Blackfin cisco facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Blackfin cisco |
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|---|---|
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Genus: |
Coregonus
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| Species: |
nigripinnis
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The blackfin cisco (Coregonus nigripinnis) was a type of fish that lived in fresh water. It belonged to the salmon family. This fish was silvery with black fins, big eyes, and a blunt snout. It was one of the largest kinds of ciscoes. The blackfin cisco used to live in the Great Lakes of North America. Sadly, it is now believed to be extinct, meaning it no longer exists. Scientists are still trying to figure out its exact classification.
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About the Blackfin Cisco
The blackfin cisco was a dark silvery color. Its back was dark green to black, and its sides had pink or purple shades. The outer parts of its fins were black. These fish could grow up to 510 millimeters (about 21 inches) long. They liked to live in cold lakes, sometimes as deep as 180 meters (about 590 feet).
How Scientists Classified It
Scientists group living things to understand them better. This is called taxonomy. The blackfin cisco was first officially described by James Wood Milner in 1874.
However, the way C. nigripinnis and other similar ciscoes are grouped is still a bit confusing. Some scientists thought there were four different types, or subspecies, of blackfin cisco. These were found in different Great Lakes like Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, and Lake Ontario. But later, some of these types were combined with other fish species. This makes it hard to know if the blackfin cisco was its own unique species or part of a larger group.
Why It Disappeared
The blackfin cisco started to disappear because of several reasons. One big reason was overfishing. People caught too many of them, and there were no rules to stop it.
Other problems came from new animals in the lakes. The invading sea lamprey ate many blackfin ciscoes. Also, introduced fish like the alewife and rainbow smelt ate the young blackfin ciscoes.
People stopped fishing for blackfin ciscoes in the early 1960s. This was because there were so few left that it was not worth fishing for them anymore.
When It Was Last Seen
The blackfin cisco was last seen in Lake Huron in 1960. It was last seen in Lake Michigan in 1969. Some people thought a similar fish was seen in Long Lake near Thunder Bay in 2006. There is a small chance it might still exist in Lake Nipigon.
The IUCN Red List, which tracks endangered species, listed the blackfin cisco as extinct in 1996. In Canada, it was listed as threatened in 1988. Later, it was listed as "data deficient" because scientists were not sure about its exact classification. Scientists are now thinking about bringing cisco populations back to the Great Lakes.
Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2005). "Coregonus nigripinnis" in FishBase. 10 2005 version.
