''Coregonus vandesius'', the vendace , is a

freshwater whitefish The freshwater whitefish are fishes of the subfamily Coregoninae, which contains whitefishes (both freshwater and anadromous) and ciscoes, and is one of three subfamilies in the salmon family Salmonidae. Apart from the subfamily Coregoninae, the ...

found in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. Population surveys since the 1960s have revealed a steady decline and the fish is no longer present in some of its previous haunts but is still present in

Bassenthwaite Lake Bassenthwaite Lake is one of the largest water bodies in the English Lake District. It is long and narrow, approximately long and wide, but is also extremely shallow, with a maximum depth of about . It is the only body of water in the Lake ...

and

Derwent Water Derwentwater, or Derwent Water, is one of the principal bodies of water in the Lake District National Park in north west England. It lies wholly within the Borough of Allerdale, in the county of Cumbria. The lake occupies part of Borrowda ...

. The main threats it faces are

eutrophication Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytopla ...

and the introduction of alien species of fish which eat its eggs and fry. The

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

has rated its conservation status as "

endangered An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inva ...

Taxonomy

Most authorities now consider ''Coregonus vandesius'' to be a subjective synonym of ''

Coregonus albula ''Coregonus albula'', known as the vendace or as the European cisco, is a species of freshwater whitefish in the family Salmonidae. It is found in lakes in northern Europe, especially Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden, Russia and Estonia, and in ...

'', which is a more widespread North European freshwater whitefish species. Both taxa are also known by the

common name In biology, a common name of a taxon or organism (also known as a vernacular name, English name, colloquial name, country name, popular name, or farmer's name) is a name that is based on the normal language of everyday life; and is often contrast ...

vendace. The status however remains controversial, and

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.

still lists ''C. vandesius'' as a separate species, reflecting the recent treatment of the European freshwater fish fauna by Kottelat & Freyhof (2007). Another synonym of British ''C. vandesius'' is ''C. gracilior''. The name "vendace" ( Scots ) is borrowed from

New Latin New Latin (also called Neo-Latin or Modern Latin) is the revival of Literary Latin used in original, scholarly, and scientific works since about 1500. Modern scholarly and technical nomenclature, such as in zoological and botanical taxonomy ...

(which referred to the

common dace The common dace (''Leuciscus leuciscus'') is a species of freshwater and brackish water ray-finned fish from the family Cyprinidae which is native to Europe but which has been introduced to other parts of the world. It is a quarry species for coa ...

''Leuciscus leuciscus''), from

Middle French Middle French (french: moyen français) is a historical division of the French language that covers the period from the 14th to the 16th century. It is a period of transition during which: * the French language became clearly distinguished from t ...

, probably of

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

origin; cf.

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writt ...

, "white."

Biology

''Coregonus vandesius'' inhabits deep, cold lakes, and uses

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms found in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) that are unable to propel themselves against a Ocean current, current (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are called plankt ...

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s, such as

copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat (ecology), habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthos, benthic (living on the ocean floor) ...

s, as its primary food source. The fish does not migrate and has a life span of about six years. The species is now Britain's rarest fish.

Distribution and habitat

The vendace has only ever been known as a native species at four sites in Britain:

and

in the English

Lake District The Lake District, also known as the Lakes or Lakeland, is a mountainous region in North West England. A popular holiday destination, it is famous for its lakes, forests, and mountains (or ''fells''), and its associations with William Wordswor ...

, and the

Castle Loch Castle Loch is a shallow eutrophic loch covering an area of around 100 hectares in the town of Lochmaben in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies to the west of Mochrum Loch and has 2 islets. The ruined Lochmaben Castle lies at the southern e ...

and

Mill Loch Mill may refer to: Science and technology * * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Textile mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic unit of the Analytical Engine ear ...

Lochmaben Lochmaben ( Gaelic: ''Loch Mhabain'') is a small town and civil parish in Scotland, and site of a castle. It lies west of Lockerbie, in Dumfries and Galloway. By the 12th century the Bruce family had become the local landowners and, in the 14th ...

, Scotland. The species was thought to have died out at all of these sites except Derwent Water. The Castle Loch population disappeared in the early part of the 20th century, and the Mill Loch population disappeared in the 1990s. The fish had not been recorded at Bassenthwaite Lake since 2001, but was recently rediscovered in 2014. The decline is thought to be caused by predation by

introduced species An introduced species, alien species, exotic species, adventive species, immigrant species, foreign species, non-indigenous species, or non-native species is a species living outside its native distributional range, but which has arrived there ...

, and by pollution. For example, a water treatment works near the lake had been overflowing with raw sewage at times of high water levels, causing severe

algae bloom An algal bloom or algae bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in Fresh water, freshwater or Ocean, marine water systems. It is often recognized by the discoloration in the water from the algae's pigments. The term ...

s that were depleting the lake's oxygen supply, but the plant was to be renovated in 2004 in order to prevent this.

Status

This fish has a restricted range, with a total area of occupancy of less than . The current population trend is unknown and the main threats are thought to be

and the introduction of alien species. The

has rated its conservation status as being "

". ''Coregonus vandesius'' was introduced to

Loch Skeen Loch Skeen or Loch Skene is a loch in Dumfries and Galloway in the south of Scotland. It is located about 10 miles to the north-east of Moffat and feeds the 60-metre (200 ft) high Grey Mare's Tail waterfall. The area around Loch Skeen is po ...

Dumfries and Galloway Dumfries and Galloway ( sco, Dumfries an Gallowa; gd, Dùn Phrìs is Gall-Ghaidhealaibh) is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It covers the counties of Scotland, historic counties of ...

, Scotland, in the 1990s as an attempt at

ex-situ conservation Svalbard GLOBAL SEED BANK, an ''ex situ'' conservation. ''Ex situ'' conservation literally means, "off-site conservation". It is the process of protecting an endangered species, variety or breed, of plant or animal outside its natural habitat; ...

after the severity of habitat deterioration at Bassenthwaite was noticed. This has proved largely successful and Loch Skeen now has nearly ten times the number of vendace per hectare as Derwent Water according to a survey carried out by the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology. A population was also introduced into

Sprinkling Tarn Sprinkling Tarn is a body of water at the foot of Great End, in the Southern Fells in Lake District, from Seathwaite, Cumbria, England. It is noted for its trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhync ...

, a mountain tarn 10 miles from Derwentwater, in 2011, with the aim of creating a refuge for the species in cooler water.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2997229 vandesius Freshwater fish of Europe Fish described in 1836 Taxa named by John Richardson (naturalist)