Arctic Char
The Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus Linnaeus) is present in North America in both the anadromous (seagoing) and the nonanadromous (freshwater resident) forms. It is distributed throughout the polar regions and is the most northerly distributed of char and its closely related cousin, the Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma Walbaum). It was only in the 1980s that taxonomists established the relationship between these species in North America. This relationship, however, is still under consideration by some scientists. There are some external characteristics which can be used to differentiate between Arctic char and Dolly Varden. Arctic char generally have a shorter head and snout, a trait particularly evident in spawning males. The tail of an Arctic char has a slightly deeper fork than that of a Dolly Varden, and the base of the Arctic
char's tail is
narrower. reaching sexual maturity at an age of 6 to 9 years, Arctic char are thought to spawn every other year. Spawning usually occurs from August through October, probably over steep, broken substrates or gravel shoals at sufficient depth to be protected from winter ice.
Arctic char range across the northern polar regions. In Alaska, they are known to occur only in the lake resident form. Arctic char are found in lakes in the Brooks Range, the Kigluaik Mountains, the Kuskokwim Mountains, the Alaska Peninsula, Kenai Peninsula, Kodiak Island, and in a small area of Interior Alaska near Denali Park.
