Name:
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- Coregonus, from the Greek, "angle eye"
- artedi, in honor of Swedish naturalist Petrus Artedi, a collegue
of Linnaeus and the "Father of Ichthyology"
- Common Name
- Other common names include: Blueback, Freshwater Herring, Lake Herring,
Tullibee
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Taxonomy:
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- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata, animals with a spinal chord
- Subphylum Vertebrata, animals with a backbone
- Superclass Osteichthyes, bony fishes
- Class Actinopterygii, ray-finned and spiny rayed fishes
- Subclass Neopterygii
- Infraclass Teleostei
- Superorder Protacanthopterygii
- Order Salmoniformes, salmon and trout
- Family Salmonidae, salmon and trout
- Genus Coregonus, whitefishes
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Description:
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- A small, slender-bodied relative of the whitefish
- Length 11"-15"
- Weight ½ - 2 lbs
- Coloration
- back dark blue to pale olive
- sides silvery with pink to purple iridescence
- all fins basically clear, although anal and pelvic fins are milky on adults
- Body
- slender
- adipose fin
- forked tail
- Head
- small
- protruding lower jaw
- Lifespan
- Sexual maturity is reached by about 3-4 years of age.
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Identification:
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- Identifiable as a member of the Trout/Salmon family (Salmonidae)
by its body shape and adipose fin.
- While some 14 similar and confusing species of Coregonus are found
in Canada and the northern US, only 2 are native to the Boundary Waters.
- Cisco is distinguished from Lake Whitefish (Coregonus
clupeaformis) by
- lower jaw extending up to or beyond the tip of snout
- numerous, fine gillrakers
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Distribution:
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- Northwest Territories to Labrador, and south to northern Ohio, Illinois,
and Minnesota.
- In Canada in the Hudson Bay drainage. In Minnesota in the Rainy River/Lake
of the Woods and the upper Mississippi River, though absent from the Minnesota
River. Introduced to the Missouri River in North Dakota.
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Habitat:
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- A pelagic species often found in the cooler water below the thermocline
in lakes where thermal stratification develops. Also thrive in shallow,
eutrophic lakes.
- Relatively shallow waters of the Great Lakes; infertile inland lakes more
than 30' deep.
- Tend to swim in large schools at midwater depth, moving to shallower water
in fall as upper waters cool.
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Food:
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- Mainly plankton; also terrestrial and aquatic insects, minnows, and fish
eggs.
- An important food for large game fish.
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History:
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- Minnesota Record: 4lbs 3oz, from Big Sandy Lake (Aitkin County).
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Uses:
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- Though sometimes taken on rod and reel, its main importance to anglers
seems to lie in its role as food for larger game fish, especially Lake
Trout (Salvelinus namaycush).
- Harvested by commercial fishermen and of some economic importance as a
food fish. Marketed whole, dressed, and smoked.
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Reproduction:
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- Spawns in late fall when water temperatures drop below about 40º F,
usually in shallow water (3'-10' feet deep) over almost any type of bottom,
but often over gravel or stony substrate.
- About 20,000-29,000 eggs are deposited on the lake bottom by each female;
no parental care is given eggs or young, which hatch early the following
spring.
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Comments:
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- The common name Tullibee is credited to early Canadian fur traders and
is most commonly used in north Ontario, the Prairie Provinces, and the
Northwest Territories.
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Links:
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Last updated on 6 November 1999
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