Description
Synonymy- This fish was identified as 'Coregonus albus' in early United States Fish Commission records (Smiley 1884), a name which has also been applied to C. artedi, but as 'C. clupeaformis' in later United States Fish Commission records, in which distinctions were made between 'White-fish' and Cisco'.
Synonomy - We omitted 4 synonyms from Scott and Crossman's (1973) list.
Potentially Misidentified Species - C. artedi (Cisco) has been introduced to the Chesapeake drainage (Denoncourt et al. 1975b; Lee et al. 1980; McKeown 1984). Twelve other Coregonus spp. are known from northern regions of North America (Scott and Crossman 1973).
Taxonomy
| Kingdom | Phylum | Class | Order | Family | Genus |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Animalia | Chordata | Osteichthyes | Salmoniformes | Salmonidae | Coregonus |
Synonyms
Invasion History
Chesapeake Bay Status
| First Record | Population | Range | Introduction | Residency | Source Region | Native Region | Vectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1883 | Failed | Contracting | Introduced | Regular Resident | North America | North America | Fisheries(Fisheries Intentional) |
History of Spread
The native range of Coregonus clupeaformis (Lake Whitefish) is:'throughout AK and most of Canada, south into New England, the Great Lakes Basin, and central MN' (Page and Burr 1991) This whitefish has been introduced into non-native waters in 19 states, but most introductions have been unsuccesful (Fuller et al. 1999). It has also been introduced into many parts of Canada from insular Newfoundland to British Columbia (Scott and Crossman 1973). Eggs and fingerlings were introduced by the United States Fish Commission and state Fish Commisioners to MD and DE in the 1880's, but Chesapeake and Delaware Bay appear to be outside the tolerance limits of this species. There were no further records of these fish after stocking.
Coregonus clupeaformis was collected in Otsego Lake, at the headwaters of the Susquehanna River, in New York State , where it was collected as early as 1842 (Greeley 1939). This fish may be native to the glaciated uppermost region of the Susquehanna basin, but its narrow temperature tolerances (Scott and Crossman 1973) probably have prevented it from naturally colonizing the lower river.
Patuxent River - Five thousand fish were stocked at Laurel MD in February 1884 (Hughlett and Delawder 1884).
Upper Bay and Tribtaries - One million eggs were shipped to Baltimore from Northville MI (Smiley 1884a); and 75,000 were stocked at 6 Upper Bay locations, from the Northeast River to Curtis Creek, in batches of 5,000-15,000 fish, February 1884 (Hughlett and Delawder 1884).
Eastern Shore Tributaries - Two batches of 5,386 fish were planted in the Transquaking River off Fishing Bay and the Chicamimico River (location unknown, presumed Eastern Shore) (Hughlett and Delawder 1884).
There are no further records of this species in MD.
Delaware River - One milion eggs were shipped to DE from Northville MI, 1886 (McDonald 1889), and 45,000 whitefish were planted in Delaware Bay 1888 (Raasch and Altemus 1991). There are no further records of this species in DE.
History References - Fuller et al. 1999; Hughlett and Delawder 1884; McDonald 1889; Page and Burr 1991; Raasch and Altemus 1991; Scott and Crossman 1973; Smiley 1884a
Invasion Comments
Ecology
Environmental Tolerances
| For Survival | For Reproduction | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum | Maximum | Minimum | Maximum | |
| Temperature (ºC) | 0.0 | 26.7 | 0.0 | 10.0 |
| Salinity (‰) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | |
| Oxygen | ||||
| pH | ||||
| Salinity Range | fresh-oligo |
Age and Growth
| Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|
| Minimum Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Typical Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Maximum Adult Size (mm) | ||
| Maximum Longevity (yrs) | ||
| Typical Longevity (yrs |
Reproduction
| Start | Peak | End | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reproductive Season | |||
| Typical Number of Young Per Reproductive Event |
|||
| Sexuality Mode(s) | |||
| Mode(s) of Asexual Reproduction |
|||
| Fertilization Type(s) | |||
| More than One Reproduction Event per Year |
|||
| Reproductive Startegy | |||
| Egg/Seed Form |
Impacts
Economic Impacts in Chesapeake Bay
Coregonus clupeaformis' (Lake Whitefish's) failed introduction had no economic impacts on Chesapeake Bay.
