Sevan trout

The Sevan trout (Salmo ischchan) was an extinct endemic fish species of Lake Sevan in Armenia, known as ishkhan (իշխան, pronounced [iʃˈχɑn]) in Armenian. It is a salmonid fish related to the brown trout. The fish is extinct, because various competitors were introduced into the lake during the Soviet period, including common whitefish (Coregonus lavaretus) from Lake Ladoga, goldfish (Carassius auratus) and narrow-clawed crayfish (Astacus leptodactylus); and because of lake level change. On the other hand, the Sevan trout itself has been successfully introduced to Issyk Kul lake in Kyrgyzstan. A resolution by Armenia's Council of Ministers in 1976 stopped the commercial fishing of Sevan trout and organized Sevan National Park. The fish are nowadays also reared in hatcheries. The Sevan trout has four (or two) distinct strains differing in their breeding time and place, and growth rate: winter...