Char Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Char Temporal range: Late Miocene - present

Arctic char, Salvelinus alpinus alpinus
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Salmoniformes
Family:	Salmonidae
Subfamily:	Salmoninae
Genus:	*Salvelinus* J. Richardson, 1836
Type species
Salvelinus umbla (Linnaeus, 1758)
Subgenera
Baione DeKay, 1842 Cristovomer Walbaum, 1792 Salvelinus J. Richardson, 1836

Salvelinus is a group of fish often called char or charr. Some types are also known as "trout". These fish belong to the salmon family.

Char are found all around the northern parts of the world. Most of them are cold-water fish. They usually live in fresh water like lakes and rivers. However, many species also travel to the sea.

You can often spot char by their light-colored spots. These spots can be cream, pink, or red. They stand out against the fish's darker body. Char have small scales, and their fins often have white or cream edges.

Many types of char are popular for sport fishing. Some, like the lake trout (S. namaycush) and arctic char (S. alpinus), are also caught for food. Sometimes, fish raised for food escape and can become invasive species. This means they can harm the local environment.

Deepwater char are smaller types of char. They live in the deep parts of certain lakes, usually below 80 meters. These fish are very sensitive to changes in water quality. Sadly, one species, Salvelinus neocomensis, became extinct in the 1900s.

What's in a Name?
Char Family Tree
Many Kinds of Char
Images for kids
See also

What's in a Name?

The exact origin of the name "char" is not fully known. It might come from an old Celtic language word. For example, the Irish word ceara means "fiery red." This could refer to the bright red belly of the Arctic char.

Another idea is that it came from a Middle Low German word, schar. This word meant "flounder" or "dab" (types of flatfish). It might also come from an older word meaning "to cut." This could describe the fish's shape.

Char Family Tree

Scientists group Salvelinus into three main subgroups, called subgenera. These are Baione, Cristovomer, and Salvelinus itself.

The Baione group includes the brook trout (S. fontinalis). It also included the silver trout (S. agassizii), which is now believed to be extinct. The Cristovomer group has only one member: the lake trout (S. namaycush). All other char species belong to the Salvelinus subgenus.

There's also a fish called the long-finned char (Salvethymus svetovidovi). Some scientists think it should be part of the Salvelinus group. If so, it would create a fourth subgroup called Salvethymus.

Many Kinds of Char

Just like with other salmon-like fish, it can be tricky to decide how many different species of Salvelinus there are. Scientists sometimes disagree! In 2015, a database called FishBase listed 54 species or subspecies. Many of these live in very specific local areas.

For example, the British Isles alone have 14 local species listed. However, many experts still consider them all to be types of the widespread Arctic char (S. alpinus).

The Arctic char (S. alpinus) is the most common and widespread Salvelinus species. It lives all around the Arctic regions. It is known as the most northern freshwater fish in the world.

In North America, there are five well-known species. Besides the Arctic char, these include the brook trout (S. fontinalis), bull trout (S. confluentus), Dolly Varden trout (S. malma), and lake trout (S. namaycush).

Here are some examples of char species found around the world:

Circumpolar Char

Salvelinus alpinus (Linnaeus, 1758) – Arctic char

European Char

Central Europe

Salvelinus evasus Freyhof & Kottelat, 2005
Salvelinus umbla (Linnaeus, 1758) – lake char
†Salvelinus neocomensis Freyhof & Kottelat, 2005
Salvelinus profundus (Schillinger, 1901)

British Isles

Salvelinus killinensis (Günther, 1866)
Salvelinus colii (Günther, 1863) – Cole's char
Salvelinus grayi (Günther, 1862) – Gray's char

Northern Europe

Salvelinus faroensis Joensen & Tåning, 1970
Salvelinus murta (Sæmundsson, 1909)
Salvelinus lepechini (J. F. Gmelin, 1789)

Asian Char

Arctic drainages

Salvelinus andriashevi L. S. Berg, 1948 – Chukot char
Salvelinus boganidae L. S. Berg, 1926 – Boganida char
Salvelinus elgyticus Viktorovsky & Glubokovsky, 1981 – small-mouth char
Salvethymus svetovidovi Chereshnev & Skopets, 1990 – long-finned char

Pacific drainages

Salvelinus albus Glubokovsky, 1977 – white char
Salvelinus curilus (Pallas, 1814) – southern Dolly Varden
Salvelinus leucomaenis (Pallas, 1814) – whitespotted char
- S. l. japonicus (=S. japonicus) Ōshima, 1961 – kirikuchi char