Hucho


Hucho is a genus of large piscivorous salmonid fish known as taimens, and is closely related to Pacific trout and lenoks. Native to the cold rivers and other freshwater habitats in Eurasia, they are threatened by overfishing and habitat loss.
The earliest fossil remains of this genus are known from the Late Oligocene to middle Miocene of the Vitim Plateau in Russia. Younger remains are also known from the Late Miocene of Ukraine and the Late Pleistocene of Germany. Fossil specimens of a Hucho-like salmonid have been recovered from the Clarkia fossil beds and other localities from the late Neogene of western North America, suggesting they may have potentially inhabited North America too.

Species

The currently recognized species in this genus are:
ImageScientific nameCommon nameDistribution
Hucho bleekeri Sh. Kimura, 1934Sichuan taimenYangtze basin in China
Hucho hucho huchen, Danube salmonendemic to the Danube basin in Europe
Hucho ishikawae T. Mori, 1928Korean taimenNorth Korea and China
Hucho taimen Siberian taimen, Siberian giant trout, and Siberian salmonSiberia

In addition, the Sakhalin taimen was formerly placed in this genus, but genetics and other evidence has shown that it belongs in its own monotypic genus as Parahucho perryi.