Arctic char | |
---|---|
Arctic char or Arctic charr | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Salmoniformes |
Family: | Salmonidae |
Genus: | Salvelinus |
Species: | S. alpinus |
Binomial name | |
Salvelinus alpinus | |
Synonyms [2] | |
previous scientific names
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The Arctic char or Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes, as well as Arctic and subarctic coastal waters in the Holarctic.
It spawns in freshwater and its populations can be lacustrine, riverine, or anadromous, where they return from the ocean to their fresh water birth rivers to spawn. [3] No other freshwater fish is found as far north; it is, for instance, the only fish species in Lake Hazen which extend up to 81°56′N68°55′W / 81.933°N 68.917°W on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic. It is one of the rarest fish species in Great Britain and Ireland, found mainly in deep, cold, glacial lakes, and is at risk there from acidification. In other parts of its range, such as the Nordic countries, it is much more common, and is fished extensively. In Siberia, it is known as golets (Russian : голец) and it has been introduced in lakes where it sometimes threatens less hardy endemic species, such as the small-mouth char and the long-finned char in Elgygytgyn Lake.
The Arctic char is closely related to both salmon and lake trout, and has many characteristics of both. The fish is highly variable in colour, depending on the time of year and the environmental conditions of the lake where it lives. The appearance of Arctic char differs between populations. The dorsal side of the Arctic char is dark in its colour while the ventral varies from red, yellow, and white. [4] [5] [6]
Arctic char has a distinct size dimorphism, dwarf and giant. Dwarf Arctic char weigh between 0.2 and 2.3 kg (7 oz and 5 lb 1 oz) and average a length of 8 cm (3 in), while giant Arctic char weigh between 2.3 and 4.5 kg (5 lb 1 oz and 9 lb 15 oz) and average 40 cm (16 in) in length. [7] [8] Individual fish can weigh 9 kg (20 lb) or more with record-sized fish having been taken by anglers in Northern Canada, where it is known as iqaluk or tariungmiutaq in Inuktitut. Generally, whole market-sized fish are between 1 and 2.5 kg (2 lb 3 oz and 5 lb 8 oz). [9] Male and female Arctic char are the same size. [4] [5] [6]
The flesh colour can range from a bright red to a pale pink.
The Arctic char was initially scientifically described in the salmon genus Salmo as Salmo alpinus by Carl Linnaeus in the 1758 edition of Systema Naturae, which is the work that established the system of binomial nomenclature for animals. [10] Meanwhile, he described Salmo salvelinus and Salmo umbla , which were later considered as synonyms of S. alpinus. John Richardson (1836) separated them into a subgenus Salmo (Salvelinus), which now is treated as a full genus. [11] The genus name Salvelinus is from German Saibling – little salmon. [12]
The English name is thought to derive from Old Irish ceara/cera meaning "[blood] red", [13] referring to its pink-red underside. [14] [15] This would also connect with its Welsh name torgoch, "red belly". [16]
In North America, three subspecies of Salvelinus alpinus have been recognized. [17] "S. a. erythrinus" is native to almost all of Canada's northern coast. This subspecies is nearly always anadromous. S. a. oquassa, known as the blueback trout or Sunapee trout, is native to eastern Quebec and northern New England, although it has been extirpated from most of its northeastern United States range. S. a. oquassa is never anadromous. Dwarf Arctic char has been classified as S. a. taranetzi . [18] These scientific names are not generally accepted, however, as the names S. a. erythrinus and S. a. taranetzi usually refer to subspecies that are endemic to Siberia only.
