It is also called a sea pike or a spindle, others are a needle, and the locals call it a spout.
Sargan is a schooling fish and belongs to the garfish family. Recognizable by its elongated, arrow-like body. The jaws are also elongated, resembling the beak of birds, the teeth are frequent and sharp, conical in shape. However, there are teeth only from above, the lower jaw protrudes slightly. There are no teeth on it.

Sargan is found in greenish color, on the back you can see a dark longitudinal middle stripe, and the sides are cast in green with a silvery tint. The length is about 40cm, the most is more than 60cm. in the Black Sea region, garfish are extremely popular, in the Azov region they are found only in spring or summer. Flocks of garfish approach the shores of Crimea in the fall and stay until the first month of winter.

Sargan lives up to about 17-19 years old, becomes an adult by 5 or 6 years old, spawns every year from the beginning of April to 15 October. The female lays eggs in a thicket of algae in several stages. Sometimes he uses different underwater objects, where eggs are attached by outgrowths. It is believed that algae or objects will protect the eggs if something happens, and the thread-like outgrowths with which they are attached prevent the flow from carrying the fruits of labor. Each female can lay up to 48 thousand eggs per season.
Sargan is a predator by way of life, relentlessly pursuing its prey. Sometimes the excitement of the chase forces him to jump out of the water. The menu is small fish like sprats or a sea needle.
Garfish spends days in the deep layers of water, and in the dark it rises higher.

For fishing

Not the most desirable object in the field. Most often it is caught with drags or seines. The fish meat is tasty, although the green bloom of bones can alert housewives. Do not worry, this is their natural color. The garfish itself is good in any form - you can safely fry, steam, boil, and whatever. They especially love dried garfish for beer.

For amateur anglers who fish only as a hobby or sports interest, garfish is not so important. True, some fishermen can successfully catch it while sitting in boats, while the tackle does not matter. Whether it's a fishing line with a load to which you can attach bundles with multi-colored threads. You don't even need to tie hooks to the threads - the sharp teeth of the garfish will get so entangled in them that the fish can be pulled out anyway.

Of course, if you want to get a tasty fish soup or an appetizer for beer or for the second, you can fish the garfish. Locals can indicate where fish are most likely to congregate depending on the season, time and weather.

Our vacation in Crimea continued, and one day we cooked the Black Sea garfish (recipe # 1). And also in this post are collected other recipes for cooking this amazing fish.

Only in the fall, closer to winter, does this Black Sea fish, garfish appear on the Crimean markets. It looks pretty funny and looks like a needle fish. She has tender, fatty and tasty meat that you will definitely like, especially since it can be very easy to cook and beautifully served.

Now, in the fall, it is the season itself; in summer and spring, it is only frozen for sale, and even then, not everywhere in Crimea, we do not have it on the market in Sudak these seasons, but you can always buy it at the Central Market in Yalta.

Sargan - what kind of fish is this?

Sargan - black sea fish (but not only, where else it lives - read below), mmaximum length t ate from argan - 93 cm, usual length 70-35 cm, maximum weight 1.3 kg.

The common garfish is a sea schooling fish that lives in the water column and near the surface. Sargan has an elongated and narrow body, resembling a body eel too ... The scales are very small, pearlescent-shiny. The jaws are strongly elongated, forming a characteristic "beak" reminiscent of the beak of an ancient pterodactyl ... Small sharp teeth on the beak allow the garfish to grab small prey during fast swimming - sprat, anchovy, sprat, crustaceans. MMany fishermen compare the garfish with the famous armored pike.

This fish is unusual not only by their shapes, but also by their color. During heat treatment, the fish has a greenish tint and even the broth in which it was cooked or stewed also becomes a light green pistachio color.
I am no the delusion that this color transformation occurs due to the high content of phosphorus in the garfish, and its bones glow in the dark (in fact, there is no glow). This feature is associated with the presence in his skeleton a large amount of green pigment biliverdin, a special pigment of bile, metabolic product. It is he who stains bones and internal organs. You can eat garfish and it is absolutely harmless, moreover, garfish is very tasty and healthy fish.
In winter and autumn, it is quite often caught on the fishing rods of fishermen who fish from the shore.It is dried, salted, baked, stewed and fried.

Recipe number 1.Sargan baked in the oven

KBZHU: 100 gr of fish 100 Kcal,
BZHU: 16.5 gr; 5.3 g; 0.0 gr.

Ingredients:

1000 gr fresh garfish (we have small fish 30-35 cm long)
- 5 gr white pepper
- 10 gr salt
- 5 gr allspice (ground)
- 30 gr cold pressed olive oil

Preparation

1. The fish must be gutted, that is, free from the entrails. To do this, you need to make a long longitudinal incision on the abdomen, preferably with a thin and very sharp knife, since the garfish meat is very tender. The fish must be rinsed in running water and dried with a paper towel.

