Kirikuchi char

Kirikuchi char
Conservation status
Endangered  (IUCN 2.3)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Salmoniformes
Family:	Salmonidae
Genus:	Salvelinus
Species:	S. leucomaenis
Subspecies:	S. l. japonicus
Trinomial name
Salvelinus leucomaenis japonicus Ōshima, 1961
Synonyms
Salvelinus japonicus[1]

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).^[1]

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.^[2] Kirikuchi char remain in two separate headwater streams of the Totsu River system, and they retain little genetic variation.^[2]

References

1. Kottelat, M. 1996. Salvelinus japonicus. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 5 August 2007.
2. Sato T; Demise T; Kubota H; Nagoshi M; Watanabe K (2010) Hybridization, Isolation, and Low Genetic Diversity of Kirikuchi Char, the Southernmost Populations of the Genus Salvelinus Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 39 2010, 1758 - 1774.