Arctic char is also found in Lake Pingualuit in the Ungava Peninsula, Quebec, a lake situated in an impact crater formed roughly 1.4 million years ago. Since the last glaciation, changing water levels are believed to have connected the lake with glacial runoff and surrounding streams and rivers, allowing char to swim upstream into the lake. Arctic char is the only fish found in the lake, and signs of fish cannibalism have been found. [19]
Arctic char is notable for exhibiting numerous, seemingly distinct morphological variants or 'morphs' throughout the range of the species. [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] Consequently, Arctic char have been referred to as the "most variable vertebrate on Earth". [22] These morphs are often sympatric within lakes or rivers. [20] [21] [23] [24] Morphs often vary significantly in size, shape, and colour. [20] [21] [23] [24] Morphs often demonstrate differences in migratory behaviour, being resident or anadromous fish, and in feeding behaviour and niche placement. [21] [23] [24] Morphs often interbreed, but they can also be reproductively isolated and represent genetically distinct populations, [24] which have been cited as examples of incipient speciation. [21]
In Iceland, Þingvallavatn is noted for the evolution of four morphs: small benthic, large benthic, small limnetic and large limnetic. [20] [25]
In Svalbard, Norway, Lake Linnévatn on Spitsbergen has dwarf, 'normal', and normal-sized anadromous fish, and Lake Ellasjøen on Bear Island has a dwarf, small littoral and large pelagic morph. [24] In 2004, a previously unknown species closely related to Arctic char were discovered swimming near the bottom of Lake Tinn in Norway at a depth of 430 m (1,410 ft); The light-colored, translucent fish is up to 15 cm (5.9 in) long and lacks a swim bladder. [26]
In Sweden three morphs are usually recognised: storröding, större fjällröding and mindre fjällröding. [27] Wherever these types occur together in the same lake storröding is the largest. [27] Contrary to what the name may suggest when större fjällröding and mindre fjällröding are found together mindre fjällröding tend to be the largest morph. [27] Even within storröding morphs can be found; for example the Sommen charr of Lake Sommen tend to grow faster and reach sexual maturity later than the char from Lake Vättern. [28] [29]
Arctic char is known to produce hybrids with its congeners, Salvelinus namaycush (lake trout) and Salvelinus fontinalis (brook trout). [30]
The sparctic char is the intrageneric hybrid between Arctic char and brook trout. [30] Sparctic char grows faster than either parent species, are stronger and healthier, and are thus popular for sports fisheries. [30] Some of these hybrids are fertile while others are sterile. [30] Sparctic char have been found locally in Sweden, for example in the Piteälven and Skellefteälven Rivers in the northern part of the country, though are believed to be relatively uncommon. [30]
There has been no formal naming of the hybrid between Arctic char and lake trout as few studies have been done in regard to this hybridization.
Arctic char can be anadromous, landlocked, or semi-anadromous. [31] [32]
Arctic chars found north of 65°N latitude are generally anadromous. [31] [32] Anadromous Arctic chars spend their juvenile years in fresh water, and once mature, migrate annually to the marine environment. [31] [32] The first migration of Arctic char has been found to occur between 4 and 13 years of age. [33] When in the marine environment, Arctic chars inhabit coastal and intertidal areas. [31] [32] They migrate back to frozen lakes at the end of summer.
Generally, Arctic char inhabits shallow waters, rarely swimming deeper than 3 m (10 ft) depth. [31] [32] An exception to this applies to landlocked Arctic chars, which often swim much deeper in the summer in order to occupy colder waters. [31] [32] Dwarf Arctic chars are more common in landlocked populations as a result of scarce resources (immense competition). [8]
Arctic char exhibits a mostly circumpolar distribution. There is no other species of freshwater fish found at a higher latitude. [31] [32] [34] [35] Arctic char is native to Arctic and subarctic coasts and lakes of high elevations. In general, it has been observed in the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia, Siberia, and Alaska. [31] [32] [34] [35]
Anadromous Arctic chars migrate to the sea annually in mid-June to mid-July. [31] [32] [34] [35] After about two months, they return to fresh water to reproduce and overwinter. [31] [32] [34] [35]
The main predators of Arctic char include sea otters (Enhyrda lutris), polar bears (Ursus maritimus), humans (Homo sapiens), ferox trout (Salmo ferox), and other fish species. [36] [37] Dwarf Arctic char are also often cannibalistically consumed by giant Arctic char. [36] [37] As ferox trout are an apex predator, Arctic char is thus a key species throughout many lakes in its range. [36] [37]
Arctic char often demonstrates crypsis when defending from their predators. [36] [37] It will appear darker in its freshwater environments and lighter in its marine environments. Additionally, some juveniles have highly sensitive recognition of predator odours and respond to chemical cues from different fish predators. [36] [37]
The diet of Arctic char varies with season and location. Arctic chars are generally opportunists. [4] [32] [38] [39] There have been more than 30 species found in the stomachs of Arctic chars. [4] [32] [38] [39]
During late spring and summer, Arctic char feeds on insects found on the water's surface, salmon eggs, snails and other smaller crustaceans found on the lake bottom, and smaller fish up to a third of its size. During the autumn and winter months, it feeds on zooplankton and freshwater shrimps that are suspended in the lake, and also occasionally on smaller fish.
The marine diet of Arctic char consists mostly of a copepod species ( Calanis finmarchicus ) and krill ( Thysanoëssa ). [4] [32] [38] [39] Lake-dwelling Arctic chars feed mostly on insects and zoobenthos. Some giant Arctic chars have been recorded as cannibals of their young as well as dwarf Arctic chars. [4] [32] [38] [39]
Spawning occurs over rocky shoals in lakes with heavy wave action and in slower gravel-bottom pools in rivers. As with most salmonids, vast differences in colouration and body shape occur between sexually mature males and females. Males develop hooked jaws known as kypes and take on a brilliant red colour. Females remain fairly silver. Males are polygamous in sexual nature each season. They will circumambulate the females by rubbing up against them slightly. As the female lays her eggs, the male fertilizes her, which takes place during the daylight hours. [36] [40] [41] [42] [43] Most males set up and guard territories and often spawn with several females. The female constructs the nest, or redd.
