Kingdom Animalia Class Actinopterygii Family Salmonidae Scientific name Coregonus pollan Found in Lough Neagh | Phylum Chordata Order Salmoniformes Subfamily Coregoninae Rank Species | |
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Similar Schelly, Gwyniad, Powan, Gravenche, Coregonus vandesius | ||
The pollan or Irish pollan (Coregonus pollan or Coregonus autumnalis) is a freshwater whitefish known only from five Irish lakes, Lough Neagh, Lower Lough Erne, Lough Ree, Lough Derg, and Lough Allen.
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Conservation status
The pollan populations are threatened by ecosystem changes such as eutrophication and increases in introduced species, including pike, roach, and zebra mussel. Only the population of Lough Neagh in Northern Ireland remains abundant and supports a small fish commercial fishery. The other UK population in Lough Erne has severely declined. The Lough Allen population was only confirmed for the first time in 2006. Other populations rely on stocking for their survival.
Classification
In scientific literature and national biodiversity and conservation assessments, the Irish pollan are usually classified within the species Coregonus autumnalis. That is a widespread anadromous whitefish which inhabits coastal waters and rivers of Arctic Siberia, Alaska, and Canada and is there known as the Arctic cisco or Siberian omul. C. autumnalis is not distributed elsewhere in northwestern Europe, and the pollan are often given a status of subspecies as Coregonus autumnalis pollan. These classifications are based on the close genetic similarity of the Arctic and Irish whitefish populations. By IUCN and in the FishBase, the Irish pollan is, however, listed as a distinct fish species Coregonus pollan.
Unlike its Arctic relatives, the Irish pollan does not migrate to the sea.