Coomsaharn char

The Coomsaharn char (Salvelinus fimbriatus; the spellings Coomasaharn and charr are also used; Irish: ruabhreac Chom Sathairn) is a species of lacustrine char fish in the family Salmonidae.[3]

Coomsaharn char
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Salmoniformes
Family:	Salmonidae
Genus:	Salvelinus
Species:	S. fimbriatus
Binomial name
Salvelinus fimbriatus Regan, 1908[2]

It is only located in Lough Coomsaharn, County Kerry, Ireland.[4][5]

Location of Lough Coomsaharn in Ireland

Taxonomy

Name

The English word "char[r]" is thought to derive from Old Irish ceara/cera meaning "[blood] red,"[6] referring to its pink-red underside.[7][8] This would also connect with its Welsh name torgoch, "red belly."[9]

Lough Coomsaharn (/ˌkuːməˈsæhərən/) derives its name from the Irish Com Sathairn, "hollow of Saturday(?)".[10]

Biology

Salvelinus fimbriatus spawns in November/December and feeds on zooplankton. It is distinguished from other Salvelinus in Ireland by large eyes,[11] having 27–30 gill rakers, with 16–20 on the lower part (hence the species name fimbriatus, "fringed").[12] Also, its body depth is 20–25% of snout length, the snout is conical, and the lower jaw is not included in the upper one; an adaptation that helps it to feed on plankton.[13]

History

The Coomsaharn char are a remnant fish of the Last Ice Age.[14]

References

1. "Salvelinus fimbriatus". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.old-form url
2. "WoRMS - World Register of Marine Species - Salvelinus fimbriatus Regan, 1908". www.marinespecies.org.
3. Stendall, J. A. Sidney; Kertland, Mary P. H. (27 February 1961). "The Irish Naturalists' Journal". I.N.J. Committee. – via Google Books.
4. Academy, Royal Irish (27 February 2018). "Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy: Mathematical and physical sciences" – via Google Books.
5. Hendroff, Adrian (30 March 2015). Killarney to Valentia Island – The Iveragh Peninsula: A Walking Guide. The Collins Press. ISBN 9781848895522 – via Google Books.
6. [email protected]. "eDIL - Irish Language Dictionary". edil.qub.ac.uk.
7. Skeat, Walter W. (15 February 2013). An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486317656 – via Google Books.
8. Various. Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D). Library of Alexandria. ISBN 9781465562883 – via Google Books.
9. Weekley, Ernest (5 March 2013). An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English. Courier Corporation. ISBN 9780486122878 – via Google Books.
10. "Com Sathairn/Coomasaharn". Logainm.ie.
11. MacMahon, Alexander Francis Magri (27 February 2018). "Fishlore: British Freshwater Fishes". Penguin Books – via Google Books.
12. Cullen, P.; McCarthy, T. K.; Doherty, D. (2007). "The Coomasaharn char, a morphometrically highly specialised form of Salvelinus alpinus in Ireland". Ecology of Freshwater Fish. 16: 41–46. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0633.2006.00163.x.
13. Cullen, P; Mccarthy, T; Doherty, D (1 March 2007). "The Coomasaharn char, a morphometrically highly specialised form of Salvelinus alpinus in Ireland". Ecology of Freshwater Fish. 16: 41–46. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0633.2006.00163.x – via ResearchGate.
14. "Ireland - Lake Coomasaharn".