The Dolly Varden

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Dolly Varden
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Image of animal


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General Information;

Type: Fish
Diet: Carnivore
Size: 7 — 45 cm
Weight: 30 — 60 cm
Conservation status: Not applicable
Scientific Classification: Kingdom: Animalia, Phylum: Chordata, Class: Actinopterygii, Order: Salmoniformes, Family: Salmonidae, Genus: Salvelinus, Species: S. malma
Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m) man: Not applicable
Dolly Varden Range


The Dolly Varden trout, is a subspecies of anadromous fish in the salmon family, and is technically a char. Although many populations are anadromous, the fish also exists in landlocked waters.
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Physical Features;
Though similar to, and often confused with, trout, Dolly Varden are actually a char (Salvelinus sp). To tell a char from a trout, look at their spots—char have light spots (white or yellow to red) on a dark body, while trout have dark spots (brown to black) on a light body. There are two forms of Dolly Varden in Alaska, which differ in number of vertebrae (62–65 for southern form and 66–70 for northern form) and in number of chromosomes (82 for southern form and 78 for northern form). In addition, northern form Dolly Varden can attain a much larger size (up to 27 pounds) than southern-form fish.
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Mental Features;
In northerly areas, they may spawnonly every other year. They spawn earlier in the season in the northand later in the south. Females make a gravel nest (a redd) for the eggs in the stream bottom. The eggs hatch in the spring and the alevins emerge from the gravel inlate April to mid-May, when the yare about 20 — 25 mm long.Both anadromous and fresh waterforms remain in fresh water forthe first three to four years.Anadromous forms migrate to the ocean to feed in coastal water. They will occasionally move.
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Diet;
Dolly Varden are carnivorous, feeding opportunistically on a variety of prey. Prey species and feeding techniques vary greatly between regions, habitat types, and seasons, depending on food availability. Juveniles feed primarily on the stream bottom in slow-flowing areas near the banks. Their diet often consists mostly of winged insects and the larvae of mayflies and midges. As they grow, Dolly Varden redistribute to deeper pools and eddies where they eat crustaceans, salmon eggs, and small fish, in addition to insects.
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Habitat;
The Dolly Varden is one of the most widely-distributed salmonids in Alaska. It occurs throughout the coastal areas of the state from Southeast Alaska across the Gulf of Alaska and the Bering Sea into the Beaufort Sea to the Mackenzie River in northern Canada. It also occurs in streams in Interior Alaska and the Brooks Range. Elsewhere, their range stretches along the Pacific coast of North America from Washington State to the Arctic coast of Canada, and along the Pacific coast of Russia south to Japan and Korea. Freshwater habitats of Dolly Varden range from the smallest headwater stream (often less than 3 feet wide) to large deep lakes. Saltwater habitats range from brackish estuaries to fully-marine shoreline environments, and occasionally the open ocean. Dolly Varden spend winters in lakes (southern form) or rivers (northern form). Entire populations of freshwater-resident Dolly Varden may spend their entire life cycle within a single stream, and during the winter, the entire population may reside at a single springs.
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Credits (c);

Images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/p200eric/4917169855/

Information:
http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=dollyvarden.main
http://www.gofishbc.com/documents/pdf/fish-facts/Dolly_Varden.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolly_Varden_trout
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