''Salvelinus killinensis'', also known as Haddy charr is a variety of charr found in certain lakes in

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. ''Salvelinus killinensis'' lives in

Loch Killin Loch Killin is a small freshwater loch in the Monadhliath Mountains, in Highland, Scotland, United Kingdom. Geography The loch is about long, and is one of numerous small lochs close to the southern end of Loch Ness, the southernmost point of ...

(

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire () or the County of Inverness, is a Counties of Scotland, historic county in Scotland. It is named after Inverness, its largest settlement, which was also the county town. Covering much of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands and s ...

), after which it is named. It is also found in Loch Doine (

Trossachs The Trossachs (; ) generally refers to an area of wooded glens, braes, and lochs lying to the east of Ben Lomond in the Stirling council area of Scotland. The name is taken from that of a small woodland glen that lies at the centre of the are ...

) and perhaps in Loch Builg (

Cairngorms The Cairngorms () are a mountain range in the eastern Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland closely associated with the mountain Cairn Gorm. The Cairngorms became part of Scotland's second national parks of Scotland, national park (the Cairn ...

) as well. It lives in the deeper regions of the lakes, moving to shallower waters only during the

spawning Spawn is the Egg cell, eggs and Spermatozoa, sperm released or deposited into water by aquatic animals. As a verb, ''to spawn'' refers to the process of freely releasing eggs and sperm into a body of water (fresh or marine); the physical act is ...

season. Recently the presence of this charr has been reported in several other lakes of Scotland, although it may be not be ''Salvelinus killinensis'', but another similar species.

Taxonomy

The taxonomy of charrs is controversial. The Scottish authorities follow the practice which considers all the 200 Scottish charr populations, including that of Loch Killin, belonging to the single widespread circumpolar species ''

Salvelinus alpinus The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes, as well as Arctic and subarctic coastal waters in the Holarctic. Distribution and habitat It spawns in freshwater ...

'' (the

Arctic charr The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes, as well as Arctic and subarctic coastal waters in the Holarctic. Distribution and habitat It spawns in freshwater ...

). The

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is an inventory of the global conservation status and extinction risk of biological ...

however follows division of Scottish (and other) charrs to several local species. In this view other putative Scottish charr species include ''Salvelinus gracillimus'', ''Salvelinus mallochi'', ''Salvelinus struanensis'' and ''Salvelinus youngeri'', and further species would exist elsewhere in the UK and Ireland.

Description

''Salvelinus killinensis'' grows to a length of . The snout is blunt, and the upper jaw is slightly longer than the lower jaw. The dorsal surface is dull, olive-grey or bluish-grey with pale spots, shading to yellowish-white on the belly. The fins are yellowish to reddish-brown, with a white margin on the front of the anal and pelvic fins.

Ecology

This fish lives in the deepest parts of

, which has a maximum depth of . The only time it is seen is around September, when it moves to shallow waters to spawn. It feeds on such invertebrate prey as

insect larvae Insects (from Latin ') are hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs of jointed legs, ...

molluscs Mollusca is a phylum of protostome, protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant taxon, extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum ...

and

crustaceans Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of Arthropod, arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquat ...

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q2756285 killinensis Endemic fauna of Scotland Cold water fish Fish described in 1865 Taxa named by Albert Günther