Symposium - GEOMED 2013 
Editors: Recep Efe, Ibrahim Atalay, Isa Cürebal  
 
 
43 
Results and Discussions 
At the present time within the limits of the Jewish Autonomous region is inhabited by the 
representatives of 12 units of fish and fish-shaped: Petromyzoniformes - 1 family, 1 genus, 2 
species; Acipenseriformes - 1 family, 2 genera, 2 species; Cypriniformes - 3 family, 41 genera, 
61 species; Siluriformes - 2 family, 3 genus and 6 species; Esociformes - 1 family, 1 genus, 1 
species; Ocmeriformes - 1 family, 1 genus, 1 species; Salmoniformes - 3 family, 5 genera, 7 
species; Gadiformes - 1 family, 1 genus, 1 species; Beloniformes  - 1 family, 1 genus, 1 species; 
Gasterosteiformes - 1 family, 1 genus, 1 species; Scorpaeniformes - 1 family, 2 genera, 2 species; 
Perciformes 6 families, 7 genera, 7 species. 
In General ichthyological diversity of the middle Amur river in the JAR are widely 
presented. There are 22 from 25 families in the Amur basin, presented by 66 genera, 92 species 
of fish (table. 1). This is 74.2% of the species diversity of fish in the basin of the Amur. 
For the comparative analysis of the taxonomic structure of fish fauna of JAR we show  the 
data of the fish fauna of the neighbouring plots of the Amur basin - Zeisky re ervoir with the 
adjoining plot of the river Zeya is  in the West, Amur river is  near the Komsomolsk nature 
reserve in the East, the lake Khanka in the southern plot of the Amur basin (table. 1). 
Naturally, that in the fish fauna of the reservoirs of JAR are not represented the marine and 
brackish water species of mullet-mullet Mugil cephalus (family Mugilidae) and the starry 
flounder Platichthys stellatus (family Pleuronectid) marked on the lower Amur. It is not 
confirmed the presence of a representative of the family Salangidae - Protosalanx hyalocranius 
(noodles-fish). Other families are also unequally presented, both the quantity of births, and in the 
species composition. 
The fish fauna are represented by seven groups of fish and fish-shaped (Cyclostomatae), 
which differ historical and geographical origin. The main group of fish – the Chinese plain 
complex, includes 43 species, representatives of Cyprinidae, Balitoridae, Cobitidae, which is 
about 47% of all the species of fish living in JAR. The representatives of the boreal fauna are the 
second by the quantity of species group (18 species), the ancient tertiary fauna is well represented 
by 16 species of fish. In addition, there are the inhabited by the reprsentatives of South Indo-
African fauna (7 species), Northern fresh-Arctic complex (3 species), Pacific ichthyocomplex (3 
species), and marine origin (2 species) water basins. 
The quantity of submitted species of fish (92) in the fish fauna of JAR  is more than the 
quantity of fish  which are in the fish fauna of basic sites of the Amur basin, because on the 
compacted  area of the region lives the majority of representatives of cold water, and heat-loving 
groups of  the  Amur fish fauna. The fish fauna of JAR is inferior to the number of families to the 
river fish fauna of the coast of the Primorsky territory (table. 2). In Primorye is represented fish 
fauna the number of euryhalinous species and genera of fish of the famili s of the Salangidae, 
Gadidae, Belonidae, Hemirhamphidae, Mugilidae, Syngnathidae, Sebastidae, e c. A number of 
families (Salmonidae, Ocmeridae, Cyprinidae, Gobiidae) is represented also in the fauna of 
Primorye by the species and genera euryhalinous and anadromous fish (shem, humpback salmon, 
sakhalin taimen, red-eye, gobies-rings set, etc.), which are not occurring in JAR. However, in the 
coastal rivers there are less species of fish of one of the main families of the fishfauna of the  
Sakhalin and the Amur fish fauna in general - Cyprinidae. Naturally, by representation of 
families and genera the species composition the fish fauna of JAR sharply differs from the fish 
fauna of the most distant area of The Far  East, Chukotka. 
To  identify the degree of similarity of the species composition of fish fauna of JAR and 
freshwater fish fauna of the other regions of the Far East of Russia, we used the formula of 
community by Jacquar: 
K = C x 100 / (A + B) – C 
3rd International Geography Symposium - GEOMED 2013 
Symposium Proceedings, ISBN: 978-605-62253-8-3 
 
 
44 
where 
A is the number of the species in the fish fauna of the first region (in our case - JAR); 
B is the number of species in the fish fauna of the other region;  
C is the number of species for  both regions; 
K is the coefficient of community (index Jacquar), used in  a percentag . The higher the 
community, the higher the similarity of the two species compared communities. 
 
