Murtsa
Common name: Murtsa
Latin name: Barbus mursa
Subspecies: Murtsa
Origin: Mutsa is an endemic species to South Caucasus. It belongs to the family Cyprinidae. In Kakheti and Shida Kartli it is called Tsimori. Its distribution areas are: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran. Murtsa is a freshwater fish. It is rheophil, prefers rocky-sandy places of rivers with fast current and is less adaptable to standing waters.
Latin name: Barbus mursa
Subspecies: Murtsa
Origin: Mutsa is an endemic species to South Caucasus. It belongs to the family Cyprinidae. In Kakheti and Shida Kartli it is called Tsimori. Its distribution areas are: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkey and Iran. Murtsa is a freshwater fish. It is rheophil, prefers rocky-sandy places of rivers with fast current and is less adaptable to standing waters.
Short description: It has elongated, spindle-shaped body, covered with the small scales; the head’s length exceeds the body’s highness; it has a convex forehead, small eyes, longish snout with high-developed lips. The lower muscular lip is divided into 3 parts; it has two pairs of barbs – the back ones are longer, and 10 - 18 pharyngeal teeth.
The back is brownish with some greenish pattern; the sides are greenish-yellowish, and the belly is bright yellow. The paired pectoral fins are bright yellowish and others are darker with reddish-orange pattern. The juvenile fish have dark spots along the sides, disappearing through the growing process.
The body length is 40 cm, and the weight is 0,5 kg. According to other data these indexes are 50 cm a 1 kg. Usually, smaller one is more common.
It sexually matures at the age of 2 – 3 years, spawns from May to June, on rocky-sandy bottom of the rivers. Productivity (number of roe) ranges from 3000 to 23 000 eggs.
It feeds mostly on water insects and their larvae, as well as crustaceans, detritus, etc.
Current status: Murtsa is found in the east of Georgia, in all the rivers of the Mtkvari river basin, namely: Khrami, Aragvi, Ksani, Liakhvi, Potskhovi, Iori, Alazani and its tributaries (Ilto, Khevischala, Stori, Lopota, Chelti, Duruji, Bursa, Kabali), as well as in Jandara lake, in fewer numbers are found in Sioni, Tbilisi and Paldo reservoirs. In the most rivers this fish is spread along the whole length.
It is very tasty and valuable fish, but as its number is low, it has less harvesting importance. It’s quite good and interesting in fishing for sport.
Sources: საქართველოს მტკნარი წყლის თევზები (ატლასი). თბილისი,"მეცნიერება",1970;
საქართველოს თევზები - კრებული, გამომცემლობა: „წიგნი+ერი“, 2013;
http://www.geofauna.ge/tevzebis%20samyaro/tevzis%20jishebi%20saqartveloshi/murca/murca.html (18.01.2014);
М. Деметрашвили, Промысловые рыбы пресных вод Грузии. АН ГССР, „Мецниереба“, Тбилиси, 1963;
Эланидзе Р. Ф., Ихтиофауна рек Грузии. Тбилиси, "Мецниереба", 1983.