Salvelinus


Salvelinus is a genus of salmonid fish often called char or charr; some species are called "trout". Salvelinus is a member of the subfamily Salmoninae within the family Salmonidae. The genus has a northern circumpolar distribution, and most of its members are typically cold-water fish that primarily inhabit fresh waters. Many species also migrate to the sea.
Most char may be identified by light-cream, pink, or red spots over a darker body. Scales tend to be small, with 115–200 along the lateral line. The pectoral, pelvic, anal, and the lower aspect of caudal fins are trimmed in snow white or cream leading edges.
Many members of this genus are popular sport fish, and a few, such as lake trout and arctic char are objects of commercial fisheries and/or aquaculture. Occasionally such fish escape and become invasive species.
Deepwater char are small species of char living below 80 m in the deep areas of certain lakes. They are highly sensitive to changes in the quality of the water and one species, Salvelinus neocomensis, was driven to extinction in the twentieth century.

Etymology

The origin of the name "char" or "charr" is unknown, but was perhaps from Celtic, such as the Irish word ceara meaning "fiery red", likely for the bright red belly of the Arctic char; or perhaps borrowed from Middle Low German schar meaning "flounder, dab"; or from Proto-Germanic *skardaz or *skeraną meaning "to cut or shear", possibly referring to its sherd-like shape.

Taxonomy

There are currently three subgenera in the genus Salvelinus: Baione, Cristovomer, and Salvelinus sensu stricto. Baione, the most basal clade in the genus, contains the brook trout, and the presumably extinct silver trout. Cristovomer contains only the lake trout. All other species are in the subgenus Salvelinus. If the long-finned char is considered a member of the genus Salvelinus, it would be classified in the subgenus Salvethymus, adding a fourth subgenus.

Species diversity

As with other salmonid genera, the delimitation of species in Salvelinus is controversial. FishBase in 2015 listed 54 species or subspecies in this genus, many of which have very narrow local distributions. Fourteen localised species are listed from the British Isles alone, although these traditionally, and still by the national conservation and fisheries authorities, are all considered to represent the widespread Arctic charr. Twenty species are listed from the Asian part of Russia, including several localised taxa from in each of the Kamchatka, Chukotka and Taimyr peninsulas. One of these is the long-finned char, which phylogenetically is part of the Salvelinus group but has been so far classified into its own monotypic genus Salvethymus.
The Arctic char is the most broadly distributed Salvelinus species. It has a circumpolar distribution, and it is considered the most northern of all freshwater fishes. In North America, five relatively well defined species are present, which, apart from the Arctic char, comprise the brook trout, bull trout, Dolly Varden trout and lake trout.
This listing presents the taxa recognised in FishBase grouped by geography:

Circumpolar

Salvelinus alpinus – Arctic char

Europe

;Central EuropeSalvelinus evasus Freyhof & Kottelat, 2005

;British Isles
Scotland and adjacent islands:Salvelinus gracillimus Regan, 1909Salvelinus inframundus Regan, 1909Salvelinus killinensis Salvelinus mallochi Regan, 1909Salvelinus maxillaris Regan, 1909Salvelinus struanensis Salvelinus youngeri – golden char
England and Wales:Salvelinus lonsdalii Regan, 1909Salvelinus perisii Salvelinus willughbii
Ireland:Salvelinus colii – Cole's charSalvelinus fimbriatus Regan, 1908 – Coomsaharn charSalvelinus grayi – Gray's char Salvelinus obtusus Regan, 1908 – blunt-snouted Irish char
;Northern Europe
Iceland and Atlantic islands:Salvelinus faroensis Joensen & Tåning, 1970Salvelinus murta Salvelinus thingvallensis Salvelinus salvelinoinsularis – Bear Island char
Fennoscandia and Northwest Russia:
  • ''Salvelinus lepechini''

Asia

;Arctic drainagesSalvelinus andriashevi L. S. Berg, 1948 – Chukot charSalvelinus boganidae L. S. Berg, 1926 – Boganida charSalvelinus czerskii Dryagin, 1932 – Cherskii's charSalvelinus drjagini Logashev, 1940 – Dryagin's charSalvelinus elgyticus Viktorovsky & Glubokovsky, 1981 – small-mouth charSalvelinus alpinus erythrinus – davatchanSalvelinus jacuticus Borisov, 1935 – Yakutian charSalvelinus taimyricus Mikhin, 1949Salvelinus taranetzi Kaganowsky, 1955 – Taranets charSalvelinus tolmachoffi L. S. Berg, 1926 – Lake Yessey charSalvethymus svetovidovi Chereshnev & Skopets, 1990 – long-finned char: phylogenetically part of the Salvelinus clade]
;Pacific drainagesSalvelinus albus Glubokovsky, 1977 – white charSalvelinus curilus – whitespotted char

North America

Atlantic drainages
Pacific & Arctic drainagesSalvelinus confluentus – bull trout

Hybrids

  • S. alpinus × S. fontinalis - Alsatian char
  • S. namaycush × S. fontinalis - splake, brookinaw
  • S. fontinalis × Salmo trutta - tiger trout
  • S. leucomaensis x O. masou - river mackerel, Kawasaba