Picture 1. Dendrogram of community of species composition of fish fauna of a number of areas 
of the Far East with the fish fauna of the Jewish Autonomous region on theindex Jacquar (100% 
is the value of K for JAR). 
The fish fauna of the lake Khanka is the most close to the provided in JAR  fish fauna of the 
southern bend of the Amur river (table. 3; pict. 1), both by the number of taxa, and by the  
species composition. The coefficient of the taxonomic similarity is 73.5 percent. In this warm 
water body of the Russian part of the Amur basin also dominates a group of the fishes of the  
Chinese plain ichtiocomplex. In more Northern areas of the Amur basin (Zeysky reservoir, the 
average flow of the river Zeya, Komsomolsky nature reserve) the composition of the fish fauna is 
poorer in the representation of genera and species in the families. Th   species of the boreal plain 
he boreal foothill ichtiocomplexes are dominated. The further thee areas f om the river 
basin Amur,  the lower is coefficient K of the generality of the local fish fauna with fish fauna of 
JAR (table. 3).  
By the taxonomic structure and by the representation of the species on to the Amur fish 
fauna is close enough the fish fauna of the rivers of Primorye coast and he North-Western 
Sakhalin, as well as the depleted fish fauna of Amur river and supplemented by some evrigaline 
species (saltish waters species) of the Pacific coast (table. 2, 3). 
 
3rd International Geography Symposium - GEOMED 2013 
Editors: Recep Efe, Ibrahim Atalay, Isa Cürebal  
 
 
45 
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3rd International Geography Symposium - GEOMED 2013 
Symposium Proceedings, ISBN: 978-605-62253-8-3 
 
 
46 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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3rd International Geography Symposium - 3.Uluslararası Coğrafya Sempozyumu  
10 - 13 June, 2013 / Kemer, Antalya, TURKEY 
 
 
47 
Table 3. The representation of the common taxa in the fish fauna of the JAR and the other 
regions of the Far East of Russia 
Regions  
 
 
 
Taxa 
Zeysky  
reservoir 
The 
lake  
Khanka  
Komso- 
molsky  
nature  
reserve  
Rivers of the 
North-West of 
the Sakhalin 
Rivers of the 
Primorye coast 
The Tumen 
river  
Freshwaters 
of 
 Chukotka 
Units 9  
(100%) 
9  
(100%) 
10 
(100%) 
9  
(56,3%) 
10  
(62,5%) 
8  
(88,9%) 
8  
(80%) 
Family  16 
(100%) 
18 
(100%) 
17 
(100%) 
17 
(70,8%) 
19  
(55,9%) 
13  
(86,7%) 
13 
(81,3%) 
Genus 36 
(100%) 
56 
(93,3%) 
38  
(97,4%) 
29  
(59,2%) 
30  
(45,5%) 
25  
(61%) 
13  
(48,1%) 
Species 46 
(97,9%) 
75 
(88,2%) 
42  
(95,5%) 
36  
(49,3%) 
36  
(39,6%) 
31  
(57,4%) 
12  
(18,8%) 
Index 
Jacquar, К  49,5% 73,5% 44,2% 27,9% 24,5% 27% 8,3% 
Conclusions 
On the basis of the analysis of taxonomic proximity of the fish fauns of the numbers of areas 
of the Far East to the fish fauna of the middle Amur, we can disti guish three categories of areas: 
1. The Areas, where the taxa  are more than 80% in the fish fauna, the index of community 
species composition are 40% (Khanka, Zeysky reservoir and the adjacent area of the river  Zeya, 
Amur in area of the Komsomolsky nature reserve); 
2. The Areas, where the taxa  are more than 35% in the fish fauna, the index of community 
species composition are 20% (the Tumen river and other rivers of thePrimorye coast, the rivers 
of the North-West of the Sakhalin island); 
3. The Areas, where the index of community species composition are 10%. (freshwaters of 
Chukotka). 
In the first category, the differences in taxonomic structure are c used by the  environmental 
characteristics of the habitats, because there are no the natural obst cles for fish distribution 
between sections of the basin. The fish fauna of reservoirs of the districts of the second category 
has phylogenetic connection with the Amur fish fauna, which, obviously, applied in different 
historical epochs. In the fish fauna of the Tumen river there is a large Sino-Indian component, 
however, the representation of these groups of fish is smaller than in the Amur. In small rivers of 
Primorye the composition of the fish fauna is poorer and Sino-Indian species are represented less, 
because the range of ecological conditions of the water bodies do not allow the populations of 
many species of Amur fish exist productively. The least similarity of the fish fauna of JAR owing 
to the remoteness has with the freshwater fish fauna of Chukotka, here General are only some 
Palearctic and boreal taxa.  
The specificity of the fish fauna of JAR is zoogeographic diversity. It is caused by the border 
geographical position of the region and the rich taxonomic representation. Comparison of the fish 
fauna of the southern area of the basin of the middle Amur river with fish fauna of the 
neighboring areas of the Amur basin and other regions by the degree of taxonomic pr ximity 
confirms  I.A. Cherishnev’s  theoretical views. He supposed there was the settling of Sino-Indian 
component from the Amur basin in the basins of the southern part of the Far East of Russia. 
The research is investigated at financial support of the grants of the far Eastern branch of 
RAS № 12-I-0-06-042 and RFBR № 11-01-98512 
 
 
 
3rd International Geography Symposium - GEOMED 2013 
Symposium Proceedings, ISBN: 978-605-62253-8-3 
 
 
48 
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The Taxonomic Characteristics of The Fish Fauna of The Middle - Amur in Comparison With The Freshwater Fish Fauna of Some Areas of The Far East of Russia

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The Taxonomic Characteristics of The Fish Fauna of The Middle - Amur in Comparison With The Freshwater Fish Fauna of Some Areas of The Far East of Russia

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