| Coregonus fera | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Specimen in Musée de zoologie de Lausanne | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Salmoniformes |
| Family: | Salmonidae |
| Genus: | Coregonus |
| Species: | †C. fera |
| Binomial name | |
| †Coregonus fera (Jurine, 1825) | |
Coregonus fera, commonly called the true fera , is a presumed extinct freshwater fish from Lake Geneva in Switzerland and France.
The fera is a freshwater whitefish that typically grows to between 35 and 40 centimeters in length. [1] It is a member of the common whitefish complex (Coregonus lavaretus sensu lato).
The identity of the fera is disputed. In 1950, Emile Dottrens described Coregonus fera as native to both Lake Geneva and Lake Constance. The coregonines from Lake Constance were named Sandfelchen. In 1997, Maurice Kottelat made a revision and used the name Coregonus fera for the Geneva fera and Coregonus arenicolus for theSandfelchen. The common name fera is still also used for fish that continue to live in Lake Geneva, but it now refers to the introduced Coregonus palaea . [2]
The true fera lived at the bottom of lakes, where it fed on zooplankton and spawned between February and mid-March.
Together with the similarly extinct gravenche (Coregonus hiemalis), the fera was one of the most caught freshwater fishes in Lake Geneva. In 1890, these two fishes constituted 68% of the total captures in the lake. [1] Due to a combination of overexploitation and heavy hybridisation with introduced Coregonus species, it became extremely scarce and was last seen in Lake Geneva in 1920. [2] [1]
Coregonus is a diverse genus of fish in the salmon family (Salmonidae). The Coregonus species are known as whitefishes. The genus contains at least 68 described extant taxa, but the true number of species is a matter of debate. The type species of the genus is Coregonus lavaretus.
Coregonus lavaretus is a species of freshwater whitefish, in the family Salmonidae. It is the type species of its genus Coregonus.
Coregonus albula, known as the vendace or as the European cisco, is a species of freshwater whitefish in the family Salmonidae. It is found in lakes in northern Europe, especially Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Russia and Estonia, and in some lakes of Norway, the United Kingdom, northern Germany, and Poland. It is also found in diluted brackish water in the Gulfs of Finland and Bothnia, both of which are in the Baltic Sea.
The broad whitefish is a freshwater whitefish species. Dark silvery in colour, and like a herring in its shape. Its distinctive features includes: a convex head, short gill rakers, and a mild overbite. It is found in the Arctic-draining streams, lakes, and rivers of far eastern Russia and North America. Its prey includes larval insects, snails, and shellfish. It is eaten by humans and brown bears.
Coregonus vandesius, the vendace, is a freshwater whitefish found in the United Kingdom. Population surveys since the 1960s have revealed a steady decline and the fish is no longer present in some of its previous haunts but is still present in Bassenthwaite Lake and Derwent Water. The main threats it faces are eutrophication and the introduction of alien species of fish which eat its eggs and fry. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as "endangered".
The gravenche, also known as the Lake Geneva whitefish or the little fera, is a presumably extinct freshwater fish from Lake Geneva in Switzerland and France.
Fera is a local name for several fish species of the genus Coregonus from Switzerland, and France, in particular Savoy. The true fera referred to the species Coregonus fera, which was endemic to Lake Geneva, but is now extinct. The "fera" served as a food fish in Switzerland and Savoy refers to the still-surviving relatives of the true fera, which include Coregonus palaea. The Lake Geneva whitefish was locally known as "little fera".
Coregonus confusus is a freshwater whitefish from Switzerland. It is also known by its native Swiss German common name, spelled pfärrit, pfarrig, and pfärrig. It was described as Coregonus annectens confusus by Victor Fatio in 1885 from syntypes which have been lost in 1902. The species is rare and only known with certainty from Lake Biel. There is also a possibility that it might occur in Lake Neuchâtel. It vanished from Lake Murten in the 1960s due to eutrophication and water level management.
