Арктический голец (Salvelinus alpinus): биология и распространение

Species of fish

The Arctic char or Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) is a cold water fish in the family Salmonidae, native to alpine lakes, as well as Arctic and subarctic coastal waters in the Holarctic.

It spawns in freshwater and its populations can be lacustrine, riverine, or anadromous, where they return from the ocean to their fresh water birth rivers to spawn. No other freshwater fish is found as far north; it is, for instance, the only fish species in Lake Hazen which extend up to on Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic. It is one of the rarest fish species in Great Britain and Ireland, found mainly in deep, cold, glacial lakes, and is at risk there from acidification. In other parts of its range, such as the Nordic countries, it is much more common, and is fished extensively. In Siberia, it is known as golets (Lang ru) and it has been introduced in lakes where it sometimes threatens less hardy endemic species, such as the small mouth char and the long finned char in Elgygytgyn Lake.

The Arctic char is closely related to both salmon and lake trout, and has many characteristics of both. The fish is highly variable in colour, depending on the time of year and the environmental conditions of the lake where it lives. The appearance of Arctic char differs between populations. The dorsal side of the Arctic char is dark in its colour while the ventral varies from red, yellow, and white. Arctic char has a distinct size dimorphism, dwarf and giant. Dwarf Arctic char weigh between and average a length of , while giant Arctic char weigh between and average in length. Individual fish can weigh or more with record sized fish having been taken by anglers in Northern Canada, where it is known as iqaluk or tariungmiutaq in Inuktitut. Generally, whole market sized fish are between Male and female Arctic char are the same size. Meanwhile, he described Salmo salvelinus and Salmo umbla, which were later considered as synonyms of S. alpinus. John Richardson (1836) separated them into a subgenus Salmo (Salvelinus), which now is treated as a full genus. The genus name Salvelinus is from German Saibling – little salmon. The English name is thought to derive from Old Irish ceara/cera meaning "[blood] red", referring to its pink red underside. This would also connect with its Welsh name torgoch, "red belly". In North America, three subspecies of Salvelinus alpinus have been recognized. "S. a. erythrinus" is native to almost all of Canada's northern coast. This subspecies is nearly always anadromous. S. a. oquassa, known as the blueback trout or Sunapee trout, is native to eastern Quebec and northern New England, although it has been extirpated from most of its northeastern United States range. S. a. oquassa is never anadromous. Dwarf Arctic char has been classified as S. a. taranetzi. These scientific names are not generally accepted, however, as the names S. a. erythrinus and S. a. taranetzi usually refer to subspecies that are endemic to Siberia only. Arctic char is also found in Lake Pingualuit in the Ungava Peninsula, Quebec, a lake situated in an impact crater formed roughly 1.4 million years ago. Since the last glaciation, changing water levels are believed to have connected the lake with glacial runoff and surrounding streams and rivers, allowing char to swim upstream into the lake. Arctic char is the only fish found in the lake, and signs of fish cannibalism have been found.

Arctic char is notable for exhibiting numerous, seemingly distinct morphological variants or 'morphs' throughout the range of the species. Consequently, Arctic char have been referred to as the "most variable vertebrate on Earth". In Svalbard, Norway, Lake Linnévatn on Spitsbergen has dwarf, 'normal', and normal sized anadromous fish, and Lake Ellasjøen on Bear Island has a dwarf, small littoral and large pelagic morph. In Sweden three morphs are usually recognised: storröding, större fjällröding and mindre fjällröding. Wherever these types occur together in the same lake storröding is the largest.

Arctic char is known to produce hybrids with its congeners, Salvelinus namaycush (lake trout) and Salvelinus fontinalis (brook trout). The sparctic char is the intrageneric hybrid between Arctic char and brook trout. Arctic chars found north of 65°N latitude are generally anadromous. When in the marine environment, Arctic chars inhabit coastal and intertidal areas. Arctic char is native to Arctic and subarctic coasts and lakes of high elevations. In general, it has been observed in the Canadian Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, Scandinavia, Siberia, and Alaska. Dwarf Arctic char are also often cannibalistically consumed by giant Arctic char. There have been more than 30 species found in the stomachs of Arctic chars. Most males set up and guard territories and often spawn with several females. The female constructs the nest, or redd. A female anadromous char usually deposits from 3000 to 5000 eggs. Arctic chars do not die after spawning like Pacific salmon, and often spawn several times throughout their lives, typically every second or third year. Young Arctic chars emerge from the gravel in spring and stay in the river from 5 to 7 months, or until they are about 15–20 cm (6–8 in) in length. Sexual maturity in Arctic char ranges from 4 to 10 years old and 50–60 cm (20–24 in) in length. There are also exploratory fisheries to examine potential for future commercial char fishing areas. program added farmed Arctic char as an environmentally sustainable Best Choice for consumers, stating: "Arctic char use only a moderate amount of marine resources for feed” and that they “are farmed in land based, closed systems that minimize the risk of escape into the wild."

Commercial Arctic char typically weigh The flesh is fine flaked and medium firm. The colour is between light pink and deep red, and the taste is like something between trout and salmon.