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 its local abundance, it has no economic value. The minnow’s diet consists of water fleas, insect larvae, small bottom-dwelling crustaceans and gastropods. And if you sink a porridge kettle into water on a shore where the minnow thrive, they will clean the kettle quite efficiently.
Minnow would also be an interesting species to keep in a home aquarium, but according to section 28 of the Animal Welfare Act, which entered into force on 1 January 2024, a wild vertebrate animal may not be taken for sustenance.
