Broad Whitefish
Encyclopedia
The broad whitefish is a freshwater whitefish
species
. Dark silvery in colour, and like a herring
in its shape, its distinctive features include a convex head, short gill rakers, and a mild overbite. It is found in the Arctic-draining stream
s, lake
s, and river
s of far eastern Russia
and North America
. Its prey includes larval insects, snails, and shellfish. It is eaten by humans and brown bear
s.
and North America
from the Pechora River
to the Perry River
. Most commonly inhabiting stream
s, it is also found in lake
s and estuaries
with a salinity of less than 15 percent. Fish from freshwater populations sometimes migrate to or through ocean waters, especially in the winter. It is nerito-pelagic, meaning that it is found in inshore open water. Throughout its range it is widespread and abundant, and there are no known threats to its survival, though it could potentially be threatened by overfishing, habitat destruction caused by oil exploration, and alteration of rivers. It has a number of genetically distinct forms in the various basins it occurs in. It has been stocked successfully in Belgium
and unsuccessfully in Latvia
, Ukraine
, Estonia
, China
. An introduction has been made in Mining, Austria
, where a rod and reel record fish was caught in 2002.
, mosquito
larvae, snail
s, bivalves, and crustacean
s. It migrates
upstream to spawn, except in some estuaries. These migrations are difficult for it, and many individuals become heavily scarred from infestations, lamprey
s, and fishing nets. It prefers streams with gravel bottoms, especially those with finer gravel, for spawning. After hatching, larval fish move downstream. In Russia, spawning occurs between July and November in various populations. It is commonly consumed by humans, especially on a subsistence basis, and its good-tasting flesh is sold fresh, smoked, or dried. It is also eaten by brown bear
s, especially when their preferred salmon
is not available.
Freshwater whitefish
The freshwater whitefish are fish of the subfamily Coregoninae in the salmon family Salmonidae. Along with the freshwater whitefish, the Salmonidae includes the freshwater and anadromous trout and salmon species as well as graylings...
species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
. Dark silvery in colour, and like a herring
Herring
Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
in its shape, its distinctive features include a convex head, short gill rakers, and a mild overbite. It is found in the Arctic-draining stream
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
s, lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
s, and river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
s of far eastern Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Its prey includes larval insects, snails, and shellfish. It is eaten by humans and brown bear
Brown Bear
The brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...
s.
Description
The broad whitefish is a herring-shaped fish with a more compressed body and convex head than other whitefishes. It is iridescent, with a dark olive-brown back, silvery grey sides, and a whitish bottom. Features that distinguish it from other species include a mild overbite and 18–25 short gill rakers. The fins of adults are grey, while those of young fish are grey. It reaches a maximum length of 70 centimetres (27.6 in), and a maximum weight of 16 kilograms (35.3 lb).Distribution and habitat
The broad whitefish is found in Arctic-draining basins in northern EurasiaEurasia
Eurasia is a continent or supercontinent comprising the traditional continents of Europe and Asia ; covering about 52,990,000 km2 or about 10.6% of the Earth's surface located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres...
and North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
from the Pechora River
Pechora River
The Pechora River is a river in northwest Russia which flows north into the Arctic Ocean on the west side of the Ural Mountains. It lies mostly in the Komi Republic but the northernmost part crosses the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. It is 1,809 km long and its basin is 322,000 square kilometers...
to the Perry River
Perry River
Perry River is a waterway in Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, Canada. It empties into Chester Bay on the southern Queen Maud Gulf.At one time, Stephen Angulalik, and later Red Pedersen, ran a Hudson's Bay Company outpost at Perry River....
. Most commonly inhabiting stream
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
s, it is also found in lake
Lake
A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...
s and estuaries
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
with a salinity of less than 15 percent. Fish from freshwater populations sometimes migrate to or through ocean waters, especially in the winter. It is nerito-pelagic, meaning that it is found in inshore open water. Throughout its range it is widespread and abundant, and there are no known threats to its survival, though it could potentially be threatened by overfishing, habitat destruction caused by oil exploration, and alteration of rivers. It has a number of genetically distinct forms in the various basins it occurs in. It has been stocked successfully in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
and unsuccessfully in Latvia
Latvia
Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. An introduction has been made in Mining, Austria
Mining, Austria
Mining is a municipality in the district Braunau am Inn in Upper Austria, Austria.-References:...
, where a rod and reel record fish was caught in 2002.
Ecology
Recorded items in the broad whitefish's diet are chironomid midgesChironomidae
Chironomidae are a family of nematoceran flies with a global distribution. They are closely related to the Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, and Thaumaleidae...
, mosquito
Mosquito
Mosquitoes are members of a family of nematocerid flies: the Culicidae . The word Mosquito is from the Spanish and Portuguese for little fly...
larvae, snail
Snail
Snail is a common name applied to most of the members of the molluscan class Gastropoda that have coiled shells in the adult stage. When the word is used in its most general sense, it includes sea snails, land snails and freshwater snails. The word snail without any qualifier is however more often...
s, bivalves, and crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s. It migrates
Fish migration
Many types of fish migrate on a regular basis, on time scales ranging from daily to annually or longer, and over distances ranging from a few metres to thousands of kilometres...
upstream to spawn, except in some estuaries. These migrations are difficult for it, and many individuals become heavily scarred from infestations, lamprey
Lamprey
Lampreys are a family of jawless fish, whose adults are characterized by a toothed, funnel-like sucking mouth. Translated from an admixture of Latin and Greek, lamprey means stone lickers...
s, and fishing nets. It prefers streams with gravel bottoms, especially those with finer gravel, for spawning. After hatching, larval fish move downstream. In Russia, spawning occurs between July and November in various populations. It is commonly consumed by humans, especially on a subsistence basis, and its good-tasting flesh is sold fresh, smoked, or dried. It is also eaten by brown bear
Brown Bear
The brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...
s, especially when their preferred salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
is not available.
Literature cited
- Alaska Natural Heritage Program (2005). "Coregonus nasus." Fishes Tracking List and Status Reports. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
- Barker, Oliver E., and Derocher, Andrew E. (2009). "Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) Predation of Broad Whitefish (Coregonus nasus) in the Mackenzie Delta Region, Northwest Territories." Arctic 62(3):312–316. Retrieved 15 February 2010.
- Harris, Les N. (2008). "Population genetic structure of North American broad whitefish, Coregonus nasus (Pallas), with emphasis on the Mackenzie River system". Dissertation for the Degree of Master of Science. Retrieved 12 February 2010
- Machacek, Heinz. "Coregonus nasus". Fishing World Records. Retrieved 18 February 2010.
- Page, Lawrence M., and Burr, Brooks M. (1991). A Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-910910
- Reist, J. D.; R. A. Bodaly, R. J. P. Fudge, K. J. Cash, and T. V. Stevens (1987). "External scarring of whitefish, Coregonus nasus and C. clupeaformis complex, from the western Northwest Territories, Canada". Canadian Journal of Zoology 65(5): 1230–1239. .