The Atlantic whitefish (''Coregonus huntsmani'') is a
coregonine fish inhabiting some freshwater lakes within
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland".
Most of the population are native En ...
, Canada. It is known to survive only in the
Petite Rivière
Vincent Aycocho, or better known as Petite is a Filipino actor, comedian, singer and TV show host. He is known for as a Filipino comedian in '' Comedy Bar'', Punch line and Clowns, together with their other celebrities; Boobay, Iyah, Donita Nos ...
watershed as landlocked populations. Earlier it was also found in the
Tusket
Tusket is a small fishing community located in Yarmouth County, Nova Scotia on route 308.
History
"Neketaouksit", the Mi'kmaq word for the "Great Forked Tidal River", evolved to what is now called Tusket. The village was originally settled by ...
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 thousan ...
, 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 by the
IUCN in 1986 and
vulnerable
Vulnerable may refer to:
General
* Vulnerability
* Vulnerability (computing)
* Vulnerable adult
* Vulnerable species
Music
Albums
* ''Vulnerable'' (Marvin Gaye album), 1997
* ''Vulnerable'' (Tricky album), 2003
* ''Vulnerable'' (The Used album) ...
in 1996. It is now considered
critically endangered due to the consequences of
dam building and introduced predators such as
smallmouth bass and
chain pickerel
The chain pickerel (''Esox niger'') is a species of freshwater fish in the pike family (family Esocidae) of order Esociformes. The chain pickerel and the American pickerel (''E. americanus'') belong to the ''Esox'' genus of pike.
Taxonomy
French ...
.
Nova Scotia prohibited the taking of Atlantic whitefish under the Canadian
Fisheries Act
Fisheries Act (with its variations) is a stock short title used for legislation in multiple countries relating to fisheries. The Bill for an Act with this short title will have been known as a Fisheries Bill during its passage through Parliament ...
. 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 whit ...
(''Coregonus clupeaformis'') and the
cisco
Cisco Systems, Inc., commonly known as Cisco, is an American-based multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develo ...
(''Coregonus artedi''), which both are widespread across much of continental North America. Phylogenetic evidence indicates that the species is the most
basal
Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''.
Science
* Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure
* Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...
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 ty ...
'', with its lineage diverging from the rest of the ''Coregonus'' species during the mid-
Miocene
The Miocene ( ) is the first 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 means "less recent" ...
, 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 wild. The two species have alternatively been considered subspecies of the single species ''Stenodu ...
'', making ''Coregonus''
paraphyletic
In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...
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