Endangered
Salvelinus willoughbii
Salvelinus willoughbii
Salvelinus willughbii, also known as the Windermere charr or Willoughby's charr, is a cold-water fish in the family Salmonidae.
Appearance
In the autumn and winter months, Salvelinus willughbii possess long bodies with dark colouration on the top dorsal side, grey colouration near the medial line, and muddled pink colouration on ventral side with a white belly. In the spring and summer months, colouration lightens and the back turns from dark to blue or even olive in colour. The mouth in all specimens is white on the lower portion and occasionally dark on the upper portion.
Normal adult S. Willughbii on average reach lengths of 10–12 inches (25–30 cm) and can reach lengths of up to 18 inches (46 cm). Adult males on average range from 9–14 ounces (260–400 g) in weight while females generally range from 8–13 ounces (230–370 g).
Range and habitat
This specific subspecies is found in several lakes within The Lake District of Cumbria, England. Lakes that are confirmed to hold populations of S. Willughbii include: Lake Windermere, Coniston Water, Wast Water, Ennerdale Water, Buttermere, Crummock Water, and Loweswater. S. Willughbii is a subspecies of Arctic charr that inhabit Lake Windermere, Coniston Water, Wast Water, Ennerdale Water, Buttermere, Crummock Water, and Loweswater in The Lake District of Cumbria, England.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet and breeding
S. Willughbii often consume a diet of small planktonic organisms, copepods, and diplostracan species in the mid-water and bottom dwelling invertebrates off the bottom. In the late spring and summer months they feed primarily on small mid-water organisms and insects.
During spawning periods in the winter and early spring months charr eggs are also a staple.
In crisis
The species has been listed on the IUCN Red List as Critically Endangered due to increased water temperatures, decreased levels of oxygen and overfishing within Lake Windermere. S. Willughbii (under the name Willoughby's Charr) is currently classified as Critically Endangered according to the IUCN Red List. Decreased oxygen levels and increases in water temperature are becoming an ever-increasing threat to S. Willughbii populations.
In recent times, efforts have been made to assist the charr population within Ennerdale Water and led to the removal of the pipe bridge and replanting of native trees surrounding the River Liza.
Salvelinus willoughbii 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 Salvelinus willoughbii, Wikidata item Q6418094. 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.
