Grayling
| Grayling | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arctic grayling ( Thymallus arcticus ) |
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name of the subfamily | ||||||||||||
| Thymallinae | ||||||||||||
| Gill , 1885 | ||||||||||||
| Scientific name of the genus | ||||||||||||
| Thymallus | ||||||||||||
| Linck , 1790 |
The grayling ( thymallus - referring to the characteristic, thyme-like smell) are the only genus of the subfamily Thymallinae within the salmon fish . Their distribution area extends over Europe , Siberia , Mongolia and North America . The freshwater inhabitants are at home in cold lakes and rivers. They feed mainly on benthic invertebrates, insect larvae and approach food, especially older specimens also prey on small fish.
features
The spindle-shaped body of the grayling is moderately elongated and slightly flattened on the sides. The relatively small head has a small and usually slightly underneath the mouth slit that extends at most to below the front edge of the eye. The pupils tapering towards the front are conspicuous and increase the overlap angle of the two fields of view and thus the area of binocular vision . The most eye-catching feature that becomes more prominent with age is the large, flag-like dorsal fin . Like almost all trout fish, the representatives of this genus also have an adipose fin . The homocerke caudal fin is deeply forked, the pectoral fins start immediately behind the edge of the gill cover. The pelvic fins are in the back of the trunk, their attachment is behind that of the dorsal fin. In contrast to the other members of their family, the cycloid scales of the grayling that cover the entire trunk and tail stalk are relatively large.
Systematics
The system of grayling is not fully understood and has been subject to frequent changes in the past. FishBase names 14 species:
- Arctic grayling ( Thymallus arcticus ( Pallas , 1776))
- Thymallus baicalensis Dybowski , 1874
- Thymallus brevipinnis Svetovidov , 1931
- Thymallus brevirostris Kessler , 1879
- Thymallus burejensis Antonov , 2004
- Thymallus flavomaculatus Knizhin , Antonov & Weiss , 2006
- Thymallus grubii Dybowski , 1869
- Thymallus ligericus Persat et al., 2019
- Thymallus mertensii Valenciennes , 1848
- Thymallus nigrescens Dorogostaisky , 1923
- Thymallus pallasii Valenciennes , 1848
- Thymallus svetovidovi Knizhin & Weiss , 2009
- European grayling ( Thymallus thymallus ( Linnaeus , 1758))
- Thymallus tugarinae Knizhin , Antonov , Safronov & Weiss , 2007
- Thymallus yaluensis Mori , 1928
literature
- Martin Baars, Elisabeth Mathes, Herbert Stein, Udo Steinhörster: The grayling. Westarp Sciences, Hohenwarsleben 2001, ISBN 3-89432-881-9 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Thymallus on Fishbase.org (English)
- ↑ Persat, H., Weiss, S., Froufe, E., Secci-Petretto, G. & Denys, GPJ (2019): A third European species of grayling (Actinopterygii, Salmonidae), endemic to the Loire River basin (France ), Thymallus ligericus n. Sp. Cybium, 43 (3): 233-238.