The Atlantic whitefish (''Coregonus huntsmani'') is a coregonine fish inhabiting some freshwater lakes within

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

, Canada. It is known to survive only in the Petite Rivière watershed as landlocked populations. Earlier it was also found in the Tusket and Annis rivers of Nova Scotia. Those populations were

anadromous Fish migration is mass relocation by fish from one area or body of water to another. 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 thousa ...

, migrating to the estuary to feed while breeding in freshwater. ''C. huntsmani'' was originally designated ''Coregonus canadensis'', but the species name was changed in 1987. Other common names that ''C. huntsmani'' is known by are Acadian whitefish and sault whitefish. The species was designated as an

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

in 1986 and vulnerable in 1996. It is now considered

critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...

due to the consequences of

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

building and introduced predators such as

smallmouth bass The smallmouth bass (''Micropterus dolomieu'') is a species of freshwater fish in the Centrarchidae, sunfish family (biology), family (Centrarchidae) of the order (biology), order Centrarchiformes. It is the type species of its genus ''Micropterus ...

and

chain pickerel The chain pickerel (''Esox niger'') is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family (biology), family (family Esocidae) of order (biology), order Esociformes. The chain pickerel and the American pickerel (''E. americanus'') belong to the ''Esox ...

. It has been listed as an endangered species under Schedule 1 of the

Species at Risk Act The ''Species at Risk Act'' (, SARA) is a piece of Canadian federal legislation which became law in Canada on December 12, 2002. It is designed to meet one of Canada's key commitments under the International Convention on Biological Diversity. T ...

since 2003. Nova Scotia prohibited the taking of Atlantic whitefish under the Canadian Fisheries Act. Other conservation actions for the species include captive breeding and restocking, as well as control of the introduced predators. The Atlantic whitefish has a typical salmonid body shape and is silvery on the sides and underside with a dark blue to dark green back. The landlocked populations feed on insects and small fish. The reproduction of Atlantic whitefish in nature has not been observed. The narrowly endemic Atlantic whitefish is genetically distinct from the

lake whitefish The lake whitefish (''Coregonus clupeaformis'') is a species of freshwater whitefish from North America. Lake whitefish are found throughout much of Canada and parts of the northern United States, including all of the Great Lakes. The lake white ...

(''Coregonus clupeaformis'') and the

cisco Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational digital communications technology conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, manufactures, and sells networking hardware, s ...

(''Coregonus artedi''), which both are widespread across much of continental North America. Phylogenetic evidence indicates that the species is the most basal member of the widespread and speciose genus ''

Coregonus ''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 ...

'', with its lineage diverging from the rest of the ''Coregonus'' species during the mid-

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

, about 15 million years ago. It is even more basal than the genus ''

Stenodus ''Stenodus'' is a genus of large-sized whitefish in the family Salmonidae. It consists of two species; one of them ( beloribitsa) is extinct in the wild. The two species have alternatively been considered subspecies of the single species ''Steno ...

'', making ''Coregonus''

paraphyletic Paraphyly is a taxonomic term describing a grouping that consists of the grouping's last common ancestor and some but not all of its descendant lineages. The grouping is said to be paraphyletic ''with respect to'' the excluded subgroups. In co ...

with respect to ''Stenodus''.

References

*
Recovery potential assessment of Atlantic whitefish (''Coregonus huntsmani'')
Canadian Science Advisory Secretariat Science Advisory Report 2009/051 *

External links

Fisheries and Oceans Canada www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca
Nova Scotia Fisheries and Aquaculture factsheet

''Coregonus canadensis''
World Register of Marine Species entry {{DEFAULTSORT:Atlantic Whitefish Coregonus Fish described in 1987 Endemic fauna of Canada Endemic fauna of Nova Scotia