''Salvelinus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 Fish are aquatic, craniate, gill-bearing animals that lack limbs with digits. Included in this definition are the living hagfish, lampreys, and cartilaginous and bony fish as well as various extinct related groups. Approximately 95% of li ...

often called char or charr; some species are called "

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

". ''Salvelinus'' is a member of the subfamily Salmoninae within the family

Salmonidae 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 ...

. The genus has a northern

circumpolar distribution A circumpolar distribution is any range of a taxon that occurs over a wide range of longitudes but only at high latitudes; such a range therefore extends all the way around either the North Pole or the South Pole. Taxa that are also found in isolat ...

, 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 lateral line, also called the lateral line organ (LLO), is a system of sensory organs found in fish, used to detect movement, vibration, and pressure gradients in the surrounding water. The sensory ability is achieved via modified epithelial ...

. The pectoral, pelvic, anal, and the lower aspect of caudal

fin A fin is a thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure. Fins typically function as foils that produce lift or thrust, or provide the ability to steer or stabilize motion while traveling in water, air, or other fluids. Fin ...

s 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 The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can also ...

(''S. namaycush'') and

arctic char The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Its distribution is Circumpolar North. It spawns in freshwater and populatio ...

(''S. alpinus'') are objects of commercial fisheries and/or

aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. lot ...

. Occasionally, such fish escape and become

invasive species An invasive species otherwise known as an alien is an introduced organism that becomes overpopulated and harms its new environment. Although most introduced species are neutral or beneficial with respect to other species, invasive species ad ...

. 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 ''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 m ...

'', was driven to extinction in the twentieth century.

Taxonomy

There are currently three

subgenera In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

in the genus ''Salvelinus'': ''Baione'', ''Cristovomer'', and ''Salvelinus''

sensu stricto ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

. ''Baione'', the most basal clade in the genus, contains the

brook trout The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...

(''S. fontinalis''), and the presumably extinct

silver trout :''The name "silver trout" is also sometimes used for rainbow trout.'' The silver trout (''Salvelinus agassizii'') is an extinct char species or variety that inhabited a few waters in New Hampshire prior to 1939, when a biological survey conducte ...

(''S. agassizii''). ''Cristovomer'' contains only the

(''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

genera, the delimitation of species in ''Salvelinus'' is controversial.

FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

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 The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

alone, although these traditionally, and still by the national conservation and fisheries authorities, are all considered to represent the widespread

Arctic charr The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Its distribution is Circumpolar North. It spawns in freshwater and population ...

(''S. alpinus''). Twenty species are listed from the Asian part of

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, including several localised taxa from in each of the

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (russian: полуостров Камчатка, Poluostrov Kamchatka, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and wes ...

, 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''.Alexander G. Osinov, Anna L. Senchukova, Nikolai S. Mugue, Sergei D. Pavlov, Igor A. Chereshnev (2015
Speciation and genetic divergence of three species of charr from ancient Lake El'gygytgyn (Chukotka) and their phylogenetic relationships with other representatives of the genus ''Salvelinus''
''Biological Journal of the Linnean Society'' 116, 63–85. The

Arctic char The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Its distribution is Circumpolar North. It spawns in freshwater and populatio ...

(''S. alpinus'') is the most broadly distributed ''Salvelinus'' species. It has a

, 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

(''S. fontinalis''),

bull trout The bull trout (''Salvelinus confluentus'') is a char of the family Salmonidae native to northwestern North America. Historically, ''S. confluentus'' has been known as the " Dolly Varden" (''S. malma''), but was reclassified as a separate specie ...

(''S. confluentus''),

Dolly Varden trout The Dolly Varden trout (''Salvelinus malma'') is a species of salmonid fish native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. It belongs to the genus ''Salvelinus'', or true chars, which includes 51 recognized spec ...

