Freshwater whitefish

The freshwater whitefish are fishes of the subfamily Coregoninae, which contains whitefishes (both freshwater and anadromous) and ciscoes, and is one of three subfamilies in the salmon family Salmonidae.[1][2] Apart from the subfamily Coregoninae, the family Salmonidae includes the salmon, trout, and char species of the subfamily Salmoninae, and grayling species of the subfamily Thymallinae.[1][3] Freshwater whitefish are distributed mainly in relatively cool waters throughout the northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere.

Freshwater whitefish
Bloater (Coregonus hoyi)
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Salmoniformes
Family: Salmonidae
Subfamily: Coregoninae
Genera

The Coregoninae subfamily consists of three nominal genera:[4]

  • Coregonus Linnaeus, 1758 – whitefishes and ciscoes, which according to some authors number more than 60 species.[5] There are differing opinions on the classification of some species within the genus and the overall number of species.[2] Some species in Arctic regions of Asia and North America forage in marine waters.[2]
  • Prosopium Jordan, 1878 – round whitefishes, which includes six species, three of which occur only in a single lake.[2][6]
  • Stenodus Richardson, 1836 – inconnus, which includes two species, sometimes considered a single species with two subspecies.[7] Phylogenetically, Stenodus is not distinct from Coregonus.[8]

Whitefish as food
Lox, smoked whitefish, cream cheese, and bagels

Smoked freshwater whitefish is sold in delicatessens and eaten as part of Ashkenazi Jewish cuisine, either filleted[9][10] or made into whitefish salad.[11][12]

Evolution due to human interaction

There are a multitude of different species of freshwater whitefish, some are more valued economically than others. Fishing for markets is not uncommon for species such as Coregonus widegreni and Coregonus lavaretus. At the time, there was an increase in younger groups of C. widegreni because when fishing, humans only wanted the larger fish which ended up being the oldest.

References
  1. Nuttall, Mark (12 November 2012). Encyclopedia of the Arctic. Routledge. p. 1834. ISBN 978-1-57958-436-8.
  2. Behnke, Robert J (6 July 2010). Trout and Salmon of North America (1st ed.). New York: The Free Press, a division of Simon & Schuster Inc. pp. 335–340. ISBN 978-1-4516-0355-2.
  3. "Salmonidae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  4. "Coregoninae". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  5. "Coregonus". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  6. "Prosopium". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  7. "Taxonomic information for Inconnus (Stenodus)". Encyclopedia of Life. Retrieved 5 January 2014.
  8. Bernatchez, L; Colombani, F; Dodson, JJ (1991). "Phylogenetic relationships among the subfamily Coregoninae as revealed by mitochondrial DNA restriction analysis" (PDF). Journal of Fish Biology. 39: 283–290. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8649.1991.tb05091.x. ISSN 0022-1112.
  9. Achitoff-Gray, Niki (September 2014). "Lox, Whitefish, and Beyond: An Introduction to Appetizing". Serious Eats. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  10. Federman, Niki Russ (October 2015). "The Russ & Daughters Guide to Smoked & Cured Fish". Lucky Peach. Retrieved March 4, 2017.
  11. Avey, Tori (February 2011). "Whitefish Salad". Tori Avey. Retrieved March 3, 2017.
  12. Kapadia, Jess (April 29, 2013). "Whitefish Salad, The Bagel's Secret Lover". Food Republic. Retrieved March 3, 2017.


  1. Kallio‐Nyberg, Irma (March 12, 2019). "Different growth trends of whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) forms in the northern Baltic Sea". Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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