2. Next, you need to cover the baking sheet with parchment and put the fish on it, having previously rolled each fish into a ring (that is, put the tail in the fish's mouth). Brush each fish with olive oil using a silicone brush, sprinkle with salt and spices and send to bake in a preheated 200 hail. From the oven for 8 minutes.

3. Put the finished garfish using tongs on a large dish or tray in several layers, serve with a salad of fresh vegetables.

Gutted Fish:

Fish prepared for baking:

Baked fish:

Despite the fact that the fish is quite inexpensive, it is a rather oily species. Fish meat not only perfectly saturates, it contains useful Omega-3 acids that moisturize the epidermis of the skin and thereby smooth out wrinkles, which are necessary for proper metabolism. The presence of B vitamins improves blood circulation, it protects blood vessels from blockage, helps to maintain a healthy heart and even prevents cancer.

Garfish fishing

Below we give a few more recipes for garfish dishes.

Recipe number 2 . Sargan as an appetizer (dried)

This fish has small scales well off the body. But to serve it with beer, you don't need to clean it or gut it. Just dip the carcasses in salt and leave for twenty minutes. Then we hang them upside down and let them hang for about half a day.

Recipe number 3."Sprats" from a sargan

Baltic canned food is inferior to this dish in terms of taste. These are not anchovies, but garfish fish! How to cook such "sprats"?

We take a medium-sized carcass, gut it, remove the head, fins and tail. Cut the garfish into pieces-sticks (five centimeters long). We stuff the fish with columns (that is, vertically) into a narrow deep saucepan.
Add a few peppercorns, bay leaves, a pinch of salt. Next, fill it all with vegetable oil so that it covers the fish by one centimeter. We put the dishes on the smallest fire and simmer under the lid about three hours... Such "sprats" are best served chilled with Borodino bread.

Recipe number 4.Sargan in wine marinade

The taste qualities of this inhabitant of the Black Sea are not fully revealed in snacks. In the southern fish markets, both dried and smoked garfish are sold. But, this type of cooking is not for everybody. And, here, the garfish cooked in the marinade will not leave anyone indifferent.

We clean, gut, salt and fry a kilogram of fish in vegetable oil, and while we put it on a plate.

In a deep frying pan, fry three tablespoons of flour until creamy. Pour in half a glass of dry white wine, acidify with lemon juice or vinegar. Add rosemary, pepper, salt. Pour in another glass of water and boil the sauce until it thickens. In it, the fish should be stewed for at least ten minutes. We serve this dish with any side dish and a slice of lemon.

Recipe number 5.Sargan shkara

This dish is especially loved by Crimean fishermen. The shkara dish consists of two layers of stewed onions, between which there is a sea fish. Sargan is the perfect fish ingredient for this dish. Let's try to prepare a “restaurant version”. For him, the garfish is cut into fillets, the fillet strips are rolled up, pinned with a toothpick, and fried in olive oil for literally 20 seconds.

Then the wooden sticks are removed, and an olive stuffed with lemon is placed in the middle of each fillet roll.
In the usual “fisherman's” version of the dish, you can skip this stage and just peel and gut the fish, cut it into pieces or cut it into fillets and cut it too.
Next, cut the onion into rings. There should be a lot of it. Grease the bottom of the pan with vegetable oil, cover with onion rings. Place the fish on them (in the restaurant version - carefully place the rolls with the olive facing up).

Salt and sprinkle with pepper, sprinkle with herbs (rosemary and marjoram). On top with three shavings, very cold butter - not too much, cover the fish on top with onion rings. To stew the fish, add a little water to the pan. The scale should be cooked under the lid for about 20 minutes.

Source of recipes.

I wanted to eat fish, the choice was great.
And I always want to try something new. The fish was called, in Bulgarian Sargan, according to our fish-needle. She is like a needle and looks like.
I had never eaten one and now a surprise awaited me.

Brought home, butchered, as expected.


Added potatoes, carrots and bell peppers. I poured everything with olive oil and into the oven.
It's that simple!

And to her salad, unpretentious.

The fish was ready quickly.

We sat down to eat. And then a surprise awaited me. Having butchered the fish, I saw that its bones were green.
To be honest, I was scared and thought that it was not worth eating it.
Smells delicious though!
I typed on the Internet: "fish have green bones." And here's what happened:

"In the garfish, like in some other marine fish, for example eelpouts, the bones are greenish or even bright green. This is explained by the fact that a pigment substance similar to biliverdin, a coloring pigment, is deposited in the bones, skin, scales, rays of the garfish fins. bile is a metabolic product of these fish species. "

Except for the green bones, everything turned out deliciously.

