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''Thymallus thymallus'', the grayling or European grayling, is a
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
of
freshwater fish Freshwater fish are fish species that spend some or all of their lives in bodies of fresh water such as rivers, lakes, ponds and inland wetlands, where the salinity is less than 1.05%. These environments differ from marine habitats in many wa ...
in the
salmon Salmon (; : salmon) are any of several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the genera ''Salmo'' and ''Oncorhynchus'' of the family (biology), family Salmonidae, native ...
family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Salmonidae Salmonidae (, ) is a family (biology), family of ray-finned fish, the only extant member of the suborder Salmonoidei, consisting of 11 extant genera and over 200 species collectively known as "salmonids" or "salmonoids". The family includes salmo ...
. It is the only species of the genus ''
Thymallus ''Thymallus'', commonly known as graylings, is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fish and the only genus within the subfamily Thymallinae of the family Salmonidae. Although all ''Thymallus'' species can be generically called graylings, withou ...
'' (the graylings) native to
Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, where it is widespread from 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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
to the
Ural Mountains The Ural Mountains ( ),; , ; , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range in Eurasia that runs north–south mostly through Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the river Ural (river), Ural and northwestern Kazakhstan.
in
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, and
Balkans The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...
on the south-east, but does not occur in the southern parts of the continent. It was introduced to
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
in 1948, but it does not appear to have become established there.


Description

The grayling grows to a maximum recorded length of and a maximum recorded weight of . Of typical ''
Thymallus ''Thymallus'', commonly known as graylings, is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fish and the only genus within the subfamily Thymallinae of the family Salmonidae. Although all ''Thymallus'' species can be generically called graylings, withou ...
'' appearance, the grayling proper is distinguished from the similar
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 Missou ...
(''T. arcticus arcticus'') by the presence of 5–8
dorsal Dorsal (from Latin ''dorsum'' ‘back’) may refer to: * Dorsal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location referring to the back or upper side of an organism or parts of an organism * Dorsal, positioned on top of an aircraft's fuselage The fus ...
and 3–4 anal spines, which are absent in the other species; ''T. thymallus'' also has a smaller number of soft rays in these fins. Individuals of the species have been recorded as reaching an age of 14 years. The grayling prefers cold, clean, running riverine waters, but also occurs in lakes and, exceptionally, in brackish waters around the
Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...
.
Omnivorous An omnivore () is an animal that regularly consumes significant quantities of both plant and animal matter. Obtaining energy and nutrients from plant and animal matter, omnivores digest carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fiber, and metabolize ...
, the fish feeds on vegetable matter, as well as
crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...
s,
insect Insects (from Latin ') are Hexapoda, hexapod invertebrates of the class (biology), class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body (Insect morphology#Head, head, ...
s and
spider Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...
s,
mollusc 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 ...
s,
zooplankton Zooplankton are the heterotrophic component of the planktonic community (the " zoo-" prefix comes from ), having to consume other organisms to thrive. Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents. Consequent ...
, and smaller fishes, such as Eurasian minnows. Grayling are also prey for larger fish, including the
huchen The huchen (''Hucho hucho'') (, from German), also known as Danube salmon or redfish (), is a large species of freshwater fish in the family Salmonidae native to the Danube basin in Central and Eastern Europe. It is the type species of genus ...
(''Hucho hucho''). With the Arctic grayling, ''T. thymallus'' is one of the economically important ''Thymallus'' species, being raised commercially and fished for sport. The grayling is a protected species listed in Appendix III of the Bern Convention. It has become
critically endangered An IUCN Red List critically endangered (CR or sometimes CE) species is one that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. As of December 2023, of t ...
in the Baltic Sea. The term "grayling" is often used to refer generically to the ''Thymallus'' species, and ''T. thymallus'' is sometimes called the European grayling for clarity. There are many obsolete synonyms for the species. ''Thymallus thymallus'' is the
type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...
of its genus.


Angling

The grayling is known as the 'lady of the stream'. In Europe, they used to be persecuted by anglers for the false perception that they stopped
trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...
colonizing stretches of
river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
s and
stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...
s. However, research has shown that grayling and
trout Trout (: trout) is a generic common name for numerous species of carnivorous freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of which are members of the subfamily Salmoninae in the ...
feed on different prey items and generally prefer different microhabitats within
river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...
s and
stream A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...
s but do occupy similar niches to smaller, less-predatory trout. In England and Wales, they can be fished throughout the
coarse fishing Coarse fishing (, ) is a phrase commonly used in United Kingdom, Great Britain and Ireland. It refers to the angling for rough fish, which are fish species considered undesirable as food or game fish. Freshwater game fish are all salmonids, parti ...
season (16 June to 14 March), providing thrilling sport on the fly when the trout season is closed. There is no closed season for grayling in Scotland; where they have been introduced. There are no grayling in Ireland. Well-known grayling flies include the grayling witch, klinkhamers, various nymphs and 'red tags', along with other trout patterns. Flies tied to resemble small pink shrimps have also been found to be useful. A method known as 'Czech-nymphing' has been known to be helpful to anglers where grayling shoal up in colder periods. The method involves moving a series of Czech nymphs under the tip of the fly rod with the flow of the river and the nymphs should entice the grayling to take one. Fly-anglers may wade in the river to perform this method where they can access deeper water. Wading does not necessarily spook the grayling as they are generally less cautious than trout and are not as easily put off by human presence. In
France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
, too, the season is limited depending upon several factors. The
Allier Allier ( , , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region that borders Cher (department), Cher to the west, Nièvre to the north, Saône-et-Loire and Loire (department), Loire to the east, Pu ...
is one of the rare places in Southern Europe where the common grayling occurs in a natural habitat.


References


Further reading

* * * * {{Authority control
thymallus ''Thymallus'', commonly known as graylings, is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fish and the only genus within the subfamily Thymallinae of the family Salmonidae. Although all ''Thymallus'' species can be generically called graylings, withou ...
Freshwater fish of Europe Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Habitats Directive species