Thymallus thymallus, Grayling : fisheries, aquaculture, gamefish, aquarium

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Thymallus thymallus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Grayling
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Salmoniformes (Salmons) > Salmonidae (Salmonids) > Thymallinae
Etymology: Thymallus: Greek, thymallos, -ou = a kind of fish similar to salmon (Ref. 45335);  thymallus: The name 'thymallus' could come from the thyme taste of the flesh of this fish (Ref. 30578).
More on author: Linnaeus.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; pH range: 7.0 - 7.5; dH range: 20 - ?; non-migratory; depth range 15 - ? m (Ref. 30578). Temperate; 6°C - 18°C (Ref. 2059); 70°N - 42°N, 6°W - 66°E

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

Europe: Barent Sea basin west of Urals, Caspian, Black, Baltic, White and North Sea basins, Atlantic westward to Loire drainage; Rhône drainage; northern Adriatic basin east to Soca drainage. Introduced over most of southern and central Finland.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 60.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 556); common length : 30.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 556); max. published weight: 6.7 kg (Ref. 6368); max. reported age: 14 years (Ref. 556)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 5 - 8; Dorsal soft rays (total): 12-17; Anal spines: 3-4; Anal soft rays: 9 - 10; Vertebrae: 57 - 61. Distinguished from Thymallus arcticus by the following unique characters: maxillary usually reaching anterior margin of eye; pelvic fin grey, lacking red stripes; body without red spots; dorsal fin greyish, with parallel rows of round dark spots; gill rakers 19-30, averaging about 24-26 (Ref. 59043). Caudal fin with 19 to 21 rays (Ref. 2196).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits submontane reaches of rivers with a hard sand or stone bottom and well oxygenated, cold and fast-flowing water (Ref. 59043). Prefers running, well-oxygenated waters of rivers (Ref. 30578). In Scandinavia, it occurs in clear lakes and freshened part of northern Baltic basin. Usually lives in hollows behind boulders and shaded water under overhanging vegetation (Ref. 59043). Gregarious, forms schools (Ref. 2196). Feeds mainly on insects (Ref. 9696), nymphs, small worms and crustaceans (Ref. 30578). Breeds in shallow stretches, usually 20-40 cm deep, or riffles, with moderate current of about 0.5 m/s and clean gravel bottom (Ref. 59043). Can be captured with natural bait (insect larvae) or with artificial fly. Very sensitive to pollution (Ref. 30578).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Kottelat, M. and J. Freyhof, 2007. Handbook of European freshwater fishes. Publications Kottelat, Cornol and Freyhof, Berlin. 646 pp. (Ref. 59043)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 05 March 2010

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Aquaculture: production; Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource |

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Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5001   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00776 (0.00564 - 0.01068), b=3.06 (2.97 - 3.15), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.1   ±0.42 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 5.1 (3.1 - 7.8) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 13 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.12-0.26; tm=2-6; tmax=14).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High vulnerability (56 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 37.9 [10.2, 95.2] mg/100g; Iron = 0.57 [0.18, 1.25] mg/100g; Protein = 18.2 [16.5, 20.0] %; Omega3 = 1.06 [0.46, 2.76] g/100g; Selenium = 38.8 [12.2, 126.8] μg/100g; VitaminA = 15.6 [5.1, 45.3] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.722 [0.386, 1.346] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.