Prosopium coulterii, Pygmy whitefish : gamefish

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Prosopium coulterii (Eigenmann & Eigenmann, 1892)

Pygmy whitefish
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Prosopium coulterii
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Salmoniformes (Salmons) > Salmonidae (Salmonids) > Coregoninae
Etymology: Prosopium: Greek, prosopon = face (Ref. 45335);  coulterii: Named after Dr. J.M. Coulter, a distinguished botanist..
More on authors: Eigenmann & Eigenmann.

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

Freshwater; benthopelagic; depth range 18 - 168 m (Ref. 27547), usually 55 - 70 m (Ref. 1998). Temperate; 59°N - 47°N

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

North America: three disjunct areas: Lake Superior in Ontario, Canada and Michigan, USA; Yukon River drainage in Yukon, Canada to Columbia River drainage in western Montana and Washington, USA; and Chignik, Naknek and Wood River drainages in southwest Alaska. Europe: Russia (Ref. 26334).

Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?  range ? - ? cm
Max length : 28.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 5723); common length : 11.5 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193); max. reported age: 9 years (Ref. 10320)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 10-13; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 10 - 14; Vertebrae: 49 - 55. Body elongate, almost cylindrical. Head elongate, its length slightly greater than body depth; eye relatively large, its diameter greater than snout length; snout bluntly rounded, overhanging mouth, not obviously pointed, a single flap of skin present between nostrils. Nuptial tubercles developed in both males and females, but more conspicuous in males, and occur on top of head, on scales on back and sides, and on paired fins. Body is brownish above, silvery on sides and white below. Dorsal, caudal, and pectoral fins usually clear, anal and pelvic whitish and immaculate, a faint dark spot sometimes present on base of caudal fin. A series of 12 - 14 similar spots present along the midline of the back, and 7 - 14 dark, round or oval parr marks with diffuse borders present along the lateral line of young and sub adults, although some Alaskan forms retain parr marks even on largest fish.

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Inhabits lakes and rivers of mountainous areas (Ref. 1998). Feeds mainly on crustaceans and aquatic insect larvae (Ref. 1998). Minimum depth reported from Ref. 1998.

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

Moves to spawning grounds in the early winter and presumably back into deeper water after spawning. Spawns at night, presumably the eggs are broadcast, settling into interstices in the gravel. Hatching occurs the following spring (Ref. 27547).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 432 p. (Ref. 5723)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)


CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: of no interest; gamefish: yes
FAO - Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

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Common names
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Eggs
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Age/Size
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Larvae
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Internet sources

AFORO (otoliths) | Aquatic Commons | BHL | Cloffa | BOLDSystems | Websites from users | Check FishWatcher | CISTI | Catalog of Fishes: genus, species | DiscoverLife | ECOTOX | FAO - Publication: search | Faunafri | Fishipedia | Fishtrace | GenBank: genome, nucleotide | GloBI | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | IGFA World Record | MitoFish | Otolith Atlas of Taiwan Fishes | PubMed | Reef Life Survey | Socotra Atlas | Tree of Life | Wikipedia: Go, Search | World Records Freshwater Fishing | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5156   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00457 (0.00242 - 0.00864), b=3.14 (2.96 - 3.32), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species & (Sub)family-body (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  3.1   ±0.35 se; based on food items.
Generation time: 2.0 ( na - na) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 1 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (tm=1-2; tmax=9; Fec=103).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Low vulnerability (25 of 100).