The houting is a European species of whitefish in the family Salmonidae that was long thought extinct. It was native to the estuaries and rivers draining to the North Sea. The houting is distinguishable from other Coregonus taxa by having a long, pointed snout, an inferior mouth and a different number of gill rakers. The houting once occurred in Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and England. In 2023, DNA analysis found the houting to be genetically indistinguishable from Coregonus lavaretus, and therefore not extinct.
The peled, also called the northern whitefish, is a species of freshwater whitefish in the family Salmonidae. It is found in northern Europe and Asia.
The humpback whitefish, also referred to as the bottom whitefish, the Arctic whitefish or the pidschian, is a species of freshwater whitefish with a northern distribution. It is one of the members in the broader common whitefish complex, or the Coregonus clupeaformis complex. This fish lives in estuaries and brackish water near river mouths, in deltas and in slowly running rivers, in large lakes with tributaries, and floodplain lakes. It can migrate long distances upriver for spawning.
Maurice Kottelat is a Swiss ichthyologist specializing in Eurasian freshwater fishes.
Coregonus fontanae, also known as the Stechlin cisco, Fontane cisco, or Fontane's cisco, is a putative species of freshwater whitefish in the family Salmonidae endemic to the Großer Stechlinsee in northern Germany. It is believed to have recently evolved from the sympatric vendace, Coregonus albula.
Coregonus bavaricus, the Ammersee kilch, is a species of freshwater whitefish endemic to Lake Ammersee in the German state of Upper Bavaria. A small, silver-colored fish, it typically lives between 60–85 m (197–279 ft) deep, though shallower in the summer months. In the early 20th century the Ammersee kilch was an important commercial species, but its population declined drastically in the 1930s onward due to overfishing and eutrophication of the only lake in which it is found. Today it is listed as Critically Endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and may be on the verge of extinction.
Coregonus bezola is an extinct species of freshwater whitefish in the family Salmonidae. It was endemic to the Lac du Bourget in Savoie, France where it was pelagic in deep water. The maximum length recorded for this species is 32.0 centimetres (12.6 in). It is known from specimens collected in the late 19th century, and was reported by fishermen to have disappeared in the 1960s. It spawned in January and February, on the muddy bottom of the lake, at a depth of 70 to 80 metres (230–260 ft).
Coregonus maraena, referred to in English as the maraene, maraena whitefish, vendace, cisco, lake herring, lake whitefish or the whitefish, is a whitefish of the family Salmonidae that occurs in the Baltic Sea basin - in the sea itself and the inflowing rivers, and in several lakes as landlocked populations. It is found in Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Russia and Sweden. As of 2013, it has been listed as a vulnerable species by the IUCN and as endangered by HELCOM. It is an extremely important fish within the Baltic Sea ecosystem, both for population equilibrium and for the local diets of the surrounding human population. Due to a variety of factors, mostly overfishing, the maraena’s population dwindled to near-extinction levels. Thus, rampant repopulation was enacted to preserve this important fish.
The Peipsi whitefish is a freshwater whitefish of the family Salmonidae that naturally occurs in Lake Peipus on the border of Estonia and Russia, from where it also ascends to Lake Võrtsjärv to spawn. It has been introduced in Lake Burtnieks (Latvia), Gulf of Riga, many lakes of northern Russia, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Japan, Lake Sevan (Armenia) and Balkash (Kazakhstan). It is a benthopelagic fish up to 60 cm long.
Coregonus gutturosus, the Lake Constance whitefish, is an extinct species of whitefish in the salmon family Salmonidae. It was formerly found only in deep areas of Lake Constance in the Alps.
Salvelinus profundus is a deepwater char species found only in deep areas of Lake Constance.
Coregonus widegreni, also called the Valaam whitefish, is a putative species of freshwater whitefish, a part of the common whitefish complex from Northern Europe. It is a demersal form of freshwater whitefish that feeds on benthic invertebrates. It spawns in late autumn, and can reach a length of 55 cm maximum. It is characterized by a low gill raker density.
