Creatures in Crisis
Photograph of Gwyniad (Coregonus pennantii), recorded as Endangered
Gwyniad (Coregonus pennantii). Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Endangered

Gwyniad

Coregonus pennantii

Gwyniad is a whitefish in the family Salmonidae (order Salmoniformes) — Coregonus pennantii, recorded as Endangered.

Status
Endangered
Scientific name
Coregonus pennantii
Taxonomy
Salmoniformes · Salmonidae · Coregonus

Appearance

The Gwyniad, or Welsh whitefish, is a freshwater ray-finned fish belonging to the family Salmonidae, that includes the salmon, trouts and related fishes.

Range and habitat

The Gwyniad is endemic to Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) in the upper drainage system of the River Dee in the county of Gwynedd in north Wales. This species is found in the benthopelagic zone in the deeper parts of the two lakes it now inhabits but it undertakes daily vertical migrations to forage nearer the surface in the warmer months of the year. This species is endemic to a single lake in North Wales.

Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.

Diet

Salmonids need cold, oxygenated water and a clean gravel or open-lake feeding ground. Endemic whitefishes collapse when the lake is eutrophied or fished out.

In crisis

The Gwyniad is threatened by deteriorating water quality in Llyn Tegid and by the ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernua), a fish introduced to the lake in the 1980s and now eating the eggs and fry of Gwyniad.

Gwyniad is Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.

Sources

Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Gwyniad, Wikidata item Q3399346. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.

Photograph via Wikimedia Commons. Wikipedia · Wikidata · IUCN Red List.

Same genus

Photograph of Riedling (Coregonus danneri), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Riedling

Coregonus danneri
Photograph of Atlantic whitefish (Coregonus huntsmani), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Atlantic whitefish

Coregonus huntsmani
Photograph of Shortnose cisco (Coregonus reighardi), recorded as Critically EndangeredCR

Shortnose cisco

Coregonus reighardi
Photograph of Sand Whitefish (Coregonus arenicolus), recorded as EndangeredEN

Sand Whitefish

Coregonus arenicolus

Quick answers

What is Gwyniad?
Gwyniad is a whitefish in the family Salmonidae (order Salmoniformes) — Coregonus pennantii.
What is the conservation status of Gwyniad?
Endangered, as the IUCN category stored on Wikidata for Coregonus pennantii. Confirm the official assessment on iucnredlist.org.
Where does Gwyniad live?
The Gwyniad is endemic to Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) in the upper drainage system of the River Dee in the county of Gwynedd in north Wales.
Why is Gwyniad in crisis?
The Gwyniad is threatened by deteriorating water quality in Llyn Tegid and by the ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernua), a fish introduced to the lake in the 1980s and now eating the eggs and fry of Gwyniad.
Is this the IUCN Red List page for Coregonus pennantii?
No. This is a researched catalog account. The Red List is the assessment.
Is Gwyniad a pet?
An animal on this catalog is in crisis in the wild. Keeping one is usually the wrong question.