Char (fish)

''Salvelinus'' is a genus of salmonid fish often called char or charr; some species are called "trout". ''Salvelinus'' is a member of the subfamily Salmoninae within the family Salmonidae. The genus has a northern circumpolar distribution, and most of its members are typically cold-water fish that primarily inhabit fresh waters. Many species also migrate to the sea.

Most char may be identified by light-cream, pink, or red spots over a darker body. Scales tend to be small, with 115–200 along the lateral line. The pectoral, pelvic, anal, and the lower aspect of caudal fins are trimmed in snow white or cream leading edges.

Many members of this genus are popular sport fish, and a few, such as lake trout (''S. namaycush'') and arctic char (''S. alpinus'') are objects of commercial fisheries and/or aquaculture. Occasionally such fish escape and become invasive species.

Deepwater char are small species of char living below 80 m in the deep areas of certain lakes. They are highly sensitive to changes in the quality of the water and one species, ''Salvelinus neocomensis'', was driven to extinction in the twentieth century.

Etymology

The origin of the name "char" or "charr" is unknown, but was perhaps from Celtic, such as the Irish word meaning "fiery red" (found in some Celtic personal names), likely for the bright red belly of the Arctic char; or perhaps borrowed from Middle Low German ''schar'' meaning "flounder, dab"; or from Proto-Germanic ''*skardaz'' or ''*skeraną'' meaning "to cut or shear", possibly referring to its sherd-like shape.

Taxonomy

There are currently three subgenera in the genus ''Salvelinus'': ''Baione'', ''Cristovomer'', and ''Salvelinus'' sensu stricto. ''Baione'', the most basal clade in the genus, contains the brook trout (''S. fontinalis''), and the presumably extinct silver trout (''S. agassizii''). ''Cristovomer'' contains only the lake trout (''S. namaycush''). All other species are in the subgenus ''Salvelinus''. If the long-finned char (''Salvethymus svetovidovi'') is considered a member of the genus ''Salvelinus'', it would be classified in the subgenus ''Salvethymus'', adding a fourth subgenus.

Species diversity

As with other salmonid genera, the delimitation of species in ''Salvelinus'' is controversial. FishBase in 2015 listed 54 species or subspecies in this genus, many of which have very narrow local distributions. Fourteen localised species are listed from the British Isles alone, although these traditionally, and still by the national conservation and fisheries authorities, are all considered to represent the widespread Arctic charr (''S. alpinus''). Twenty species are listed from the Asian part of Russia, including several localised taxa from in each of the Kamchatka, Chukotka and Taimyr peninsulas. One of these is the long-finned char, which phylogenetically is part of the ''Salvelinus'' group but has been so far classified into its own monotypic genus '' Salvethymus''.

The Arctic char (''S. alpinus'') is the most broadly distributed ''Salvelinus'' species. It has a circumpolar distribution, and it is considered the most northern of all freshwater fishes. In North America, five relatively well defined species are present, which, apart from the Arctic char, comprise the brook trout (''S. fontinalis''), bull trout (''S. confluentus''), Dolly Varden trout (''S. malma'') and lake trout (''S. namaycush'').

This listing presents the taxa recognised in FishBase grouped by geography:

Circumpolar

* ''Salvelinus alpinus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – Arctic char

Europe

;Central Europe
* '' Salvelinus evasus'' Freyhof & Kottelat, 2005
* †''Salvelinus neocomensis'' Freyhof & Kottelat, 2005
* '' Salvelinus profundus'' (Schillinger, 1901)
* ''Salvelinus umbla'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – lake char

;British Isles
Scotland and adjacent islands:
* '' Salvelinus gracillimus'' Regan, 1909
* '' Salvelinus inframundus'' Regan, 1909
* '' Salvelinus killinensis'' (Günther, 1866)
* '' Salvelinus mallochi'' Regan, 1909
* '' Salvelinus maxillaris'' Regan, 1909
* '' Salvelinus struanensis'' (Maitland, 1881)
* '' Salvelinus youngeri'' (Friend, 1965) – golden char

