Ferox trout

Feroxforelle (Salmo ferox )

The Feroxforelle (Salmo ferox ) is a species of fish in the salmon family (Salmonidae ). It occurs in Ireland in Lough Melvin, Lough Corrib and Lough Mask, in Scotland in Loch Awe, Loch Laggan and other lakes, and probably in the lakes Ullswater and Bassenthwaite in Cumbria and Llyn Padarn and Llyn Peris in Wales. Some authors it is a subspecies Salmo trutta ferox trout considered. The exact delimitation of the species Salmo ferox and Salmo trutta is difficult.

Features

Feroxforellen attain a length of up to 80 centimeters and a weight of up to about 14 kg. The body is brown to silvery with no or few small black spots.

Way of life

The species colonized deep, nutrient-poor lakes where Arctic char ( Salvelinus ) occur, which make up a large part of the booty. While hatchlings to about 30 centimeters in length mainly feed on insects and other invertebrates, older animals will eat almost exclusively fish. The spawning season is in November and December, the eggs are deposited in deep tributaries of the lakes. The life expectancy is up to 23 years.

Swell

• Maurice Kottelat, Jörg Freyhof: Handbook of European Freshwater Fishes. Publications Kottelat, Cornol 2007, ISBN 978-2-8399-0298-4, p 403