| Coregonus fera | |
|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Salmoniformes |
| Family: | Salmonidae |
| Subfamily: | Coregoninae |
| Genus: | Coregonus |
| Species: | C. fera |
| Binomial name | |
| Coregonus fera (Jurine, 1825) |
|
Coregonus fera, commonly called the true fera is a presumed extinct freshwater fish from Lake Geneva in Switzerland and France.
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The status of the fera is disputed. In 1950 Emile Dottrens described Coregonus fera as both native to Lake Geneva and Lake Constance. The coregonines from Lake Constance were named Sandfelchen. In 1997 Maurice Kottelat made a revision and used the name Coregonus fera for the fera and Coregonus arenicolus for the Sandfelchen.
The fera reached a length between 35 and 40 centimetres.
The fera was a benthopelagic freshwater fish, that means it occurred near the ground in very deep waters. It was fed from zooplankton. The spawning was from February to mid-March.
Together with the equally extinct Gravenche (Coregonus hiemalis) it was one of the most caught freshwater fishes in the Lake Geneva. In 1890 the fishing quota of these two fishes made 68% of all caught fishes in Lake Geneva. Due to overexploitation in combination with the heavily hybridisation with introduced coregonus species it became extremely scarce in the 1920s. It was still present in 1950 but was not found again in 1958.