(''S. malma'') and

(''S. namaycush''). This listing presents the taxa recognised in

FishBase FishBase is a global species database of fish species (specifically finfish). It is the largest and most extensively accessed online database on adult finfish on the web.

grouped by geography:

Circumpolar

* ''

Salvelinus alpinus The Arctic char or Arctic charr (''Salvelinus alpinus'') is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes and arctic and subarctic coastal waters. Its distribution is Circumpolar North. It spawns in freshwater and populatio ...

'' (

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

1758 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...

) – Arctic char Röding, Iduns kokbok

Europe

;Central Europe * ''

Salvelinus evasus ''Salvelinus evasus'', is a vulnerable deepwater char or trout living in the Ammersee lake in Bavaria, Southern Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most po ...

'' Freyhof &

Kottelat Maurice Kottelat (born 16 July 1957 in Delémont, SwitzerlandC ...

, 2005 * ''

Salvelinus umbla ''Salvelinus umbla'', also known as lake char, is a species of char found in certain lakes of the region of the Alps in Europe. This char species usually inhabits the deeper waters of the lakes, feeding on crustaceans, insects and benthic faun ...

'' (

) – lake char * †''

'' Freyhof &

Kottelat Maurice Kottelat (born 16 July 1957 in Delémont, SwitzerlandC ...

, 2005 * ''

Salvelinus profundus ''Salvelinus profundus'' (german: Tiefseesaibling 'Deepwater char') is a deepwater char species found only in deep areas of Lake Constance. This fish can reach in length and has a blunt snout with the mouth in subinferior position. Its lower ...

'' (Schillinger, 1901) Salvelinus killinensis

;British Isles Scotland and adjacent islands: * '' Salvelinus gracillimus''

Regan The family name Regan, along with its cognates O'Regan, O Regan, Reagan, and O'Reagan, is an Anglicized form of the Irish surname Ó Riagáin or Ó Ríogáin, from Ua Riagáin. The meaning is likely to have originated in ancient Gaelic ''ri'' ...

, 1909 * ''

Salvelinus inframundus ''Salvelinus inframundus'', also known as Orkney charr is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae which is endemic to Scotland. Description ''Salvelinus inframundus'' has the following characteristics which in combination make this taxon dif ...

'' Regan, 1909 * '' Salvelinus killinensis'' (Günther, 1866) * '' Salvelinus mallochi'' Regan, 1909 * '' Salvelinus maxillaris'' Regan, 1909 * '' Salvelinus struanensis'' (

Maitland Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" (Old French, ''Maltalent''; Anglo Norm ...

, 1881) * '' Salvelinus youngeri'' (

Friend Friendship is a relationship of mutual affection between people. It is a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an "acquaintance" or an "association", such as a classmate, neighbor, coworker, or colleague. In some cultures, the concept of ...

, 1965) – golden char Salvelinus alpinus

England and Wales: * ''

Salvelinus lonsdalii ''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 m ...

'' Regan, 1909 * '' Salvelinus perisii'' (Günther, 1865) * '' Salvelinus willughbii'' (Günther, 1862) Ireland: * '' Salvelinus colii'' ( Günther, 1863) – Cole's char * '' Salvelinus fimbriatus''

, 1908 – Coomsaharn char * ''

Salvelinus grayi ''Salvelinus grayi'', also called Gray's char ''r Lough Melvin char ''ror freshwater herring, is a species of lacustrine char in the family Salmonidae. It is only found in Lough Melvin, Ireland; numbers of fish are declining and the species is ...

'' (Günther, 1862) – Gray's char * ''

Salvelinus obtusus ''Salvelinus obtusus'', commonly called the blunt-nosed Irish charr or blunt-snouted Irish char, is a species of lacustrine char fish in the family Salmonidae, found in the Lakes of Killarney, Ireland. Taxonomy Name The English word "char i ...

