Description

Dorsal spines (total): 0; Dorsal soft rays (total): 9 - 11; Anal spines: 0; Anal soft rays: 9 - 16; Vertebrae: 55 - 58. Body elongate, distinctly compressed laterally, and thin, greatest body depth in front of dorsal fin. Head about 23 - 26% of total length; eye large, but shorter than snout; snout always longer than eye diameter; mouth terminal, lower jaw usually projecting beyond the upper, usually with a distinct symphyseal knob or projecting posteriorly to below the anterior half of the eye. Overall coloration silvery with pink or purple iridescence, dark on back, silvery on sides, white below; often dark on tip of lower jaw, top of head, back and on dorsal and caudal fins. Pelvic fins usually immaculate.

Common Names

Taxonomic Hierarchy

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Teleostei

Order: Salmoniformes

Family: Salmonidae

Genus: Coregonus

Species: Coregonus kiyi (Koelz, 1921)

Climate Zone

Location

• North America: found only in Great Lakes (except Lake Erie), Canada-USA. This species is common in Lake Superior, extremely rare, possibly extirpated, in Lakes Huron and Ontario, and endangered in Lake Michigan.

Biology

Inhabits open water.

Habitat

pelagic

Conservation Status

Vulnerable

Threat to Humans

Harmless