Kukhtuy

The Kukhtuy (Кухтуй) is a river in Okhotsky District, Khabarovsk Krai, Russian Far East. It has a drainage basin of 8610 km2 and a length of 348 km.

The river is navigable in its lower reaches.

Course
The Kukhtuy river has its source at an elevation of 1617 m in the Suntar-Khayata range. It flows relatively straight southwards through a mountainous area. The Yudoma Range rises on the right side and the Kukhtuy Range on the left side of its valley and its course is roughly parallel to rivers Okhota to the west and Ulbeya to the east.

South of the 61st parallel the river valley widens and the Kukhtuy meanders across a widening floodplain with many bogs and small lakes. Finally it flows into the Sea of Okhotsk on the northeastern side of the estuary of Okhotsk town.

The main tributary of the Kukhtuy is the 178 km long Gusinka (Гусинка) that joins it from the left. The river freezes around late October and stays frozen until mid May.

Fauna
The basin of the Kukhtuy is a spawning ground for the coho salmon. Other fish species are also abundant in its waters, such as the Amur whitefish, East Siberian grayling, whitespotted char and round whitefish.