Shchuchia

(in the upper course, Bol’shaia Shchuch’ia), a river in Tiumen’ Oblast, RSFSR; a left tributary of the Ob’. The Shchuch’ia has a length of 565 km and drains an area of 12,300 sq km. The river rises in Bol’shoe Shchuch’e Lake in the Polar Urals and empties into an arm of the Malaia Ob’. The Shchuch’ia is fed by snow and rain, and high water occurs between June and September. The mean flow rate 141 km from the mouth is 109 cu m per sec. The river freezes over in October and is completely frozen from February to the end of April; the ice breaks in late May or early June. Various species of whitefish (Coregonus), including ciscoes and broad whitefish, spawn in the Shchuch’ia.