Have you met fish with green bones?

A large detachment of fish, including about 200 species. Most of the garfish are inhabitants of sea water, but some can exist in slightly saline and desalinated water bodies. The main feature of all species is an elongated body, a peculiar head and jaws with large teeth. In some fish, the lower jaw is somewhat longer and protrudes forward. In some cases, the size of the jaw changes during life, and the ratio of the size of the jaws may be an age-related feature of juveniles. Most species of garfish are gregarious, pelargic predators. Flocks make long seasonal migrations. It is important for anglers to know that in the warm season, fish actively feed from the surface, but they are not constantly in the upper layer, making daily migrations in the vertical direction. By way of life, they can be both real predators and living off plankton feeding, and even vegetation. The sizes of fish living off the coast of Europe and the Russian Far East are relatively small - up to 1.5 kg, with a maximum length of about 90 cm.At the same time, a giant crocodile garfish can reach a length of up to 180 cm.An important feature of all species is that when hunting or when a garfish is caught by a fishing hook, fish often jump out of the water. Many anglers distinguish garfish for their desperate resistance when playing. It is worth noting that some divers claim that garfish are quite aggressive and attack a person, especially at night under the light of lanterns.

Fishing methods

Garfish often hunt in the coastal zone, and therefore are a typical prey for those who like fishing from the coast. Everywhere garfish are caught on a par with other predators on spinning lures. In addition, numerous rigs have been invented, which are used to fish with natural baits. Spinning fishing from boats is no less interesting. They look for feeding fish by splashes on the water. If an active school is found, dozens of fish can be caught in a very short time. Garfish are caught both on flies and streamers, for this they use both long-range casting rods and fly fishing.

Fishing with a spinning rod

It is worth immediately dividing spinning fishing into two main types: vertical spinning and casting. For fishing from the side, garfish can be efficiently caught with various jigs and other spinners. Jigs are used in different techniques, and with dragging along the bottom, and in the water column. When choosing a tackle for fishing with a classic spinning rod, it is advisable to proceed from the principle of “bait size + trophy size”. They use classic baits: spinners, wobblers and silicone imitations. Reels should be well stocked with line or cord. In addition to a trouble-free braking system, the reel must be protected against salt water. Many types of saltwater fishing techniques require very fast wiring, which means a high gear ratio of the take-up mechanism. According to the principle of operation, the coils can be both multiplier and non-inertial. Accordingly, the rods are selected depending on the reel system. The choice of rods is very diverse, at the moment manufacturers offer a large number of specialized "blanks" for different fishing conditions and the type of bait. It should be added that for coastal fishing of medium-sized garfish, it is possible to use rods of light tests. When fishing with spinning sea fish, fishing technique is very important. Experienced anglers should be consulted to select a fishing spot and correct fishing.

Fishing with float gear

There are many different rigs for fishing this fish with natural baits. They are used both when fishing from the shore and from boats. Long-distance casting rods are used; both specialized and long spinning rods are suitable for this. All fishing methods are united by the fact that the bait is served in the upper layers of the water. These methods are effective when garfish hunt without going deep. It is important to know that these fish are very shy, require delicate rigs and long casts when fishing the shore. If you use different classic "sbirulino - bombards", then it makes sense to use different types of slow sinking models. The wiring is usually slow, uniform. Another method of feeding the bait is based on the fact that a submerged and shipped float of a bright color is on the surface of the water, and the nozzle is fed to a certain depth, as a rule, about 2 m. The methods of fixing the float and feeding the rig can be different and depend on the preferences of the fisherman. It should be noted again that rigs should be as delicate as possible.

Bait

Natural baits most often are various pieces of fish, shrimp, and nereis worms. Some anglers use chicken fillets. Considering that the garfish is an active predator for small fish, spinningists actively fish for various artificial imitations: spinners, wobblers, silicone baits.

Fishing sites and habitat

The European garfish is very widespread: along the entire coast of Europe, from the Black to the Baltic Seas. Its habitat also includes the coast of North Africa. Fish are seasonal. Despite the fact that fish are found in both warm and cold waters, in most cases all garfish make seasonal migrations. As a rule, with the onset of cold weather, he leaves the coast. Returns in the spring in search of lighter prey.

Spawning

Females mature at the age of 5-6 years, males somewhat earlier. The spawn passes in the spring and is rather strongly stretched. This is due to the fact that spawning is portioned, at large intervals. Caviar is sticky and sticks to aquatic vegetation. Young garfish do not have a long upper jaw; it grows over time.