England and Wales:
* '' Salvelinus lonsdalii'' Regan, 1909
* '' Salvelinus perisii'' (Günther, 1865)
* '' Salvelinus willughbii'' (Günther, 1862)
Ireland:
* '' Salvelinus colii'' ( Günther, 1863) – Cole's char
* '' Salvelinus fimbriatus'' Regan, 1908 – Coomsaharn char
* '' Salvelinus grayi'' (Günther, 1862) – Gray's char
* '' Salvelinus obtusus'' Regan, 1908 – blunt-snouted Irish char
;Northern Europe
Iceland and Atlantic islands:
* '' Salvelinus faroensis'' Joensen & Tåning, 1970
* '' Salvelinus murta'' (Sæmundsson, 1909)
* '' Salvelinus thingvallensis'' (Sæmundsson, 1909)
* '' Salvelinus salvelinoinsularis'' ( Lönnberg, 1900) – Bear Island char
Fennoscandia and Northwest Russia:
* '' Salvelinus lepechini'' ( J. F. Gmelin, 1789)

Asia

;Arctic drainages
* '' Salvelinus andriashevi'' L. S. Berg, 1948 – Chukot char
* ''Salvelinus boganidae'' L. S. Berg, 1926 – Boganida char
* '' Salvelinus czerskii'' Dryagin, 1932 – Cherskii's char
* '' Salvelinus drjagini'' Logashev, 1940 – Dryagin's char
* ''Salvelinus elgyticus'' Viktorovsky & Glubokovsky, 1981 – small-mouth char

* '' Salvelinus alpinus erythrinus'' ( Georgi, 1775) – davatchan
* '' Salvelinus jacuticus'' Borisov, 1935 – Yakutian char
* '' Salvelinus taimyricus'' Mikhin, 1949
* '' Salvelinus taranetzi'' Kaganowsky, 1955 – Taranets char
* ''Salvelinus tolmachoffi'' L. S. Berg, 1926 – Lake Yessey char
* ''Salvethymus svetovidovi'' Chereshnev & Skopets, 1990 – long-finned char: phylogenetically part of the ''Salvelinus'' clade]
;Pacific drainages
* '' Salvelinus albus'' Glubokovsky, 1977 – white char
* '' Salvelinus curilus'' (Pallas, 1814) (= ''S. malma krascheninnikova'' Taranetz, 1933 – southern Dolly Varden
* '' Salvelinus gritzenkoi'' Vasil'eva & Stygar, 2000


* '' Salvelinus krogiusae'' Glubokovksy, Frolov, Efremov, Ribnikova & Katugin, 1993
* '' Salvelinus kronocius'' Viktorovsky, 1978
* '' Salvelinus kuznetzovi'' Taranetz, 1933
* '' Salvelinus leucomaenis'' (Pallas, 1814) – whitespotted char
** ''S. l. leucomaenis'' (Pallas, 1814)
** ''S. l. imbrius'' D. S. Jordan & E. A. McGregor, 1925
** ''S. l. pluvius'' ( Hilgendorf, 1876)
** '' S. l. japonicus'' (=''S. japonicus'') Ōshima, 1961 – kirikuchi char
* '' Salvelinus neiva'' Taranetz, 1933 – Neiva
* '' Salvelinus schmidti'' Viktorovsky, 1978
* '' Salvelinus vasiljevae'' Safronov & Zvezdov, 2005 – Sakhalinian char

North America

Atlantic drainages
* †'' Salvelinus agassizii'' ( Garman, 1885) – silver trout
*'' Salvelinus fontinalis'' ( Mitchill, 1814) – brook trout
*'' Salvelinus namaycush'' ( Walbaum, 1792) – lake trout
Pacific & Arctic drainages
* '' Salvelinus confluentus'' ( Suckley, 1859) – bull trout
*'' Salvelinus malma'' (Walbaum, 1792) – Dolly Varden trout
** "'' Salvelinus anaktuvukensis''" Morrow, 1973 – angayukaksurak char (= '' S. malma'')

Hybrids

*''S. alpinus × S. fontinalis'' – Alsatian char
*''S. namaycush × S. fontinalis'' – splake, brookinaw
*''S. fontinalis × Salmo trutta'' – tiger trout
*''S. leucomaensis x O. masou'' – river mackerel, Kawasaba

References

External links

*
USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Fish DatabaseIUCN Salvelinus umbla

{{Taxonbar, from=Q548682

Extant Miocene first appearances
Taxa named by John Richardson (naturalist)
Ray-finned fish genera