Whitefish

Whitefish, common name for various species of food fishes native to lakes and streams of the northern hemisphere. The most familiar American species is the lake whitefish, found chiefly in the Great Lakes. It attains a maximum length of about 61 cm (about 24 in), is olive green above and white below, has a small, toothless mouth, and feeds mainly on crustaceans. Whitefishes inhabit deep waters throughout most of the year, but migrate to shoals to spawn in the fall. Highly prized for food, they are taken with nets and sold fresh or smoked. Whitefishes were formerly abundant in the Great Lakes, but overfishing and depredation by the lamprey have greatly reduced their number.

The mountain whitefish, or mountain herring, another American species, is found in streams from the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Coast. It is a favorite of anglers because it will take a fly. Another group of whitefish is the ciscoes, which include the lake herring, an important food fish of the Great Lakes. See Herring.

Scientific classification: Whitefishes belong to the family Salmonidae of the order Salmoniformes. The lake whitefish is classified as Coregonus clupeaformis, the mountain whitefish as Prosopium williamsoni, and the lake herring as Coregonus artedi.