The Sevan trout (''Salmo ischchan'') is an endemic fish species of

Lake Sevan Lake Sevan ( hy, Սևանա լիճ, Sevana lich) is the largest body of water in both Armenia and the Caucasus region. It is one of the largest freshwater high-altitude (alpine) lakes in Eurasia. The lake is situated in Gegharkunik Province, ...

Armenia Armenia (), , group=pron officially the Republic of Armenia,, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of Western Asia.The UNbr>classification of world regions places Armenia in Western Asia; the CIA World Factbook , , and ...

, known as ishkhan (իշխան, ) in

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

. It is a

salmonid Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes . It includes salmon (both Atlantic and Pacific species), trout (both ocean-going and landlocked), chars, freshwater whitefis ...

fish related to the

brown trout The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, ''Salmo trutta'' morp ...

The fish is endangered, because various competitors were introduced into the lake during the

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

period, including

common whitefish ''Coregonus lavaretus'' is a species of freshwater whitefish, in the family Salmonidae. It is the type species of its genus ''Coregonus''. There are widely different concepts about the delimitation of the species ''Coregonus lavaretus'' and abou ...

(''Coregonus lavaretus'') from

Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga (; rus, Ла́дожское о́зеро, r=Ladozhskoye ozero, p=ˈladəʂskəjə ˈozʲɪrə or rus, Ла́дога, r=Ladoga, p=ˈladəɡə, fi, Laatokka arlier in Finnish ''Nevajärvi'' ; vep, Ladog, Ladoganjärv) is a fresh ...

goldfish The goldfish (''Carassius auratus'') is a freshwater fish in the family Cyprinidae of order Cypriniformes. It is commonly kept as a pet in indoor aquariums, and is one of the most popular aquarium fish. Goldfish released into the wild have b ...

(''Carassius auratus'') and narrow-clawed crayfish (''Astacus leptodactylus''); and because of lake level change. On the other hand, the Sevan trout itself has been successfully introduced to

Issyk Kul Issyk-Kul (also Ysyk-Köl, ky, Ысык-Көл, lit=warm lake, translit=Ysyk-Köl, , zh, 伊塞克湖) is an endorheic lake (i.e., without outflow) in the Northern Tian Shan mountains in Eastern Kyrgyzstan. It is the seventh-deepest lake in th ...

lake in

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

. A resolution by Armenia's Council of Ministers in 1976 stopped the

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must oft ...

of Sevan trout and organized

Sevan National Park Sevan National Park, is one of the four protected national parks of Armenia, founded in 1978 to protect Lake Sevan and the surrounding areas. It is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Environment and includes a research center, which monit ...

. The fish are nowadays also reared in hatcheries. The Sevan trout has fourGabrielyan, B.K. (2001
An annotated checklist of freshwater fishes of Armenia
''Naga'' vol. 24, 23–29. Севанская форель, ишхан, Salmo ischchan Kessler, 1877
www.internevod.com (or two) distinct strains differing in their breeding time and place, and growth rate: *winter bakhtak (''Salmo ischchan ischchan'') *summer bakhtak (''Salmo ischchan aestivalis'') *gegharkuni (''Salmo ischchan gegarkuni'') *bojak (''Salmo ischchan danilewskii''). The winter bakhtak is the largest form and can grow to considerable size, up to 90 cm and 15 kg. It breeds within the lake. The summer bakhtak is smaller (<50 cm), and breeds naturally both in rivers and within lake near river mouths. Gegharkuni is a migratory form that naturally breeds exclusively in rivers; it also feeds on plankton in addition to

benthos Benthos (), also known as benthon, is the community of organisms that live on, in, or near the bottom of a sea, river, lake, or stream, also known as the benthic zone.mitochondrial DNA sequences. As a whole, the Sevan trout is phylogenetically very close to the Caspian trout, within the

complex.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sevan Trout Salmo Freshwater fish of Asia Endemic fauna of Armenia Fish described in 1877