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  3. Arctic Charr

One of the 4 trout on WAnimals

Bony fish · Salmoniformes · Salmonidae

Arctic Charr

Salvelinus alpinus

Least Concern

The species is abundant and widely distributed; it faces no significant short-term risk.

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The Arctic charr is an anadromous fish of the family Salmonidae native to alpine lakes and the coastal waters of the Arctic and subarctic regions. No other freshwater fish is found so far north.

Weight

up to 15 kg

Size

up to 1.1 m

Life expectancy

40 years

Diet

Carnivore

Feeds mainly on other animals.

Freshwater
19countries69parks7dive sites9same family

Fun facts

  • distribuciónIt is one of the northernmost freshwater and brackish-water fish on the planet, found even in Arctic lakes that stay frozen much of the year.
  • It has anadromous populations that run down to the sea and populations that spend their whole lives in a lake, differing widely in size and colour.
  • The colour changes dramatically with locality, time of year and stage of sexual development.

Life cycle and biology

Skeleton type
Vertebrate - internal bony skeleton (bony fish)
Habitat and environment
Cold lakes and rivers of the Arctic and sub-Arctic, and coastal waters in the anadromous populations; from 0 to 70 m, with a preference for water of 4 to 16 °C
Sexual maturity
9 years

Sources consulted: Wikipedia (es): Salvelinus alpinus

Where to find it

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Where to see it

Parks and dive sites where this species has been documented — showing 17 of 76.

Related species

Other species in the catalogue with the most in common with Arctic Charr — same habitat, park, country, tags or family.

Same taxonomic family
Same taxonomic family
Same taxonomic family
Same taxonomic family
Shares a park
Shares a park

Keep exploring

Based on what we already know about arctic charr.

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See full glossary
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The pins mark the parks and dive sites where its presence is documented.

See its range on the interactive map→
SarekSweden
PadjelantaSweden
JotunheimenNorway
HardangerviddaNorway
VatnajökullIceland
Thingvellir (Þingvellir)Iceland
Pallas-YllästunturiFinland
Urho KekkonenFinland
Lake DistrictUnited Kingdom
CairngormsUnited Kingdom
Silfra FissureIceland
Lofoten (orcas)Norway
SaltstraumenNorway
Svalbard (ice diving)Norway
Strýtan (hydrothermal chimney)Iceland
Trondheimsfjord (cold-water corals)Norway
Loch NessUnited Kingdom
See all 69 parks
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CountriesNorway
ParksSarekSweden
TagsCarnivore
Carnivore
Fish
Freshwater

Europe15

North America3

Asia1

Norway
Finland
Sweden
Canada
Iceland
Russia
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