Lake trout

Lake trout

Taxobox
name = Lake trout



image_width = 250px
image_caption = "Salvelinus namaycush"
status = Secure
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Salmoniformes
familia = Salmonidae
genus = "Salvelinus"
species = "S. namaycush"
binomial = "Salvelinus namaycush"
binomial_authority = (Walbaum, 1792)

Lake trout ("Salvelinus namaycush") is a freshwater char living mainly in lakes in northern North America. Other names for it include mackinaw, lake char (or charr), touladi, togue, and grey trout. In Lake Superior, they can also be variously known as siscowet, paperbellies and leans. Lake trout are prized both as game fish and as food fish.

Lake trout are the largest of the charrs, the record weighing almost 46.3 kg (102 lb). They were fished commercially in the Great Lakes until lampreys, overharvest and pollution extirpated or severely reduced the stocks. Commercial fisheries still exist in some smaller lakes in northern Canada.

Lake trout are dependent on cold, oxygen-rich waters. They are pelagic during the period of summer stratification in dimictic lakes, often living at depths of 20–60 m (60–200 ft).

The lake trout is a slowly growing fish, typical of oligotrophic waters. It is also very late to mature. Populations are extremely susceptible to overexploitation. Many native lake trout populations have been severely damaged through the combined effects of hatchery stocking (planting) and overharvest.

of lake trout is fairly consistent in similar lakes, regardless of whether the lake trout populations they contain are planktivorous or piscivorous.

In Lake Superior, three distinct phenotypes of lake trout persist, commonly known as "siscowet", "paperbelly" and "lean". The distinct groups operate, to some level at least, under genetic control and are not mere environmental adaptations. [Burnham-Curtis, M.K. and G.R. Smith, 1994. Osteological evidence of genetic divergence of lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush) in Lake Superior. Copeia (4):845-850.] Siscowet numbers, especially, have become greatly depressed over the years due to a combination of the extirpation of some of the fish's deep water coregonine prey and to overexploitation. Siscowet tend to grow extremely large and fat and attracted great commercial interest in the last century. Siscowet populations have rebounded since 1970, with one estimate putting the number in Lake Superior at 100 million. [http://www.seagrant.umn.edu/newsletter/2002/12/siscowet_trout_a_plague_of_riches.html]

From a zoogeographical perspective, lake trout are quite rare. They are native only to the northern parts of North America, principally Canada but also Alaska and, to some extent, the northeastern United States. Lake trout have been introduced into many other parts of the world, mainly into Europe but also into South America and certain parts of Asia. In Canada, approximately 25% of the world's lake trout lakes are found in the province of Ontario. Even at that, only 1% of Ontario's lakes contain lake trout.

Lake trout have been known, very rarely, to hybridise in nature with the brook trout, but such hybrids are almost invariably reproductively sterile. Hybrids, known as "splake" are also artificially propagated in hatcheries and then planted into lakes in an effort to provide sport fishing opportunities.

The specific epithet "namaycush" derives from an indigenous North American name for the species, most likely in one of the Algonquian languages (c.f. Ojibwe: "namegos" = "lake trout"; "namegoshens" = "rainbow trout").

References

*
*

ee also

*Lake Trout (band), a rock/ambient/jamband from Baltimore, Maryland.

External links

* [http://www.the-fishing-network.com/j07/content/view/40/94/ Fish-On! - Full Lake Trout Chapter at TheFishingNetwork.com]

* [http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?ID=248&genusname=Salvelinus&speciesname=namaycush Fishbase description of Lake trout]


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Lake trout — Lake Lake, n. [AS. lac, L. lacus; akin to AS. lagu lake, sea, Icel. l[ o]gr; OIr. loch; cf. Gr. la kkos pond, tank. Cf. {Loch}, {Lough}.] A large body of water contained in a depression of the earth s surface, and supplied from the drainage of a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • lake trout — n. ☆ 1. a large gray trout (Salvelinus namaycush) of deep lakes of the N U.S. and Canada 2. any of several other species of trout found in lakes …   English World dictionary

  • lake trout — lake′ trout n. ich a large, fork tailed char, Salvelinus namaycush, of N North American lakes • Etymology: 1660–70 …   From formal English to slang

  • lake trout — a large, fork tailed trout, Salvelinus namaycush, of the lakes of Canada and the northern U.S., valued as a food and game fish. [1660 70] * * * or Mackinaw trout or Great Lakes trout or salmon trout Large, voracious char (Salvelinus namaycush)… …   Universalium

  • lake trout — noun 1. flesh of large trout of northern lakes • Hypernyms: ↑freshwater fish • Part Holonyms: ↑salmon trout, ↑Salvelinus namaycush 2. large fork tailed trout of lakes of Canada and the northern United States • Syn: ↑salmon tr …   Useful english dictionary

  • lake trout — Namaycush Nam ay*cush, n. [Indian name.] (Zool.) A large North American lake trout ({Salvelinus namaycush}). It is usually spotted with red, and sometimes weighs over forty pounds. Called also {Mackinaw trout}, {lake trout}, {lake salmon},… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • lake trout — amerikinis ežerinis upėtakis statusas T sritis zoologija | vardynas taksono rangas rūšis atitikmenys: lot. Salvelinus namaycush angl. Great Lakes trout; lake trout rus. озёрный голец кристивомер ryšiai: platesnis terminas – palijos …   Žuvų pavadinimų žodynas

  • Lake Trout (band) — Lake Trout are a rock band based in Baltimore. Their music is a combination of rock, ambient, jazz, and many other styles, including influences from post rock and post punk. The band has released five albums since its inception, four in studio… …   Wikipedia

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  • lake trout — noun Date: 1668 any of various trout and salmon found in lakes; especially mackinaw trout …   New Collegiate Dictionary

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