Nelma (freshwater whitefish)

                  

Stenodus nelma
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Salmoniformes
Family:	Salmonidae
Subfamily:	Coregoninae
Genus:	Stenodus
Species:	S. nelma
Binomial name
Stenodus nelma (Pallas, 1773)
Synonyms
Salmo nelma Pallas, 1773 Stenodus leucichthys nelma (Pallas, 1773) Salmo mackenzii Richardson, 1823 Stenodus leucichthys mackenzii (Richardson, 1823) Stenodus mackenzii (Richardson, 1823) Leucichthys nelma(Pallas, 1773)

Stenodus nelma, known alternatively as the nelma, sheefish, inconnu or connie is a commercial species of freshwater whitefish in the family Salmonidae. It is widespread in the arctic rivers from the Kola Peninsula (White Sea basin) eastward across Siberia to the Anadyr River and also in the North American basins of Yukon River and Mackenzie River.^[1][2][3][4]

Appearance and lifestyle

Stenodus nelma is an anadromous fish, up to 150 cm in length. The fish has a large mouth with a protruding lower jaw and a high and pointed dorsal fin. It is generally silver in color with a green, blue or brown back. The meat is white, flaky and somewhat oily. An adult fish weighs from 14 to 25 kilograms (31 to 55 lb).
The fish eat plankton for their first year of life and then become predators of smaller fish. They live in lakes and rivers and in the brackish water at the outlets of rivers into the ocean, and may migrate 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) to spawn.

Systematics

Stenodus nelma has previously been considered a subspecies of Stenodus leucichthys (S. leucichthys nelma). The typical Stenodus leucichthys (beloribitsa) is a landlocked Eurasian species restricted to the Caspian Sea basin, and now extinct in the wild.


Source:   From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia