What is a char?
A char is a salmonid, like the trout, which needs a particularly cold water to develop. It has a dark coat and a light punctuation, unlike the trout which has a "light" coat and a dark or black punctuation.
Arctic char, salvelinus alpinus is part of the large family of chars, like brook trout or cristivomer also present in the waters of France.
Place of life
Arctic char is naturally present in some large alpine lakes such as lake Geneva or the lake of Bourget, in France and in Italy in particular. It likes very cold waters and can live at great depths.
Arctic char have been introduced in many altidude lakes, especially in the Alps and the Pyrenees.
It does not frequent white water and prefers calm water in depth, which explains why it is difficult to notice. It is also a prey of choice for large lake trout.
Arctic char is extremely slow growing. Except in some dam lakes, it rarely exceeds 30 cm. The average length is usually between 20 and 25 cm.
The Arctic char has a slender and elongated silhouette, with a triangular notched tail. Its color is green to silver, the belly white / silver and it has circular gray spots. Its belly is orange and during the reproduction, can draw on the bright red flaming.
Arctic char feeding
The Arctic char is a benthic fish (living close to the bottom) that feeds mainly on macro invertebrates, such as chironomids, plankton and small larvae. The fishes of more than 20 centimeters sometimes hunt fry and small fishes, which explains why they can be caught with small lures.
Do not confuse
Arctic char should not be confused with cristivomer or brook trout.
The cristivomer has vermiculations and irregular spots, while the brook trout has vermiculated spots and black bars on the fins.
