Back dar k to gr eenish-brown. Flanks silveryand scales with darker posterior margin. Belly white tocream-yellow. Fins grey-green to black. Peritoneumbrownish black. Gut long and complexly coiled. Nuptialtubercles on male head, caudal peduncle and fins. Nobarbels and spiny rays. Gill rakers short. Pharyngeal teethwith large, parallel grooves on their grinding surface.Maximum age 12 years, total length 1 m and weight 32kg. Naturally in large rivers, but adapted to pond culture.Tolerates salinities of 12‰, temperatures of 0-41°C andhigh turbidity. Adults leave rivers after spawning and returnback in autumn to overwinter in deep holes. In itsnatural habitat, mature in 4-5 years. Spawning migrationin April. Female accompanied by 2-3 males, swims incenter of rivers to release its semi-buoyant eggs, afterheavy rain, in rising turbid rivers. No report on its naturalreproduction in Iran. Absolute fecundity up to 1,230,000greyish to orange eggs of up to 2.5 mm in diameter.Feeding above 15°C. Food include zooplankton in smallfish, and grass and insects in larger fish.