Mongolian grayling | |
---|---|
A big Mongolian grayling caught by angler | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Salmoniformes |
Family: | Salmonidae |
Genus: | Thymallus |
Species: | T. brevirostris |
Binomial name | |
Thymallus brevirostris Kessler, 1879 | |
The Mongolian grayling (Thymallus brevirostris) is a freshwater species of fish of the genus Thymallus endemic to the landlocked rivers in Mongolia, Inner Mongolia Province of China and nearby parts of Russian far east. It is considered to be the largest grayling species in the world, [2] and hence viewed as an auspicious sign by local tribes. [3]
Mongolian grayling grow to a recorded maximum length of 65 cm (26 inches). [4] The dorsal side is blackish, and the abdominal side is light. Black spots are uniformly present on both sides of the body. In adults, their upper jaw extends at least below the posterior edge of the eye. [5] The Mongolian grayling is considered by researchers to be a relic from the Tertiary period. [6]
The Mongolian grayling is native to the landlocked lake region of Mongolia and the nearby Russian and Chinese areas, such as Khovd River, Issyk-Kul Lake and other rivers and lakes of the Altai Mountains, with Arctic graylings and their hybrids often found together. [7] It is mostly found in the Central Asian basin of western Mongolia and the border region with Kazakhstan, as well as the Tuva Republic in southern Siberia. [6]
The Mongolian grayling is omnivorous and lives predatorily at certain times of the year. During the summer months, it inhabits mountain rivers and lakes at all depths. [8] In autumn and winter, it forms large shoals in front of the estuaries in lakes before spawning. It can only reproduce in cold, oxygen-rich water below temperatures of 20°C. [9]
Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes, consisting of 11 extant genera and over 200 species collectively known as "salmonids" or "salmonoids". The family includes salmon, trout, char, graylings, freshwater whitefishes, taimens and lenoks, all coldwater mid-level predatory fish that inhabit the subarctic and cool temperate waters of the Northern Hemisphere. The Atlantic salmon, whose Latin name became that of its genus Salmo, is also the eponym of the family and order names.
Thymallus or graylings is a genus of freshwater salmonid ray-finned fish and the only genus within the subfamily Thymallinae. Although all Thymallus species can be generically called graylings, without specific qualification the term "grayling" typically refers to the type species Thymallus thymallus, the European grayling.
Thymallus thymallus, the grayling or European grayling, is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. It is the only species of the genus Thymallus native to Europe, where it is widespread from the United Kingdom and France to the Ural Mountains in Russia, and Balkans on the south-east, but does not occur in the southern parts of the continent. It was introduced to Morocco in 1948, but it does not appear to have become established there.
Stenodus leucichthys is a species of freshwater whitefish in the family Salmonidae. In the strict sense its natural distribution is restricted to the Caspian Sea basin, and it is known as beloribitsa. The beloribitsa is now considered extinct in the wild, but survives in cultured stocks. The nelma, a more widespread species of Eurasian and North America, is sometimes considered its subspecies.
The Arctic grayling is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. T. arcticus is widespread throughout the Arctic and Pacific drainages in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, as well as the upper Missouri River drainage in Montana. In the U.S. state of Arizona, an introduced population is found in the Lee Valley and other lakes in the White Mountains. They were also stocked at Toppings Lake by the Teton Range and in lakes in the high Uinta Mountains in Utah, as well as alpine lakes of the Boulder Mountains (Idaho) in central Idaho.
The Amur grayling is a freshwater species of fish of the family Salmonidae, found in the Amur drainage in Russia and China and also the Onon and Kherlen drainages in Mongolia. It is sometimes difficult to differentiate the species with the Lower Amur grayling. It is an edible fish in Russian far east and Heilongjiang Province of China.
The East Siberian grayling(Thymallus pallasii) is a grayling in the salmon family Salmonidae. Males can reach a size of 44 cm (17 in).
Thymallus yaluensis, also known as Yalu grayling, is a putative species of freshwater fish, a grayling in the salmon family Salmonidae. It is endemic to the upper Yalu River in Korea, on the Chinese border.
Lake Khövsgöl is the largest freshwater lake in Mongolia by volume and second largest by area after Uvs Lake. It is located near the northern border of Mongolia, about 200 km west of the southern end of Lake Baikal. It is nicknamed the "Younger sister" of those two "sister lakes".
The freshwater whitefish are fishes of the subfamily Coregoninae, which contains whitefishes and ciscoes, and is one of three subfamilies in the salmon family Salmonidae. Apart from the subfamily Coregoninae, the family Salmonidae includes the salmon, trout, and char species of the subfamily Salmoninae, and grayling species of the subfamily Thymallinae. Freshwater whitefish are distributed mainly in relatively cool waters throughout the northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere.
The Sakhalin taimen, also known as the Japanese huchen or stringfish, is a large species of salmonid freshwater fish in Northeast Asia, found in the lakes and large rivers of Primorsky, Khabarovsk, Sakhalin and Kuril Islands of Far Eastern Russia, as well as Hokkaido of Japan. Although often placed in the genus Hucho, molecular phylogenetic and other evidence has shown that it belongs in its own monotypic genus Parahucho.
The Great Lakes Depression, also called the Great Lakes' Hollow, is a large semi-arid depression in Mongolia that covers parts of the Uvs, Khovd, Bayan-Ölgii, Zavkhan and Govi-Altai aimags. Bounded by the Altai in the West, Khangai in the East and Tannu-Ola Mountains in the North, it covers the area of over 100,000 km2 (39,000 sq mi) with elevations from 750 to 2,000 m (2,460–6,560 ft).
Lenoks, otherwise known as Asiatic trout or Manchurian trout, are salmonid fish of the genus Brachymystax, native to rivers and lakes in Mongolia, Kazakhstan, wider Siberia, Northern China and Korea.
The Montana Arctic grayling is a North American freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. The Montana Arctic grayling, native to the upper Missouri River basin in Montana and Wyoming, is a disjunct population or subspecies of the more widespread Arctic grayling. It occurs in fluvial and adfluvial, lacustrine forms. The Montana grayling is a species of special concern in Montana and had candidate status for listing under the national Endangered Species Act. It underwent a comprehensive status review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which in 2014 decided not to list it as threatened or endangered. Current surviving native populations in the Big Hole River and Red Rock River drainages represent approximately four percent of the subspecies' historical range.
Thymallus baicalensis, also known as the Baikal black grayling, is a Siberian freshwater fish species in the salmon family Salmonidae.
The Kamchatka grayling is a grayling in the salmon family Salmonidae. The fish grows up to 50 cm (20 in). It is found in freshwater habitats of the Russian Far East, including the Kamchatka Peninsula, eastern part of Magadan Oblast and northwards to the southern Chukchi Peninsula.
The Upper Yenisei grayling is a freshwater species of fish of the genus Thymallus found in the upstream of Yenisei River and western Mongolia.
The Lower Amur grayling is a freshwater species of fish of the genius Thymallus found in the downstream of Amur river on the border of the Russian far east and Heilongjiang Province of China. It is a rather newly discovered fish species, while often being mistaken as Amur grayling.
The yellow-spotted grayling is a brackish species of fish of the genus of Thymallus found in Khabarovsk and Primorsky Krai of the Russian Far East. They were also found in the Sea of Japan and Sea of Okhotsk. They usually live near or on the bottom of the water body.
The Kosogol grayling is a freshwater species of fish of the genus of Thymallus endemic to the Mongolian Lake of Kosogol. They usually live near or on the bottom of the water body.