Economic Impacts Outside of Chesapeake Bay
Coregonus clupeaformis (Lake Whitefish) is still the most important food fish in the Great Lakes, although depleted by overfishing and eutrophication. It is also a sport fish, and an important prey for Lake Trout and other large carnivores (Becker 1983; Scott and Crossman 1973). It has been introduced to 19 states, but has established very few non-native populations (Fuller et al. 1999).
References- Becker 1983; Fuller et al. 1999; Scott and Crossman 1973
Ecological Impacts on Chesapeake Native Species
As a failed introduction, Coregonus clupeaformis (Lake Whitefish) had no significant impact on native Chesapeake biota.
Ecological Impacts on Other Chesapeake Non-Native Species
As a failed introduction, Coregonus clupeaformis (Lake Whitefish) had no significant impact on exotic Chesapeake biota.
References
Becker, George C. (1983) Fishes of Wisconsin, , Madison. Pp.Denoncourt, Robert F.; Robbins, Timothy W.; Hesser, Robert (1975) Recent introductions and reintroductions to the Pennsylvania fish fauna of the Susquehanna River drainage above Conowingo Dam, Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science 49: 57-58
Edsall, T. A.; Rottiers, D. V. (1976) Temperature tolerance of young-of-the-year lake whitefish Coregonus clupeaformis., Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 33: 177-180
Fuller, Pam. L.; Nico, Leo; Williams, J. D. (1999) Nonindigenous fishes introduced into inland waters of the United States, , Bethesda MD. Pp.
Hughlett, Thomas, Delawder, G. W. (1884) Report of the Commisioners of Fisheries of Maryland, , Annapolis MD. Pp.
Lee, David S.; Gilbert, Carter R.; Hocutt, Charles H.; Jenkins, Robert E.; McAllister, Don E.; Stauffer, Jay R. (1980) Atlas of North American Freshwater Fishes, , Raleigh. Pp.
Lee, David S.; Norden, Arnold; Gilbert, Carter, R.; Franz, Richard (1976) A list of the freshwater fishes of Maryland and Delaware, Chesapeake Science 17: 205-211
Lee, David S.; Platania, S. P.; Gilbert, Carter R.; Franz, Richard; Norden, Arnold (1981) A revised list of the freshwater fishes of Maryland and Delaware, Proceedings of the Southeastern Fishes Council 3: 1-9
McDonald, Marshall (1884) Report on the distribution of carp durng the season of 1882, Report of the Commissioner of Fish and Fisheries : 915-942
McKeown, Paul E. (1984) Additions to ichthyofauna of the Susquehanna River with a checklist of fishes of the Susquehanna River drainage below Conowingo Dam, Proceedings of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science 58: 187-192
Musick, J. A.; Wiley, Martin L. (1972) Fishes of Chesapeake Bay and the adjacent coastal plain, Special Scientific Report, Virginia Institute of Marine Science 65: 175-212
Page, Lawrence M.; Burr, Brooks M. (1991) Freshwater Fishes., , Boston. Pp.
Raasch, Maynard S.; Altemus, Vaughn L., Sr. (1991) Delaware's freshwater and brackish water fishes: a popular account, , Wilmingotn, Delaware. Pp.
Scott, W. B.; Crossman, E. J. (1973) Freshwater fishes of Canada, , Ottawa. Pp.
Smiley, Charles W. (1884) A statistical review of the production and distribution to public waters of young fish, by the United States Fish Commission, from its organization, to the close of 1880., Report of the United States Commission on Fish and Fisheries for 1881 :