The spined loach is Finland’s rarest fish. It is only found in the area of sea around Kotka and Pyhtää and the Hiitolanjoki river in Rautjärvi. The spined loach is nocturnal. During the day, it lies burrowed into the sand for the majority of the time, so that only its head remains visible. Under the […]
The European grass snake is Finland’s largest snake. This snake is differentiated from the adder by its round pupil, which is oval in the adder. Also, the adder’s zigzag pattern is missing from the grass snake. In its natural habitat, the grass snake feeds on frogs, small mammals, birds and fish. Among the habitats of […]
Brook trout is originally from Northern America. Brook trout have a large mouth that extends past the eye. Color variations include olive, blue-gray, or black above with a silvery white belly and wormlike markings along the back. They have red spots sometimes surrounded by blueish halos on their sides. The lower fins have a white […]
Brown bullheads were introduced in the 1920s, which makes them relatively new inhabitants of Finnish waters. Plantings were justified on the grounds of good taste. It originates in North America. Nowadays they reside in the lakes and streams of Southern Finland, as well as in coastal bays. They can weigh up to one kilogram and […]
The flat body of the turbot is almost round and plate-like. The other flatfish encountered in Finnish waters are oval. In contrast to other flatfish, the turbot also has spiny lumps on the skin of its upper side, from which it gets its Finnish name (spiny flatfish). The pale side, which faces downwards, is almost […]
Silver bream and zope look very much like a small bream. However, silver bream and zope have much bigger eyes in proportion compared with bream. Silver bream and zope can be distinguished from each other by the tail fin; silver bream has a shorter fin which is concave in form. Zope has a long, relatively […]
In clear watered streams and lakes in northern Lapland lives a slender and beautiful salmonoid fish called arctic char. Arctic char also reside in the waters of Vuoksi, although their habitat has shrunk. Arctic char are separated into two forms based on their colouring and migrating habits, large arctic char and small arctic char. It […]
In the autumn, winter and spring there are lampreys in Maretarium. There are no lampreys in the tank in the summer because they die after spawning in the early summer. Lampreys that have reached spawning age, that is the age of six to seven years, migrate from the sea to a river in September or […]
The lively, nosy little fish is minnow. It is mostly greenish in colour and has a gold glimmering stripe along its sides. During the summer months, it enjoys swimming in schools, but during the winter, it seeks seclusion in deeper waters. The minnow is abundant in Finland’s inland waters, lakes, streams and coastal areas. Despite […]
Black goby live among stones and bladder wracks, lurking for prey. Leaning on the bottom, with their characteristically united abdominal fins, black goby observe their surroundings with big bulging eyes seeking their prey, such as worms, mollusc and crustaceans. They inhabit bottoms alone or in pairs. Females attach their eggs onto water plants or stones, […]
