The peled (''Coregonus peled''), also called the ''northern whitefish'', is a species of

freshwater whitefish The freshwater whitefish are fishes of the subfamily Coregoninae, which contains whitefishes (both freshwater and anadromous) and ciscoes, and is one of three subfamilies in the salmon family Salmonidae. Apart from the subfamily Coregoninae, ...

in the family

Salmonidae Salmonidae (, ) is a family (biology), family of ray-finned fish, the only extant member of the suborder Salmonoidei, consisting of 11 extant genera and over 200 species collectively known as "salmonids" or "salmonoids". The family includes salmo ...

. It is found in northern Europe and Asia. The peled is related to ciscoes of the ''

Coregonus sardinella ''Coregonus sardinella'', known as the least cisco or the sardine cisco, is a fresh- and brackishwater salmonid fish that inhabits rivers, estuaries and coastal waters of the marginal seas of the Arctic Basin, as well as some large lakes of th ...

'' complex.Politov DV, Bickham JW, Patton JC (2004
Molecular phylogeography of Palearctic and Nearctic ciscoes
''Ann. Zool. Fennici'' 41:13-23.

Description

Smaller peled much resemble slim vendace or whitefish but as they grow larger they develop a deeper body which becomes less tapered and more blocky. The jaws are of equal length which is in contrast to the whitefish which has a snout longer than its lower jaw, and the vendace which has a projecting lower jaw. Another distinction is that the first gill arch has 50–65 gill rakers, a larger number than either of the other species. This fish grows to a length of about and a maximum weight of . It has a dark back, silvery flanks and white belly.

Distribution and habitat

The peled is native to lakes and rivers of northern Russia. Its range extends from the

Mezen River The Mezen (; Komi: ''n'') is a river in Udorsky District of the Komi Republic and in Leshukonsky and Mezensky Districts of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. Its mouth is located in the Mezen Bay of the White Sea. Mezen is one of the biggest rivers ...

system emptying into the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

eastwards to the

Kolyma River The Kolyma (, ; ) is a river in northeastern Siberia, whose basin covers parts of the Sakha Republic, Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, and Magadan Oblast of Russia. The Kolyma is frozen to depths of several metres for about 250 days each year, b ...

basin in eastern Siberia. It is a fish of rivers, reservoirs and lakes and it is possible that more than one species exist under the common name as there is considerable variation in growth rate, spawning date and other factors across its range.

Biology

The peled mostly eats

zooplankton Zooplankton are the heterotrophic component of the planktonic community (the " zoo-" prefix comes from ), having to consume other organisms to thrive. Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequent ...

, but also consumes bottom-dwelling invertebrates,

fish fry A fish fry is a social event containing battered or breaded fried fish. It usually also includes french fries, coleslaw, macaroni salad, lemon slices, tartar sauce, hot sauce, malt vinegar and dessert. Some Native American versions are cooked ...

, algae and floating insects. Fish mostly become mature when about three years old and can live to about twelve years old. They spawn in autumn and winter over hard sand at the edges of lakes, and over sand, gravel and pebbles in rivers. In northern rivers this may be under ice at depths down to about .

Uses

Although edible, the peled is not highly esteemed for cooking as the flesh is rather soft and tasteless. It is sometimes consumed raw. Peled is highly valued smoked and salted.

References

* {{Authority control Coregonus Fish described in 1788 Taxa named by Johann Friedrich Gmelin Fish of Russia Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Endemic fauna of Russia