'' Regan, 1908 – blunt-snouted Irish char ;Northern Europe

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and Atlantic islands: * '' Salvelinus faroensis'' Joensen & Tåning, 1970 * '' Salvelinus murta'' ( Sæmundsson, 1909) * ''

Salvelinus thingvallensis ''Salvelinus thingvallensis'' is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae and one of the few vertebrate species exclusively endemic to Iceland. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. (2022). FishBase. Salvelinus thingvallensis (Saemundsson, 1908). A ...

'' ( Sæmundsson, 1909) * '' Salvelinus salvelinoinsularis'' ( Lönnberg, 1900) – Bear Island char

Fennoscandia __NOTOC__ Fennoscandia (Finnish language, Finnish, Swedish language, Swedish and no, Fennoskandia, nocat=1; russian: Фенноскандия, Fennoskandiya) or the Fennoscandian Peninsula is the geographical peninsula in Europe, which includes ...

and Northwest Russia: * ''

Salvelinus lepechini ''Salvelinus'' is a genus of Salmonidae, 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 distrib ...

'' ( 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 ''Salvelinus elgyticus'' is a species of fish in the salmon family, Salmonidae. It is a member of genus ''Salvelinus'', the chars. It is known commonly as the small-mouth char (russian: малоротая палия). It is endemic to Lake El'g ...

'' Viktorovsky & Glubokovsky, 1981 – small-mouth char Japansk röding

* ''

Salvelinus alpinus erythrinus ''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 m ...

'' (

Georgi Georgi may refer to: * Georgi (given name) * Georgi (surname) See also * Georgy (disambiguation) *Georgii (disambiguation) Georgii may refer to: ;Given name * Georgii Zantaraia (born 1987), Ukrainian judoka of Georgian origin * Georgii Karpechenko ...

, 1775) – davatchan * '' Salvelinus jacuticus''

Borisov Borisov or Borisova may refer to: Places * Barysaw, or Borisov, Belarus ** Borisov Arena, a football stadium ** Battle of Borisov, 1812 * Borisov, Volgograd Oblast, Russia * Borišov, a mountain in Slovakia * Borisova, Perm Krai, Russia * Bor ...

, 1935 – Yakutian char * '' Salvelinus taimyricus'' Mikhin, 1949 * ''

Salvelinus taranetzi ''Salvelinus taranetzi'', also known as the ''Taranets char'',Alexander G. Osinov, Anna L. Senchukova, Nikolai S. Mugue, Sergei D. Pavlov, Igor A. Chereshnev (2015Speciation and genetic divergence of three species of charr from ancient Lake El'gy ...

'' Kaganowsky, 1955 – Taranets char * ''

Salvelinus tolmachoffi ''Salvelinus tolmachoffi'', also known as Yessey lake charr, is a freshwater species of fish in the salmon family. It is endemic to Lake Yessey of the Khatanga river basin of the arctic Russia. In 2007, the fish was listed as endangered by IUCN ...

'' L. S. Berg, 1926 –

Lake Yessey Lake Yessey () is a large freshwater lake in Evenkiysky District, Krasnoyarsk Krai, north-central part of Russia. The lake is located in the Central Siberian Plateau, to the west of the course of the Kotuy river. A tributary of the Kotuy flows ou ...

char * ''

Salvethymus svetovidovi ''Salvethymus svetovidovi'', also called the long-finned charr, is a species of salmonid fish. It is endemic to Elgygytgyn Lake in Chukotka, Far East of Russia,Kottelat, M. 1996.''Salvethymus svetovidovi'' 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Specie ...

'' Chereshnev & Skopets, 1990 – long-finned char: phylogenetically part of the ''Salvelinus'' clade] ;Pacific drainages * '' Salvelinus albus'' Glubokovsky, 1977 – white char * '' Salvelinus curilus'' (

Pallas Pallas may refer to: Astronomy * 2 Pallas asteroid ** Pallas family, a group of asteroids that includes 2 Pallas * Pallas (crater), a crater on Earth's moon Mythology * Pallas (Giant), a son of Uranus and Gaia, killed and flayed by Athena * Pa ...

