''Thymallus baicalensis'', also known as the Baikal black grayling, is a Siberian

freshwater fish Freshwater fish are those that spend some or all of their lives in fresh water, such as rivers and lakes, with a salinity of less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine conditions in many ways, especially the difference in levels of ...

species in the salmon

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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 ...

. ''Thymallus baicalensis'' occurs in Lake Baikal, in the inflowing Selenga River and throughout the major Enisei River drainage, and also some eastern tributaries of the

Ob River } The Ob ( rus, Обь, p=opʲ: Ob') is a major river in Russia. It is in western Siberia; and together with Irtysh forms the world's seventh-longest river system, at . It forms at the confluence of the Biya and Katun which have their origins ...

.Weiss, S. J., D. V. Gonçalves, G. Secci-Petretto, G. K. Englmaier, A. Gomes-Dos-Santos, G. P. J. Denys, H. Persat, A. Antonov, C. Hahn, E. B. Taylor and E. Froufe (2021) Global systematic diversity, range distributions, conservation and taxonomic assessments of graylings (Teleostei: Salmonidae; ''Thymallus'' spp.). ''Organisms Diversity & Evolution'': published online on 25 Nov. 2020. It was previously considered a subspecies of the

Arctic grayling The Arctic grayling (''Thymallus arcticus'') is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. ''T. arcticus'' is widespread throughout the Arctic and Pacific drainages in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, as well as the upper Mis ...

, ''Thymallus arcticus baicalensis'', but currently one of several distinct Siberian and East Asian grayling species, the closest of which are '' Thymallys nikolskyi, T. svetovidovi, T. brevicephalus '' and ''T. brevirostris''. The distinction of these taxa is supported by the phylogeny of their mitochondrial DNA lineages. ''T. baicalensis'' is also characterized by a distinct dorsal-fin colouration pattern. The Baikal grayling can grow up to a length 38 cm and 1.2 kg weight. It mainly moves along stony bottoms at shallow depths, feeding on

caddisfly The caddisflies, or order Trichoptera, are a group of insects with aquatic larvae and terrestrial adults. There are approximately 14,500 described species, most of which can be divided into the suborders Integripalpia and Annulipalpia on the ...

and stonefly larvae, amphipod crustaceans and fish eggs.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3768305 baicalensis Freshwater fish of Asia Fish of Lake Baikal