A female anadromous char usually deposits from 3000 to 5000 eggs. Arctic char do not die after spawning like Pacific salmon, and often spawn several times throughout their lives, typically every second or third year. Young Arctic char emerge from the gravel in spring and stay in the river from 5 to 7 months, or until they are about 15–20 cm (6–8 in) in length. Sexual maturity in Arctic char ranges from 4 to 10 years old and 50–60 cm (20–24 in) in length. [36] [40] [41] [42] [43]
Time to hatching varies, but usually occurs between two and three months, with the longest have been observed at five months. [36] [40] [41] [42] [43] Arctic char ranges between 40 and 70 mg upon hatching. [36] [40] [41] [42] [43] Hatchlings are immediately independent of parents at hatching, and stay at the bottom of the gravel till they are 15–18 cm (6–7 in) in length. [36] [40] [41] [42] [43] Growth rates of Arctic char vary greatly.
Numerous commercial fisheries take place in various river systems throughout the Canadian Arctic, with the majority in Nunavut, such as the areas of Cumberland Sound and Cambridge Bay. [45] There are also exploratory fisheries to examine potential for future commercial char fishing areas. [45]
Arctic char fisheries are important for the Inuit and in the subsistence economy of many circumpolar people. [45] The fisheries are concentrated near communities and are predominately conducted using gill nets. [45] In 2004, it was estimated that the subsistence harvest in the Cambridge Bay area was about 50% the size of the commercial harvest. [45]
Research aimed at determining the suitability of Arctic char as a cultured species has been going on since the late 1970s. The Canadian government's Freshwater Institute of Fisheries and Oceans Canada at Winnipeg, Manitoba, and the Huntsman Marine Science Centre of New Brunswick, pioneered the early efforts in Canada. Arctic char is also farmed in Iceland, Estonia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, West Virginia, and Ireland.
Arctic char was first investigated because they expected it to have low optimum temperature requirements and would grow well at the cold water temperatures present in numerous areas of Canada. It could be an alternate species to rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), and could provide producers with a different niche in the marketplace. The initial research efforts concentrated on identifying the cultural needs and performance characteristics of the species. The Freshwater Institute was responsible for distributing small numbers of eggs to producers in Canada; these producers in return helped determine the suitability of Arctic char in a commercial setting. Commercial Arctic char breeding stocks have now been developed largely from these sources.
Arctic char eggs are hatched within specialized hatchery facilities. The young fish remain in the hatchery until they reach about 100 g (3+1⁄2 oz), and are then transferred to tanks each capable of holding 5000 fish. [9] Arctic char first exhibits a rapid growth spurt during this phase, reaching its market weight of 1–2.5 kg (2–6 lb) within a year. [9] They are fed dried pellets consisting mainly of fish meal and fish oil from forage fish that are too small and bony for human consumption. [9] Carotenoids are also added, giving Arctic char its characteristic coral colouration. [9]
The land-based Arctic char farming systems are among the most environmentally responsible fish farming designs. [9] They remove particulate matter and effluent prior to releasing water from the fish tanks into the environment. Sludge removed from the water is used to fertilize terrestrial crops. [9] Leftovers from fish processing may be incorporated into dog food or delivered to local compost facilities. [9]
In 2006, Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch [46] program added farmed Arctic char as an environmentally sustainable Best Choice for consumers, stating: "Arctic char use only a moderate amount of marine resources for feed" and that they "are farmed in land-based, closed systems that minimize the risk of escape into the wild." [46]
Commercial Arctic char typically weigh 1–2.5 kg (2–6 lb). [9] The flesh is fine-flaked and medium firm. The colour is between light pink and deep red, and the taste is like something between trout and salmon.
Trout is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera Oncorhynchus, Salmo and Salvelinus, all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the family Salmonidae. The word trout is also used for some similar-shaped but non-salmonid fish, such as the spotted seatrout/speckled trout.
The brown trout is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus Salmo, endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally as a game fish, even becoming one of the world's worst invasive species outside of its native range.
The bull trout is a char of the family Salmonidae native to northwestern North America. Historically, S. confluentus has been known as the "Dolly Varden", but was reclassified as a separate species in 1980. Populations of bull trout in the lower 48 states are listed as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and bull trout overall are listed as vulnerable to extinction on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. The Saskatchewan-Nelson Rivers population in Alberta, Canada is listed as threatened under the Species at Risk Act.
The Atlantic salmon is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are found in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into it. Most populations are anadromous, hatching in streams and rivers but moving out to sea as they grow where they mature, after which the adults seasonally move upstream again to spawn.
