Hucho hucho, Huchen : fisheries, aquaculture, gamefish

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Hucho hucho (Linnaeus, 1758)

Huchen
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Salmoniformes (Salmons) > Salmonidae (Salmonids) > Salmoninae
Etymology: More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; benthopelagic; potamodromous (Ref. 59043). Temperate; 6°C - 18°C (Ref. 2059); 50°N - 44°N, 8°E - 21°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Europe: Danube drainage. Introduced into other European river basins when their numbers declined due to ecological changes in the Danube.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 150 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 11243); common length : 70.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 682); max. published weight: 52.0 kg (Ref. 719); max. reported age: 20 years (Ref. 59043)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 3 - 5; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8-14; Anal spines: 3-5; Anal soft rays: 7 - 14; Vertebrae: 66 - 72. Distinguished from other species of Salmonidae in central and eastern Europe by the following combination of characters: lateral line with 180-200 scales; no red spots and white fin margins; head dorsally flattened and long ( 22-24% SL); body roundish; caudal fin deeply emarginate; large size (in undisturbed areas); usually 13-19 gill rakers (Ref. 59043).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Usually solitary, inhabits deeper regions of swift flowing streams with oxygen rich waters. Adults are territorial but not solitary (Ref. 26170). Carnivore. Juveniles feed mainly on invertebrates and adults mostly on fishes, but also prey on amphibians, reptiles, small mammals and waterfowl (Ref. 26170). Important sport fish with minimum size of catch from 50-55 cm. Transplantations of young artificially incubated and reared fish have not been successful. Depletion of stocks due to overexploitation, industrial pollution, waterway redirection and badly designed or non-existent fish ladders in dams and reservoirs. Territorial, but migrates short distances upstream for spawning (Ref. 556). Reported to be one of the biggest freshwater fishes of the world, reaching a length of over 2 m and weight of over 100 kg (Ref. 26170); which is probably erroneous (A. Mangold, pers. comm.).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Sexually mature fish migrate upstream into smaller and shallower (0.3-1.5 m deep) streams (Ref. 26170), usually in upper reaches of tributaries (Ref. 59043). Males arrive first at spawning sites. Males defend females against other individuals. Spawning usually occurs during daytime (Ref. 59043). Spawns on gravelly bottom where female makes a shallow hole where the eggs are laid and covered with gravel (Ref. 682). Both sexes covered the eggs with substrate. They both defend the spawning site up to 2 weeks after spawning. Eggs usually hatch after 25-40 days. Larvae stay in gravel until yolk sac is absorbed after 8-14 days (Ref. 59043). Young remain near spawning area feeding on bottom fauna. Spawns with snow melt, in shallow water in Danube or affluents (Ref. 682).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Kottelat, M., 1997. European freshwater fishes. An heuristic checklist of the freshwater fishes of Europe (exclusive of former USSR), with an introduction for non-systematists and comments on nomenclature and conservation. Biologia, Bratislava, 52/Suppl. 5:1-271. (Ref. 13696)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Endangered (EN) (B2ab(ii,iii)); Date assessed: 01 January 2008

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO - Aquaculture: production; Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource |

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Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5625   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.01230 (0.00732 - 0.02067), b=3.01 (2.86 - 3.16), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.2   ±0.74 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 11.0 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 2 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm=5; tmax=20).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (68 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.