The Bonneville whitefish (''Prosopium spilonotus'') is a salmonid

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 ...

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to Bear Lake on the

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

border. It is one of three species of ''

Prosopium ''Prosopium'' is a genus of freshwater whitefishes found in North America and parts of eastern Russia. It contains three fairly widespread species: the round whitefish, the pygmy whitefish, and the mountain whitefish. The remaining species, the B ...

'' endemic to Bear Lake, the other two being the Bear Lake whitefish and the Bonneville cisco. The species is listed as a ''Wildlife Species of Concern'' by the

Utah Division of Wildlife Resources The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is part of the Utah Department of Natural Resources for the state of Utah in the United States. The mission of the Division of Wildlife Resources is to serve the people of Utah as trustee and guardian of ...

. In appearance, it is very similar to the closely related Bear Lake whitefish ''P. abyssicola''. Generally whitish in color, its nose is more tapered than that of the Bear Lake whitefish, and its scales are smaller. Younger fish, up to 10 inches (25 cm) long, have a pattern of spots which then fades. They have been reported to reach a length of 22 inches (56 cm) and an age of eight years. It generally inhabits mid-levels of the lake, where it primarily feeds on

chironomid The Chironomidae (informally known as chironomids, nonbiting midges, or lake flies) comprise a family of nematoceran flies with a global distribution. They are closely related to the Ceratopogonidae, Simuliidae, and Thaumaleidae. Many specie ...

larvae and pupae, along with a variety of insects. The fish may also move into shallower waters, particularly during the winter months. Older fish also seem to be more likely to move into shallow water than younger ones. They spawn from mid-February through early March, over rocky or sandy areas. The female will stop to spawn, with 5-6 males in attendance, the total process lasting 5 to 15 seconds before the fish rejoin their school. While some are caught on hook and line, they are not especially popular with anglers. A number are caught by

gill net Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...

s deployed at depths of 40 to 100 feet.

References

* * William F. Sigler and John W. Sigler, ''Fishes of the Great Basin'' (Reno: University of Nevada Press, 1987), pp. 104–105 *

External links

Utah Conservation Data Center - Bonneville whitefish

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3767454 Bonneville whitefish Endemic fauna of Utah Fish of the Western United States Freshwater fish of the United States Fauna of the Great Basin Taxa named by John Otterbein Snyder Bonneville whitefish