Kingdom Animalia Class Actinopterygii Family Salmonidae Scientific name Salvelinus japonicus | Phylum Chordata Order Salmoniformes Genus Salvelinus Rank Species | |
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Similar Salvelinus inframundus, Salvelinus killinensis, Salvelinus umbla, Salmo peristericus | ||
The kirikuchi char, Salvelinus leucomaenis japonicus, is a freshwater fish in the Salmonidae family. It is endemic to the Kii Peninsula of central Honshu in Japan. It is the southernmost population of the char genus Salvelinus and is considered a relict in its region. It is usually considered a subspecies of the whitespotted char Salvelinus leucomaenis but was listed as a separate species in the IUCN Red List (1996).
Other subspecies of the whitespotted char S. leucomaenis have, however, been introduced in the area of the kirikuchi char, which has led to extensive hybridization. Kirikuchi char remain in two separate headwater streams of the Totsu River system, and they retain little genetic variation.
References
Kirikuchi char Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA