Body silver y, back bluish-green. Pectoral andpelvic fins orange-red with grey tips. Peritoneum silverywith scattered melanophores. Mouth small and oblique.Pelvic axillary scale present. Gill rakers touching the adjacentraker when appressed. Intestine S-shaped with asmall anterior loop. Breeding males have fine tubercleson top of head, operculum and flank scales. A scalelessventral keel and postdorsal groove present. In shallowsof warm lakes with heavy vegetation and slower reachesof rivers and river estuaries. Maximum age 8 years, totallength 272 mm and weight 481 g. Growth slow with maturitymostly at 3-5 years and 10-12 cm total length. Femalesmuch larger than males. Spawning in June-July at18-22°C water temperature. Absolute fecundity up to82000 eggs with a diameter of 1.5 mm. Eggs adhere toplants or stones on the bottom. Three spawnings at intervalsof 10 days. Food include crustaceans, insect larvae,worms, molluscs, phytoplankton and vegetation.