The upper jaw in juveniles is very short: in fish about 20 cm long, it is equal to about 1/4 of the length of the lower jaw. With age, the upper jaw is greatly lengthened, but still remains slightly shorter than the lower. The short dorsal and anal fins of the garfish are carried far back, to the tail itself. The caudal fin is forked. Almost at the very belly there is a clearly visible straight lateral line. Small pelvic fins are located on the belly. The back of the garfish is dark, bluish-green, the sides are silvery. This is a rather large fish, reaching a length of 94 cm, the usual body length is 70-75 cm.

Sargan is common in moderately warm waters off the western and southern coasts of Europe and North Africa: from Cape Verde to Iceland and Norway. In the waters of Russia, it is found along the coast of the Black Sea, in the Sea of ​​Azov (mainly in its western part) and the Taganrog Bay, and occasionally comes across the coast of the Kola Peninsula and in the White Sea.

Sargan is a schooling sea fish. During the day, it usually stays in deeper layers of water, and on dark, calm nights it rises to the very surface. The garfish usually swims with the help of the undulating bends of its long body, but it is also capable of sharp throws performed at high speed. When frightened or in pursuit of prey, garfish often jump out of the water, making large jumps. Sometimes they are thrown out of the water in order to jump over obstacles floating on the surface. In the coastal areas of the sea, the garfish is found all year round, but in search of food it also makes significant migrations. In the Black Sea, the movements of this fish are associated with the migrations of the anchovy, which is its main food here. In the spring, following the anchovy, the Black Sea garfish enters the Sea of ​​Azov. He does not stop feeding during spawning. In addition to the anchovy, other small fish, as well as some invertebrates, become its prey.

The garfish usually reaches sexual maturity in the fifth or sixth year of life and reproduces annually, some individuals mature at three years. Garfish spawns in spring at some distance from the coast at depths of 12-18 meters. Caviar is spawned in portions, so spawning is greatly extended and continues in the Black Sea from late April to mid-October. Most of the fish spawn from May to mid-August. Small eggs with a diameter of 3-3.5 millimeters are deposited on algae and any floating objects. Every egg

equipped with 60-80 rather long filaments with which it attaches to algae. Fertility in this species is 30-45 thousand eggs. Depending on the water temperature, the development of eggs lasts from 10 days to 4-5 weeks. The first larvae appear in the Black Sea in early June. They keep in the upper layers of the water in the coastal zone. The larvae differ sharply from adult fish in their short jaws. By the end of the first year of life, small garfish, which have matured and acquired a typical appearance, migrate to the depths.

This fish has been living for more than 13 years, but 5-9-year-old individuals predominate in the catches. Sargan is a commercial species, although its bones have a specific green color due to the bile pigment they contain - biliverdin. It also has some economic significance in our Azov-Black Sea basin.

In the summertime, in the Gulf of Peter the Great and off the coast of South Primorye, a close species appears in our waters - pacific garfish(Strongyiura anastomella). This more thermophilic fish is common in the seas washing the coasts of Japan, Korea and North China, reaches a length of 90 cm and differs from other types of garfish in a beautiful bluish-silver longitudinal strip running along each side.

Fishes. - M .: Astrel... E. D. Vasilyeva. 1999.

See what "Ordinary garfish" is in other dictionaries:

common garfish

Garfish-? Sargan Scientific Classification Kingdom: Animals Type: Chordates ... Wikipedia

Garfish- common, or Atlantic, garfish (Belone belone), fish of the garfish family. Body length up to 90 cm, weighs up to 1 kg. Distributed in moderately warm waters off the coast of Europe and North Africa, found in the Baltic, North, ... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

European garfish-? European Garfish Scientific Classification ... Wikipedia

European garfish- paprastoji vėjažuvė statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas rusis atitikmenys: lot. Belone belone angl. flat needlefish; garfish; garpike hornfish; greenbone rus. European garfish; common garfish ryšiai: platesnis terminas -…… Žuvų pavadinimų žodynas

Garfish family- The common garfish (Below belone), widespread in all European and other seas, reaches a length of 1 m or more, and its weight rarely exceeds 1 kg. The signs are in a very elongated, acne-like body, elongated in the form of a long ... ... The life of animals is a family of fish of the order of the garfish. Length from 30 cm to 1.8 m. Over 30 species in coastal waters of tropical, subtropical, less often temperate seas, including 2 species in the Black, Baltic and Japanese seas. Local trade object. * * * ... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

SARGANOUS- (Beloniformes), a detachment of ray-finned (see. BEAM FISH) fishes. Known from the Eocene (see EOCENE DEPARTMENT). 4 families and about 150 species, widespread in the warm waters of the World Ocean and fresh water bodies, in the upper layers of water. All sargan-like ... encyclopedic Dictionary