Arctic char

Arctic char ( Salvelinus alpinus )

The lake trout, arctic char or char ( Salvelinus alpinus ) belongs to the genus of arctic char ( Salvelinus ).

Dissemination

The lake trout has an embossed by the ice ages, widely scattered distribution area. He lives both in isolated lakes, and in coastal waters in the Arctic Ocean.

In Europe, its range extends from the oxygen-rich lakes of the Alps and Pyrenees to Finland, southern Sweden, Norway, the Ladoga and Onega, as well as the tributaries of the White Sea, Ireland, Scotland and Iceland. He also lives in South Greenland, and North America in some lakes in Quebec, Maine and New Hampshire. He is the only fish species in Hazensee, its northernmost distribution area. In the Alps, he peopled lakes up to an altitude of 2600 meters.

Features

Depending on the habitat of the Arctic char has a different color, but is easily distinguished on the white front edge of pelvic fins and anal fin, as well as on the larger foot column of the trout. The spawning season of the otherwise whitish belly and the ventral fins turn red especially in the milk Africans. The fish have very small circular scales. Arctic char are 40 to 75 inches long. Regardless of the achieved body size of lake trout up to 40 years is considered to be durable.

Way of life

Chars like to come into deep waters. They feed off larvae and insects, shells and small fish such as minnows. The diminutive Kümmerformen ( called in the Alps Reuter Black or Black Rider ) eat plankton. In reproductive behavior are distinguished banks and primary spawners. Shore spawners spawn from September to January. Reason spawners spawn in summer from July to August at depths of 20 to 80 meters above the stone floor (especially at the outlets of sources ).

The Alsatian char is a cross between lake trout and brook trout and found in fish farming and catering use.

Curiosities

Black Riders are also found in the Styrian Wildensee on well 1500 m, where they were used in the Middle Ages.

The lake trout as a food fish

The lake trout was in Austria Fish of the Year 2005.