North Macedonia is a country situated in southeastern Europe with geographic coordinates 41°50′N22°00′E, bordering Kosovo and Serbia to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and Albania to the west. The country is part of the wider region of Macedonia and makes up most of Vardar Macedonia. The country is a major transportation corridor from Western and Central Europe to Southern Europe and the Aegean Sea. North Macedonia is a landlocked country but has three major natural lakes: Lake Ohrid, Lake Prespa and Lake Dojran. It has a water area of 857 km2, while its land area is 24,856 km2.
The brown trout is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, Salmo trutta morpha fario, a lacustrine ecotype, S. trutta morpha lacustris, also called the lake trout, and anadromous forms known as the sea trout, S. trutta morpha trutta. The latter migrates to the oceans for much of its life and returns to fresh water only to spawn. Sea trout in Ireland and Britain have many regional names: sewin in Wales, finnock in Scotland, peal in the West Country, mort in North West England, and white trout in Ireland.
Salmo is a genus of fish in the salmon family Salmonidae that includes the European species of salmon and trout, among them the familiar Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and the brown trout Salmo trutta. The natural distribution of Salmo also extends to Northern Africa and to Western Asia around the Black Sea basin. The single Salmo species naturally found in the Atlantic North America is the Atlantic salmon, whereas the salmon and trout of the Pacific basin belong to another genus, Oncorhynchus. The generic name Salmo derives from the Latin salmō (salmon). The number of distinct species and subspecies in Salmo is a debated issue. Atlantic salmon and brown trout are widespread species, while most of the other taxa are narrowly distributed forms endemic to single watersheds.
Lake Ohrid is a lake which straddles the mountainous border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes, with a unique aquatic ecosystem of worldwide importance, with more than 200 endemic species.
The Lake Prespa is located on the tripoint of North Macedonia, Albania, and Greece. It is a system of two lakes separated by an isthmus: the Great Prespa Lake, divided between the three countries, and the Little Prespa Lake, mostly within Greece. They are the highest tectonic lakes in the Balkans, standing at an elevation of 853 metres (2,799 ft).
Ohrid trout or the Lake Ohrid brown trout is an endemic species of trout in Lake Ohrid and in its tributaries and outlet, the Black Drin river, in North Macedonia and Albania. Locally, the fish is known as охридска пастрмка in Macedonian and koran in Albanian.
The westslope cutthroat trout, also known as the black-spotted trout, common cutthroat trout and red-throated trout is a subspecies of the cutthroat trout and is a freshwater fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. The cutthroat is the Montana state fish. This subspecies is a species of concern in its Montana and British Columbia ranges and is considered threatened in its native range in Alberta.
Salmo ohridanus, also known by the local name as the belvica in Northern Macedonia or belushka in Albania, is a species of freshwater salmonid fish, endemic to Lake Ohrid in Albania and North Macedonia.
The Mexican golden trout is a species of fish in the family Salmonidae. The species is endemic to high-elevation headwaters of the Fuerte River, Sinaloa River, and Culiacán River drainages in the Sierra Madre Occidental in Mexico.
Salmo aphelios is a species of trout, a salmonid fish endemic to Lake Ohrid in North Macedonia and Albania in the Balkans.
Salmo balcanicus is a type of trout, a fish in the family Salmonidae. It is endemic to Lake Ohrid and its outlet in North Macedonia and Albania in the Balkans.
Salmo dentex is a variety of trout, a freshwater fish in the family Salmonidae, found in the western Balkans. Until recently the identity, biological distinctness and species status of the dentex trout were not properly clarified, but genetic data now suggest it is not a monophyletic unit that could be distinguished from other salmonids as a separate species.
Salmo lumi is a type of trout, a fish in the family Salmonidae. It is endemic to Lake Ohrid and its tributaries in Albania and North Macedonia.
Salmo marmoratus, the marble trout, is a species of freshwater fish in the family Salmonidae. It is characterized by a distinctive marbled color pattern and high growth capacity. The marble trout is found in only a handful of drainages and rivers of the Adriatic basin in Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, while in Albania, the species is considered most likely extirpated.
Salmo platycephalus, known as the flathead trout, Ala balik or the Turkish trout, is a type of trout, a fish in the family Salmonidae. It is endemic to southeastern Turkey. It is known only from one population, which occupies three streams, tributaries of the Zamantı River in the Seyhan River basin. The population itself is abundant, but subject to threat by habitat loss, since the range is small. Also, predation of juveniles by introduced rainbow trout may cause population decline. The species is classified as critically endangered.
The fish fauna of the Neretva river basin in the western Balkans is representative of the Dinaric karst region and characterized by several endemic and endangered species.
Mexican native trout —Mexican rainbow trout, sometimes Baja rainbow trout and Mexican golden trout occur in the Pacific Ocean tributaries of the Baja California peninsula and in the Sierra Madre Occidental of northwestern Mexico as far south as Victoria de Durango in the state of Durango. Many forms of the Mexican rainbow trout, subspecies of the rainbow trout, have been described. The Mexican golden trout is a recognized species.
Ohrid-Prespa Transboundary Biosphere Reserve is a biosphere reserve encompassing the area of Lake Ohrid and Lake Prespa, on North Macedonia and Albania.
For a small country, Albania is characterised by a considerable wealth of terrestrial and marine ecosystems and habitats with contrasting floral and faunal species, defined in an area of 28,748 square kilometres. Most of the country is predominantly of Mediterranean character, comprehending the country's center and south, while the alpine affinity is more visible in the northeast.
The Prespa National Park is a national park situated in southeastern Albania on the border triangle shared with Greece and North Macedonia. At approximately 277.5 km2 (107.1 sq mi), the park encompasses the country's sections of the Great and Small Prespa Lake. It is considerably characterised by high mountains, narrow islands, vast freshwater wetlands, salt marshes, meadows, reed beds and dense forests.
