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Salvelinus alpinus alpinus  (Linnaeus, 1758)

Arctic char
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Salvelinus alpinus alpinus
Picture by Ueberschär, B.

country information

Common names: [No common name]
Occurrence:
Salinity:
Abundance: | Ref:
Importance: | Ref:
Aquaculture: | Ref:
Regulations: | Ref:
Uses: no uses
Comments:
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Occurrences: Occurrences Point map
National Database:

Classification / Names

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Salmoniformes (Salmons) > Salmonidae (Salmonids) > Salmoninae
Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL

Common names from other countries

Голец арктический, Omble-chevalier, Trucha alpina, ... more

Issue
The species Salvelinus aureolus Bean, 1887 is considered as valid in Eschmeyer (CofF ver. May 2011: Ref. 86870) following Fuller et al. (1999: Ref. 87253). Treated as synonym of Salvelinus alpinus oquassa by Qadi (1974: Ref. 87252); and probably a synonym of Salvelinus alpinus

Main reference

Svetovidov, A.N. 1984. (Ref. 4779)
 References | Biblio | Coordinator | Collaborators

Size / Weight / Age

Max length : 107 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 40637); common length : 40.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4779); max. published weight: 15.0 kg (Ref. 4779); max. reported age: 40 years (Ref. 46974)

Length at first maturity
 Lm 60.0  range ? - ? cm

Environment

Marine; freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; anadromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 70 m (Ref. 30578), usually 0 - 1 m (Ref. 101587)

Climate / Range

Temperate; 4°C - 16°C (Ref. 2059), preferred ? (Ref. 107945); 85°N - 42°N, 180°W - 180°E

Distribution

Europe: northern Atlantic southward to southern Norway, also Iceland and southern Greenland. Isolated populations in Northern UK, Scandinavia, Finland and the Alps. North America: Landlocked populations in Quebec, Canada and in Maine and New Hampshire in USA (Ref. 7251).
 Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Short description

Dorsal spines (total): 4 - 5; Dorsal soft rays (total): 8-16; Anal spines: 3-4; Anal soft rays: 7 - 15; Vertebrae: 62 - 68. Distinguished by the presence of 23 to 32 gill rakers, 37 to 75 pyloric caeca and, on the sides and back, pink to red spots, the largest of which are usually larger than the pupil of the eye (Ref. 27547). Lateral line curves slightly downward from the head (Ref. 27547). Pelvic fins with axillary process; caudal emarginate (Ref. 27547). Color highly variable, depending on location, time of year and degree of sexual development. In general, back is dark, usually rather brown but sometimes with a green cast; the sides are lighter, belly pale; sides and back are liberally sprinkled with pink to red spots, the largest spots along the lateral line usually larger than the pupil of the eye; forward edges of pectoral, pelvic and anal fins, and sometimes the caudal, with a narrow white margin; fins pale in young, dorsal and caudal dark in adults (Ref. 27547). Spawning adults, especially males, are brilliant orange-red to bright red on the ventral side and on the pectoral, pelvic and anal fins. Young have about 11 dark parr marks on each side (Ref. 27547). Caudal fin with 19 rays (Ref. 2196).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Anadromous forms spend a considerable time of their lives at sea; non-migratory populations remain in lakes and rivers (Ref. 4779). Found in rivers, estuaries and lakes with cold, clear water. Occurs mainly in lakes. At the sea, lives along coasts (Ref. 59043). Inhabits deep runs and pools of medium to large rivers, and lakes (Ref. 5723). Nerito-pelagic (Ref. 58426). Freshwater populations feed on planktonic crustaceans, amphipods, mollusks, insects and fishes (Ref. 4479). Anadromous individuals feed little in freshwater and never feed during migrations. Spawning usually takes place on pebble to stone bottom in lakes. Riverine stocks spawn in rivers with slow current (02.-0.8 m/s), but there are some riverine anadromous stocks (in Norway) which spawn in fast-flowing waters of riffles (Ref. 59043). Extremely sensitive to water pollution (cold water and oxygen oriented) (Ref. 2163). Marketed fresh, smoked, canned (Ref. 27547), and frozen. Eaten sautéed, broiled, fried, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988). Parasitized by tapeworm (Ref. 37032).

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 115185)

  Least Concern (LC) 

Threat to humans

  Harmless



Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes

Tools

E-book | Field guide | Identification keys | Length-frequency wizard | Life-history tool | Point map | Classification Tree

Special reports

Check for Aquarium maintenance | Check for Species Fact Sheets | Check for Aquaculture Fact Sheets

Download XML

Summary page | Point data | Common names | Photos

Internet sources

Alien/Invasive Species database | BHL | BOLDSystems | Check for other websites | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO(Aquaculture: production; fisheries: production; publication : search) | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | National databases | Public aquariums | PubMed | Scirus | Sea Around Us | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | uBio RSS | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record | Fishtrace

Estimates of some properties based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805)
 PD50 = 0.5000 many relatives (e.g. carps) 0.5 - 2.0 few relatives (e.g. lungfishes)

Trophic Level (Ref. 69278)
 4.4   ±0.5 se; Based on diet studies.

Resilience (Ref. 69278)
 Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (tm=7-10; tmax=24; Fec=400)

Vulnerability (Ref. 59153)
 High to very high vulnerability (74 of 100)
Price category (Ref. 80766)
 Very high