Cisco (lake herring)
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Name and Code
Family
Salmonidae - trouts and salmons
Species
Coregonus artedi
Taxonomic Authority
Lesueur 1818
Common Name(s)
Cisco (lake herring)
French Name
cisco de lac
Species Code
093
Family TSN
161931
Parent TSN
161932
Species TSN
161942
Conservation Status
Global Rank (GRank)
G5 (2015-08-17)
National Rank (NRank)
N5B, N5N, NUM (2017-12-28)
Provincial Rank (SRank)
S5 (1988-11-22)
COSEWIC Status
none
SARO Status
none
AFS Status
none
Status Notes
none
Ecological Value
Ontario Origin
native
General Abundance
common
Tolerance
intolerant
Economic Importance
forage fish; bait fish; commercial fishery; sport fish
Length-Weight Regression Coefficents
Intercept (a)
-5.5554
Slope (b)
3.185
Length Basis
TL
Habitat and Feeding
General Habitat(s)
lacustrine
Environment
pelagic
Trophic Class
planktivore/invertivore
Thermal Regime
coldwater
Habitat Preference
open, mid-waters (13-53 m) of lakes and large rivers, below the thermocline; preferred water temperature range 7-10°C
Reproduction
Reproductive Guild
Nonguarders: Open substratum spawners: Pelagophils
Spawning Habitat(s)
lacustrine
Spawning Season
fall
Spawning Month(s)
November-December
Spawning Temperature (°C)
1-5
Fecundity
3,471-48,999
Nursery Habitat(s)
lacustrine
Size and Age
Adult Length (cm)
22.1-37.6 TL
Adult Weight (kg)
0.08-0.44
Age at Maturity (yrs)
2-4
Maximum Length (cm)
59.7 TL
Maximum Weight (kg)
3.6
Lifespan (yrs)
14-22
Ontario Records
Record Length (cm)
59.7 TL
Record Weight (kg)
1.96
Ontario Range Map
Cisco (lake herring) range
Ontario Distribution
Great Lakes (extirpated from Lake Erie), central and northern Ontario
Photographs
Cisco (lake herring) photograph
Cisco (lake herring) photograph
Notes
amphidromous populations are known in large river systems flowing to Hudson Bay and James Bay; hybrids with Lake Whitefish called "mule whitefish"; dwarf form occurs in some inland lakes
Information Sources
Carlander, K.D. 1969. Handbook of freshwater fishery biology. Volume one. Life history data on freshwater fishes of the United States and Canada, exclusive of the Perciformes. Iowa State University Press. Ames, IA. vi + 752 pp.
Cudmore-Vokey, B. and E.J. Crossman. 2000. Checklists of the fish fauna of the Laurentian Great Lakes and their connecting channels. Can. MS Rpt. Fish. Aquat. Sci. 2550: v + 39 p.
Ditz, K. and E. Holm. 2023. Ontario Fish Species Codes and Names. Ichthyology and Herpetology, Royal Ontario Museum. May 1994. Modified February 2023.
Hubbs, C.L. and K.F. Lagler. 1964. Fishes of the Great Lakes region. University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor, MI. xv + 213 pp.
Hubbs, C.L., K.F. Lagler, and G.R. Smith. 2004. Fishes of the Great Lakes region, revised edition. University of Michigan Press. Ann Arbor, MI. xvii + 276 pp.
Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). 2023. On-line database. http://www.itis.gov, retrieved 02 May 2023.
Koelz, W. 1929. Coregonid fishes of the Great Lakes. Bull. U.S. Bur. Fish. 43:297-643.
Lee, D.S., C.R. Gilbert, C.H. Hocutt, R.E. Jenkins, D.E. McAllister, and J.R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History Publication 1980-12. Raleigh, NC. x + 867 pp.
NatureServe. 2023. NatureServe Network Biodiversity Location Data accessed through NatureServe Explorer [web application]. NatureServe, Arlington, Virginia. Available https://explorer.natureserve.org/ (Accessed: February 2, 2023).
Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr. 2011. Peterson field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico, second edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Boston, MA. xix + 663 pp.
Page, L.M., H. Espinosa-Pérez, L.T. Findley, C.R. Gilbert, R.N. Lea, N.E. Mandrak, R.L. Mayden, and J.S. Nelson. 2013. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. 7th Edition. American Fisheries Society, Spec. Publ. 34. Bethesda, MD. 243 pp.
Scott, W.B. 1967. Freshwater fishes of eastern Canada, second edition. University of Toronto Press. Toronto, ON. xii + 137 pp.
Scharpf, C. 2006. Annotated checklist of North American freshwater fishes, including subspecies and undescribed forms. Part II: Catostomidae through Mugilidae. American Currents 32(4):1-39.