, 1814) (= ''S. malma krascheninnikova'' Taranetz, 1933 – southern Dolly Varden * ''

Salvelinus gritzenkoi ''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 m ...

'' Vasil'eva & Stygar, 2000 Brook Trout Salvelinus fontinalis 2900px

* '' Salvelinus krogiusae'' Glubokovksy,

Frolov Frolov (russian: Фролов), or Frolova (feminine; Фролова) is a Russian surname that is derived from the male given name Frol and literally means ''Frol's''. It may refer to: ;People * Aleksandr Frolov (born 1964), Russian oligarch, CEO ...

, Efremov, Ribnikova & Katugin, 1993 * '' Salvelinus kronocius'' Viktorovsky, 1978 * '' Salvelinus kuznetzovi'' Taranetz, 1933 * ''

Salvelinus leucomaenis ''Salvelinus leucomaenis'', the whitespotted char, is an East Asian trout in the genus ''Salvelinus'', called ''iwana'' in Japanese and ''kundzha'' (кунджа) in Russian. Both landlocked and ocean-run forms occur. The landlocked form typical ...

'' (Pallas, 1814) – whitespotted char ** ''S. l. leucomaenis'' (

, 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 Garman is a surname or first name. Notable people with the name include: Sports * Ann Garman, All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player * Judi Garman (born 1954), American softball coach * Mike Garman (born 1949), American baseball pla ...

, 1885) – silver trout *''

'' (

, 1758) –

*''

Salvelinus fontinalis The brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus ''Salvelinus'' of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere ...

'' ( Mitchill, 1814) –

*''

Salvelinus namaycush The lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush'') is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, namaycush, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, it can als ...

'' (

Walbaum Walbaum is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: *Johann Julius Walbaum (1724–1799), German physician, naturalist and taxonomist * Johannes Walbaum (born 1987), German footballer * Justus Erich Walbaum (1768-1837), German typ ...

, 1792) –

Pacific & Arctic drainages * ''

Salvelinus confluentus The bull trout (''Salvelinus confluentus'') is a char of the family Salmonidae native to northwestern North America. Historically, ''S. confluentus'' has been known as the " Dolly Varden" (''S. malma''), but was reclassified as a separate spec ...

'' (

Suckley Suckley is a village and civil parish in the Malvern Hills District in the county of Worcestershire, England, close to the border with Herefordshire. The parish includes the hamlets of Suckley Knowl (at ), Suckley Green at and Longley Green at ...

, 1859) – bull trout *''

Salvelinus malma The Dolly Varden trout (''Salvelinus malma'') is a species of salmonid fish native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. It belongs to the genus ''Salvelinus'', or true chars, which includes 51 recognized spec ...

'' (Walbaum, 1792) – Dolly Varden trout ** "'' Salvelinus anaktuvukensis''"

Morrow Morrow is a word meaning "the next day" in literary English. It also means "morning" in archaic English Morrow may also refer to: Places in the United States and Canada United States * Morrow, Arkansas *Morrow, Georgia * Morrow, Louisiana *Morr ...

, 1973 – angayukaksurak char (= '' S. malma'')

Hybrids

*''S. alpinus × S. fontinalis'' – Alsatian char *''S. namaycush × S. fontinalis'' –

splake The splake or slake (''Salvelinus namaycush x Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a hybrid of two fish species resulting from the crossing of a male brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis'') and a female lake trout (''Salvelinus namaycush''). The name its ...

, brookinaw *''S. fontinalis ×

Salmo trutta 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'' morph ...

'' –

tiger trout The tiger trout (''Salmo trutta'' × ''Salvelinus fontinalis'') is a sterile, intergeneric hybrid of the brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') and the brook trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis''). Pronounced vermiculations in the fish's patterning gave rise ...

*''S. leucomaensis x O. masou'' – river mackerel, Kawasaba

References

* Sepkoski, Jack (2002): Osteichthyes. ''In:'' A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. ''Bulletins of American Paleontology'' 364: 560
HTML fulltext

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