''Salvelinus thingvallensis'' is a cold-water

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 ...

in 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 ...

and one of the few vertebrate species exclusively endemic to

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 ...

. Froese, R. and D. Pauly. Editors. (2022). FishBase. Salvelinus thingvallensis (Saemundsson, 1908). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at: https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=1014932 on 2022-06-11 Its binomial species name commemorates the Icelandic lake

Þingvallavatn Þingvallavatn (), anglicised as Thingvallavatn,The spelling ''Pingvallavatn'' is wrong as the letter “p” should never be used to represent the letter “þ” (thorn). is a rift valley lake in southwestern Iceland. With a surface of 84 km² ...

which includes the limited range in which the fish is found. ''Salvelinus thingvallensis'' was originally described by the Icelandic icthyologist

Bjarni Sæmundsson Bjarni is an Icelandic male given name and may refer to: * Bjarni Ármannsson resigned as CEO of Glitnir (formerly Íslandsbanki) in May 2007 * Bjarni Ólafur Eiríksson (born 1982), footballer (defender) from Iceland *Bjarni Benediktsson (born ...

in 1909. According to the most recent IUCN assessment in 2008, the species is mostly

nocturnal Nocturnality is an animal behavior characterized by being active during the night and sleeping during the day. The common adjective is "nocturnal", versus diurnal meaning the opposite. Nocturnal creatures generally have highly developed sens ...

and hides between stones during day. ''Salvelinus thingvallensis'' is confirmed to live up to 17 years with first spawning usually occurring at 2–4 years of age in October or November. ''Salvelinus thingvallensis'' is documented to feed predominately on snails and less frequently on benthic insects.

Description

The species is recognized by parr marks (dark vertical bars) in adults with a dark brown flank and irregular golden or yellow spots. The belly is beige to yellow in color with blackish markings often seen on throat. Spawning fish appear similar to non-breeding individuals. The pectoral fins are black, while other fins are beige. The caudal and dorsal fins include pale spots. The snout is blunt and rounded with an equal diameter to the eye. The mouth is subinferior, with a projecting upper jaw.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q6417916 thingvallensis Cold water fish Fish described in 1909 Fish of Iceland Endemic fauna of Iceland Freshwater fish of Europe