Atlantic whitefish

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iCoregonus huntsmani

Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Salmoniformes
Family: Salmonidae
Genus: Coregonus
Species: C. huntsmani
Binomial name
Coregonus huntsmani
(Scott, 1831)

The Atlantic whitefish (Coregonus huntsmani) is a freshwater salmonid fish inhabiting the northwestern Atlantic ocean around the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, as well as some freshwater lakes within Nova Scotia. C. huntsmani was originally designated Coregonus canadensis, but the species name was changed in 1987. Other common names that C. huntsmani is known by are Acadian whitefish, Common whitefish, sault whitefish, cisco, and round whitefish. The species was designated as an endangered species by the World Conservation Union in 1986 and in 1970, Nova Scotia prohibited the taking of Atlantic whitefish under the Canadian Fisheries Act.


The Atlantic whitefish has a typical salmonid body shape and is silvery on the sides and underside with a dark blue to dark green back. They are anadromous, living most of their adult lives in coastal ocean water, but spawning in inland streams in Nova Scotia. Although much about them is unknown, it is believed that they feed on amphipods, small periwinkles, and marine worms in ocean coastal waters and small fish, fish eggs, and invertebrates in freshwater.

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