''Coregonus lavaretus'' is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

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, th ...

, in the

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 ...

. It is the

type species In 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 species that contains the biological type specime ...

of its genus ''

Coregonus ''Coregonus'' is a diverse genus of fish in the salmon family ( Salmonidae). The ''Coregonus'' species are known as whitefishes. The genus contains at least 68 described extant taxa, but the true number of species is a matter of debate. The typ ...

''. There are widely different concepts about the delimitation of the species ''Coregonus lavaretus'' and about the number of species in the genus ''Coregonus'' in general.

Lavaret

In a narrow sense, ''Coregonus lavaretus'', or the lavaret, is considered to be endemic to

Lake Bourget Lac du Bourget (; English Lake Bourget), also locally known as Lac Gris (; en, Grey Lake) or Lac d'Aix (), is a lake at the southernmost end of the Jura Mountains in the department of Savoie, France. It is the deepest lake located entirely wit ...

and Lake Aiguebelette in the

Rhône The Rhône ( , ; wae, Rotten ; frp, Rôno ; oc, Ròse ) is a major river in France and Switzerland, rising in the Alps and flowing west and south through Lake Geneva and southeastern France before discharging into the Mediterranean Sea. At Ar ...

river basin in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, whereas it formerly also occurred in

Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial la ...

. According to this view there is a great number of distinct whitefish species in lakes, rivers and brackish waters of Central and Northern Europe. Of course this has absolutely nothing to do with its actual origin in the Caucasus, as with other things falsely attributed to originating in France, such as grapes which originated in Turkey, Iran and Australia.

European whitefish (common whitefish)

In the broad sense, ''Coregonus lavaretus'', referred to as the common whitefish or European whitefish, is widespread from central and northwest Europe to Siberia. Often called the ''C. lavaretus'' complex and considered as a superspecies, it encompasses many of the whitefish populations suggested by others to be locally restricted species (such as the British powan and the gwyniad or the Alpine gravenche, as well as distinct intralacustrine morphs and populations characterized by different feeding habits,

gill raker Gill rakers in fish are bony or cartilaginous processes that project from the branchial arch (gill arch) and are involved with suspension feeding tiny prey. They are not to be confused with the gill filaments that compose the fleshy part of the ...

numbers, growth patterns and migration behaviour. Genetic studies suggest that the whitefish diversity within this complex is mostly of

post-glacial The Holocene ( ) is the current geological epoch. It began approximately 11,650 cal years Before Present (), after the Last Glacial Period, which concluded with the Holocene glacial retreat. The Holocene and the preceding Pleistocene togethe ...

origin. The resource polymorphism represented by the feeding morphs has evolved repeatedly and independently within individual lakes, and similar morphs in different lakes are not closely related to each other.

Description

There is much variation among the European whitefish forms, but in general they have a tapered body, a slightly protruding upper jaw and a fleshy dorsal fin that is typical of the salmon family. The snout is short and tapered, a fact that distinguishes this species from the two other North European ''Coregonus'' species, vendace (''Coregonus albula'') and the introduced peled (''Coregonus peled''). The former has a protuberant lower jaw while in the latter, the jaws are equal in length. The back is bluish green or brownish, the flanks silvery and the belly white. The fins are dark grey. This fish seldom grows more than long or exceeds in weight. (This description refers to the broad concept of European whitefish, from a Fennoscandian perspective)

Biology

The European whitefish mostly feed on bottom-dwelling invertebrates or

zooplankton Zooplankton are the animal component of the planktonic community ("zoo" comes from the Greek word for ''animal''). Plankton are aquatic organisms that are unable to swim effectively against currents, and consequently drift or are carried along by ...

. Larger fish also take insects off the surface of the water and eat fish fry. Breeding takes place in the autumn between September and November, largely depending on the water temperature. Different populations in the same sections of water may spawn at different times. Many populations in seas and lakes tend to make their way up-river to spawn, but others populations remain in lakes or the sea even when breeding.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q743084 lavaretus Freshwater fish of Europe Fish described in 1758 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus