Stenodus leucichthys  (Güldenstädt, 1772)

Sheefish
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Stenodus leucichthys
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Actinopterygii (ray-finned fishes) > Salmoniformes (Salmons) > Salmonidae (Salmonids) > Coregoninae
Etymology: Stenodus: Greek, stenos = narrow + Greek, odous = teeth (Ref. 45335);  leucichthys: leucichthys meaning white fish (Ref. 1998).

Issue
Stenodus nelma (Pallas, 1773) is a valid species according to Kottelat and Freyhof (2007: Ref. 82592). The corresponding species summary page will be created in the future.

Environment / Climate / Range Ecology

Marine; freshwater; brackish; demersal; anadromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 10 - ? m (Ref. 4779).   Boreal; 73°N - 58°N

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 70 - 75 cm
Max length : 150 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 4574); common length : 61.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193); max. published weight: 40.0 kg (Ref. 10318); max. reported age: 22 years (Ref. 4576)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 11-19; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 14 - 19; Vertebrae: 63 - 69. Distinguished by its large mouth, the protruding lower jaw, and the presence of only 13 to 17 gill rakers on the lower limb of the first gill arch (Ref. 27547). Dorsal fin high and pointed; pelvic fins with well developed axillary process (Ref. 27547). Generally silvery, with the back usually rather green, blue or pale brown; silvery white below; dorsal and caudal fins have dusky margins, other fins pale (Ref. 27547).

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

North America: Arctic drainages from Anderson River in Northwest Territories, Canada to Kuskokwim River (Bering Sea tributary) in Alaska. Upstream in Mackenzie River and Yukon River drainages to British Columbia, Canada (Ref. 5723). Eurasia: Caspian Sea (common in central and southern Caspian in summer), Volga, Ural and Terak drainages (Ref. 59043). Hybridization with Coregonus nelsoni, Coregonus autumnalis and Coregonus muksun are due more to the broadcasting of eggs and sperm rather than pairing between species or genera (Ref. 27547).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Nerito-pelagic (Ref. 58426). Occurs in coastal brackish waters near mouths of rivers, but usually in rivers or some land-locked lakes (Ref. 4779). At the sea, it is found throughout basin in pelagic zone with temperatures below 18° C and 20-50 m deep (Ref. 59043). Juveniles and adult overwinter and forage at the sea. Encountered in large lowland rivers during migration (Ref. 59043). Adults feed mostly on small fishes; young eat aquatic insect larvae and planktonic crustaceans (Ref. 4779). During spawning migration, it feeds little if at all (Ref. 27547). Spawns on gravel shallows (Ref. 59043). Flesh is white, sweet and slightly oily (Ref. 27547). Sold fresh or frozen.

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Svetovidov, A.N., 1984. Salmonidae. p. 373-385. In P.J.P. Whitehead, M.-L. Bauchot, J.-C. Hureau, J. Nielsen and E. Tortonese (eds.) Fishes of the north-eastern Atlantic and the Mediterranean. UNESCO, Paris. vol. 1.

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 90363)

  Extinct in the Wild (EW) 

Threat to humans

  Harmless




Human uses

Fisheries: minor commercial; aquaculture: commercial; gamefish: yes
FAO(Publication : search) | FisheriesWiki | Sea Around Us

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Internet sources

Alien/Invasive Species database | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes (gen., sp.) | DiscoverLife | Faunafri | Fishtrace | GenBank(genome, nucleotide) | GOBASE | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | iSpecies | National databases | PubMed | Scirus | SeaLifeBase | Tree of Life | uBio | Wikipedia(Go, Search) | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates of some properties based on empirical models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82805):  PD50 = 0.7500   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00483 (-0.11011 - 0.11978), b=3.11 (3.03 - 3.18), based on LWR estimates for species & family-BS (Ref. 93245).
Trophic Level (Ref. 69278):  4.2   ±0.75 se; Based on food items.
Resilience (Ref. 69278):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.05-0.10; tm=9-12; tmax=22; Fec=80,000).
Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  High to very high vulnerability (74 of 100) .
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Very high.