Gravenche

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Gravenche
Coregonushiemalis.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Salmoniformes
Family: Salmonidae
Genus: Coregonus
Species:
C. hiemalis
Binomial name
Coregonus hiemalis
Jurine, 1825

The gravenche (Coregonus hiemalis), also known as the Lake Geneva whitefish or the little fera, is a presumably extinct freshwater fish from Lake Geneva in Switzerland and France.

Contents

Description

The gravenche was a species of freshwater whitefish (Coregoninae) that reached a length between 25 and 32 centimetres (9.8 and 12.6 in). [1] [2]

The status of the gravenche is disputed because there are no specimens in museums. While Emile Dottrens described it as subspecies of the common whitefish Coregonus lavaretus in 1958, other experts like Maurice Kottelat regarded it as a full species endemic to Lake Geneva. [1] [3]

Biology

The gravenche is a benthopelagic freshwater fish that swam in the water column near the lake bottom, feeding upon zooplankton. Spawning occurred in mid-December. [3]

Extinction

Together with the likewise extinct true fera (Coregonus fera), the gravenche was one of the most important species for fisheries in Lake Geneva in the late 19th century. In 1890 these two fishes made up 68% of all fish caught in the lake. [2] Overfishing and eutrophication drove the gravenche to near extinction and it was last seen in the early 1900s. [4] [5]

Related Research Articles

<i>Coregonus</i> Genus of fishes

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.

<i>Coregonus lavaretus</i> Species of fish

Coregonus lavaretus is a species of freshwater whitefish, in the family Salmonidae. It is the type species of its genus Coregonus.

<i>Stenodus leucichthys</i> Species of fish

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. It 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Broad whitefish</span> Species of fish

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.

<i>Coregonus vandesius</i> Species of fish

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".

<i>Coregonus fera</i> Extinct species of fish

Coregonus fera, commonly called the true fera, is a presumed extinct freshwater fish from Lake Geneva in Switzerland and France.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peled (fish)</span> Species of fish

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humpback whitefish</span> Species of fish

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.

Coregonus trybomi is a freshwater whitefish in the family Salmonidae. It is a spring-spawning type of cisco, which probably has evolved from sympatric vendace independently in a number of Swedish lakes. Only one of those populations survives, and it is therefore considered Critically Endangered by the IUCN Red List. The status of Coregonus trybomi as a distinct species is however questionable. By Swedish authorities it is treated as a morphotype or ecotype, not an independent species. It was listed as "Data Deficient" in 2010 but excluded from the national red list in 2015.

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.

<i>Coregonus alpinus</i> Species of fish

Coregonus alpinus is a species of freshwater whitefish in the family Salmonidae. It is endemic to Lake Thun, in Switzerland's Interlaken region, where it is found in deep water. The maximum length recorded for this species is 25 centimetres (9.8 in). It feeds on chironomids and other bottom-dwelling invertebrates. It is known as the kropfer, a name also applied to the probably extinct species Coregonus restrictus.

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).

<i>Coregonus maraena</i> Species of fish

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peipsi whitefish</span> Species of 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.

<i>Coregonus gutturosus</i> Extinct species of fish

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.

<i>Coregonus widegreni</i> Species of fish

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.

Coregonus palaea is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family. It is found in Swiss lakes of Neuchâtel and Biel. In recent years it has also been introduced to Lake Geneva and other lakes in France and Switzerland.

References

  1. 1 2 Maurice Kottelat: European Freshwater Fisches. An heuristic checklist of the freshwater fishes of Europe (exclusive of former USSR), with an introduction for non - systematists and comments on nomenclature and conservation; Biologia: Section Zoology vol. 52/5, Slovak Academic Press, Bratislava 1997, ISBN   80-85665-87-5
  2. 1 2 Christian Trépey: Corégone (Féra - Palée) www.plongee-passion.ch (in French)
  3. 1 2 Kottelat, M. & Freyhof, J. (2007). Handbook of European Freshwater Fishes. Cornol & Berlin: Kottelat & Freyhof.
  4. Kottelat M, Freyhof J (2008) Coregonus hiemalis The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species c. 2015-4
  5. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2016). "Coregonus hiemalis" in FishBase . April 2016 version. Note: this source states that an introduced population of the gravenche, used for stockings, would still exist in the French Lake Aiguebette, in contrast to the IUCN account; this may represent confounding of information on different species.