Navaga

(Eleginus navaga), a coastal marine fish of the family Gadidae (cods); it prefers cold water. The navaga has three dorsal fins and two anal fins. The fish is often as much as 30 cm long and weighs up to 250 g. It is found from the White Sea to the Ob’ delta, where it enters the river’s estuary. The navaga feeds primarily on polychaetous worms and copepods. Sexual maturity is reached between the ages of two and four years, when the body length exceeds 14 cm. Spawning occurs between December and February at depths of 2–10 m. The roe are demersal. Navaga fisheries operate during the winter; the fish are frozen after they are caught. A closely related species is the saffron cod (E. gracilus), which lives in the seas of the Far East.