Sevan trout

Article summary

The Sevan trout (Salmo ischchan) was an extinct endemic fish species of Lake Sevan in Armenia, known as ishkhan (իշխան, ) in Armenian. It is a salmonid fish related to the brown trout. The fish is extinct, because various competitors were introduced into the lake during the Soviet period, including common whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) from Lake Ladoga, goldfish (Carassius auratus) and narrow-clawed crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus); and because of lake level change. On the other hand, the Sevan trout itself has been successfully introduced to Issyk Kul lake in Kyrgyzstan. A resolution by Armenia's Council of Ministers in 1976 stopped the commercial fishing of Sevan trout and organized Sevan National Park. The fish are nowadays also reared in hatcheries. The Sevan trout has four (or two ) distinct strains differing in their breeding time and place, and growth rate: *winter bakhtak (Salmo ischchan ischchan) *summer bakhtak (Salmo ischchan aestivalis) *gegharkuni (Salmo ischchan gegarkuni) *bojak (Salmo ischchan danilewskii). The winter bakhtak is the largest form and can grow to considerable size, up to 90 cm and 15 kg. It breeds within the lake. The summer bakhtak is smaller (<50 cm), and breeds naturally both in rivers and within lake near river mouths.…

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