The brook trout is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus Salvelinus of the salmon family Salmonidae native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada. Two ecological forms of brook trout have been recognized by the US Forest Service. One ecological form is short-lived potamodromous populations in Lake Superior known as coaster trout or coasters. The second ecological form is the long-living predaceous anadromous populations which are found in northern lakes and coastal rivers from Long Island to Hudson Bay, which are referred to as salters. In parts of its range, it is also known as the eastern brook trout, speckled trout, brook char, squaretail, brookie, or mud trout, among others. Adult coaster brook trout are capable of reaching sizes over 2 feet in length and weigh up to 6.8 kg (15 lb), whereas adult salters average between 6 and 15 inches in length and weigh between 0.5 and 2.3 kg. The brook trout is characterized by its distinctive olive-green body with yellow and blue-rimmed red spots, white and black edged orange fins, and dorsal vermiculation. The diet of the brook trout is restrictive to the season and location of the fish, but will typically consist of terrestrial and aquatic insects, fry, crustaceans, zooplankton, and worms.
Sea trout is the common name usually applied to anadromous (sea-run) forms of brown trout, and is often referred to as Salmo trutta morpha trutta. Other names for anadromous brown trout are bull trout, sewin (Wales), peel or peal, mort, finnock (Scotland), white trout (Ireland), Dollaghan and salmon trout (culinary).
The silver trout is an extinct char species or subspecies that inhabited a few waters in New Hampshire in the United States prior to 1939, when a biological survey conducted on the Connecticut watershed by the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department found none.
The Dolly Varden trout is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. Despite the name "trout", it belongs to the genus Salvelinus (chars), which includes 51 recognized species, the most prominent being the brook, lake and bull trout as well as the Arctic char. Although many populations are semi-anadromous, riverine and lacustrine populations occur throughout its range. It is considered by taxonomists as part of the Salvelinus alpinus complex, as many populations of bull trout, Dolly Varden trout and Arctic char overlap.
Salvelinus is a genus of salmonid fish often called char or charr; some species are called "trout". Salvelinus is a member of the subfamily Salmoninae within the family Salmonidae. The genus has a northern circumpolar distribution, and most of its members are typically cold-water fish that primarily inhabit fresh waters. Many species also migrate to the sea.
Lough Melvin is a lake in the northwest of the island of Ireland on the border between County Leitrim and County Fermanagh. It is internationally renowned for its unique range of plants and animals.
Salvelinus umbla, also known as lake char, is a species of char found in certain lakes of the region of the Alps in Europe.
The Sunapee trout, also called blueback trout, Sunapee Golden trout, or Quebec red trout, is a putative subspecies of Arctic char native to northeastern New England in the United States, as well as Québec and New Brunswick in Canada, with introduced populations in Idaho.
A kype is a hook-like secondary sex characteristic which develops at the distal tip of the lower jaw in some male salmonids prior to the spawning season. The structure usually develops in the weeks prior to, and during, migration to the spawning grounds. In addition to the development of the kype, a large depression forms in the two halves of the premaxilla in the upper jaw, allowing the kype to fit into the premaxilla when the mouth is closed.
Salvelinus grayi, also called Gray's char[r], Lough Melvin char[r] or freshwater herring, is a species of lacustrine char in the family Salmonidae.
Salvelinus willughbii, also known as the Windermere charr or Willoughby's charr, is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae. Its binomial species name commemorates Francis Willughby. They are remnants from the end of the last ice-age, landlocked and isolated in various lakes within Cumbria, England. S. willughbii are a subspecies of Arctic charr that inhabit Lake Windermere, Coniston Water, Wast Water, Ennerdale Water, Buttermere, Crummock Water, and Lowes Water in The Lake District of Cumbria, England. The species has been listed on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered due to increased water temperatures, decreased levels of oxygen, and overfishing within Lake Windermere.
Salvelinus perisii, also known as Torgoch charr, is a freshwater species of fish of the genus Salvelinus found in several lakes such as Llyn Peris, Llyn Padarn and Llyn Cwellyn in Gwynedd County of Wales. The species are listed as vulnerable by IUCN.
Salvelinus neiva, also known as neiva, is a freshwater species of fish in the salmon family. It is endemic to the Okhota river basin of the Russian far east and mountain lakes nearby.
Salvelinus alpinus erythrinus, also known as Baikal charr or davatchan, is a subspecies of freshwater fish in the salmon family. It is endemic to the mountains north of Lake Baikal in the Russian Far East. The fish is edible and it is reported that the population of the species shrunk rapidly over the recent years due to over-fishing.
Salvelinus struanensis, commonly known as Scottish char, is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family. It is found in the Loch Rannoch and Loch Ericht in Scotland, United Kingdom.
Salvelinus taimyricus, commonly known as the taimy char, is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family. It is found in the Lake Taymyr at the Taymyr Peninsula in Arctic Russia.
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