Species: Prosopium williamsoni
Mountain Whitefish
Species
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Actinopterygii
Order
Salmoniformes
Family
Salmonidae
Genus
Prosopium
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
ménomini des montagnes
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Fishes - Bony Fishes - Salmon and Trouts
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Actinopterygii - Salmoniformes - Salmonidae - Prosopium - (Lee et al. 1980).
Ecology and Life History
Habitat Type Description
Freshwater
Migration
false - true - false - Lake populations may migrate into tributaries to spawn.
Non-migrant
false
Locally Migrant
true
Food Comments
Feeds actively on aquatic and terrestrial insects. Also feeds on some fish eggs and occasionally on fishes. Bottom-oriented predator (Moyle 1976), occasionally feeds at surface (Sigler and Sigler 1987).
Reproduction Comments
Spawns late October-early November at 40-45 F in northern Idaho, November-early December in Great Basin. Eggs hatch in about 5 months at temperatures above 35 F. Sexually mature at 3-4 years; average longevity 7-8 years (Wydoski and Whitney 1979, Simpson and Wallace 1982, Sigler and Sigler 1987).
Length
57
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-09-12
Global Status Last Changed
1996-09-12
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=S5&CA.BC=S5&CA.NT=S4&CA.YT=SU&US.CA=S3&US.CO=S3&US.ID=S5&US.MT=S5&US.NV=S3&US.OR=S4&US.UT=S3&US.WA=S5&US.WY=S5" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
Mackenzie River drainage (Arctic basin), Northwest Territories, south through western Canada and northwestern U.S. in Pacific, Hudson Bay, and upper Missouri River basins, to Truckee River drainage, Nevada, and Sevier River drainage, Utah; common (Page and Burr 1991).