BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary
Prosopium coulterii
Pygmy Whitefish
| Scientific Name: | Prosopium coulterii (Eigenmann and Eigenmann, 1892) | ||||||||||
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| English Name: | Pygmy Whitefish | ||||||||||
| Classification / Taxonomy | |||||||||||
| Scientific Name - Concept Reference: | Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp. | ||||||||||
| Classification Level: | Species | ||||||||||
| Taxonomy Comments: | Jan. 2006 - changed from P. coulteri to P. coulterii as per NatureServe (DDW). | ||||||||||
| Species Group: | Vertebrate Animal | ||||||||||
| Species Code: | F-PRCO | ||||||||||
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| Conservation Status / Legal Designation | |||||||||||
| Global Status: | G4 (Jul 2024) | ||||||||||
| Provincial Status: | S4 (May 2019) | ||||||||||
| BC List: | Yellow | ||||||||||
| Provincial FRPA list: | |||||||||||
| Provincial Wildlife Act: | |||||||||||
| COSEWIC Status: | Not at Risk (Nov 2016) | ||||||||||
| SARA Schedule: | |||||||||||
| General Status Canada: | 4 - Secure (2005) | ||||||||||
| Ecology & Life History | |||||||||||
| General Description: | Smallest member of the subfamily Coregoninae. Species has a long, cylindrical body with a short snout that is broadly rounded when seen from above. Typically, brownish with somewhat greenish tints above; silvery sides with white belly. Distinguishing characteristics include single flap between nostril openings, notch in adipose eyelid and small pelvic axillary process. Juveniles have 7-14 large, round parr marks (Mecklenburg et al. 2002). Spawning fish develop nuptial tubercles on the head, back sides and pectoral fins. The ventral fins of both sexes also turn orange while spawning (Heard and Hartman 1965). In Alaska, appearance similar to round whitefish (Prosopium cylindraceum). | ||||||||||
| Global Reproduction Comments: | Spawns at night, late fall and early winter, October-December depending on the region. Female fecundity ranges from 200-1000 eggs (Heard and Hartman 1965). In British Columbia, matures in 2nd or 3rd year, lives up to 9 years (McPhail and Lindsey 1970). In Alaska, both males and females mature at age one or two, sometimes as small as 6 cm (Heard and Hartman 1965, Bird and Roberson 1979). | ||||||||||
| Global Ecology Comments: | Species considered a glacial relict and one of the most primitive of coregonines (Weisel et al. 1973). Has the greatest discontinuous range of any freshwater fish in North America (Eschmeyer and Bailey 1955 in Heard and Hartman 1965). Characterized by slow growth, low fecundity and short life cycle. Frequently found in large schools of several thousand fish in both rivers and lakes. Occurs sympatrically with other species of whitefish (Mackay 2000). | ||||||||||
| Migration Characteristics: (Global / Provincial) | |||||||||||
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Nonmigrant: Local Migrant: Distant Migrant: Within Borders Migrant: |
Y / Y / N / na / |
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| Global Migration Comments: | In some regions moves to shallower spawning areas (Morrow 1980). | ||||||||||
| Habitats: (Type / Subtype / Dependence) |
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| Global Habitat Comments: | This species is common in lakes and flowing waters of clear or silted rivers of mountainous country; in Lake Superior, it is found at depths of 18-89 m; in western lakes, it occurs in waters usually less than 6 m deep, not changing depth seasonally (Lee et al. 1980). This species spawns over course gravel in shallow areas in streams or lakes. | ||||||||||
| Food Habits: |
Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Piscivore: Adult, Immature |
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| Global Food Habits Comments: | Crustaceans, chironomids, ostracods, Pontoporeia, copepods, and fish eggs. | ||||||||||
| Global Phenology: | |||||||||||
| Global Phenology Comments: | Feeds diurnally. Nocturnal spawner during late fall and early winter (November to January in Alaska; Morrow 1980). | ||||||||||
| Provincial Phenology: (1st half of month/ 2nd half of month) |
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| Colonial Breeder: | N | ||||||||||
| Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): | 27/ / | ||||||||||
| Elevation (m) (min / max): |
Global:
Provincial: |
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| Distribution | |||||||||||
| Endemic: | N | ||||||||||
| Global Range Comment: | This species occurs in three major geographic areas including 1) Lake Ontario, Michigan, and Superior in the Great Lakes system where it is apparently widely distributed but rare in Lake Superior (MNDNR 2024) but considered threatened in Canada (COSEWIC 2016); 2) northern Washington, Idaho, and Washington states (USA) within the southern Columbia Basin watershed north through parts of the Fraser, Skeena, Peace, Alsek, and Yukon River systems in British Columbia and Athabasca and Upper Waterton Lakes in Alberta and Saskatchewan, Great Bear and Bluefish lakes in the Northwest Territories, and four lakes in northwestern Ontario, Canada, (COSEWIC 2016); and 3) three disjunct populations in Alaska including lakes and streams associated with the Chignik, Naknek, and Wood River systems (southwest Alaska), and in lakes in the Tazkina, Klutina, and Tonsina of the Copper River system in southcentral Alaska (ADFG 2022). A small population was discovered in the early 1990?s in Ekityki Lake, Chuckchi Peninsula, Russia (Chereshnev and Skopets 1992). The range extent of this species was estimated by summing the watersheds identified as occupied throughout its western North American range and estimating the Great Lakes distribution to arrive at about 2,800,000 km2. | ||||||||||
| Authors / Contributors | |||||||||||
| Global Information Author: | Hunting, K. | ||||||||||
| Last Updated: | Jul 01, 2024 | ||||||||||
| Provincial Information Author: | |||||||||||
| Last Updated: | |||||||||||
| References and Related Literature | |||||||||||
Eschmeyer, P.H. and R.M. Bailey. 1955. The pygmy white-fish, Coregonus coulteri, in Lake Superior. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society 84:161-199. |
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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, Raleigh, North Carolina. i-x + 854 pp. |
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McPhail, J.D. and C.C. Lindsey. 1970. Freshwater fishes of northwestern Canada and Alaska. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Bulletin 173, Ottawa. |
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Morrow, J.E. 1980. The freshwater fishes of Alaska. Alaska Northwest Publishing Company, Anchorage, AK. 248 pp. |
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Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp. |
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Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp. |
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Scott, W. B., and E. J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Bulletin 184. 966 pp. |
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Simpson, J. and R. Wallace. 1982. Fishes of Idaho. The University Press of Idaho, Moscow, Idaho. 238 pp. |
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Weisel, G. F., D. A. Hanzel, and R. L. Newell. 1973. The pygmy whitefish, Prosopium coulteri, in western Montana. Fishery Bulletin 71(2):587-596. |
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Please visit the website Conservation Status Ranks for definitions of the data fields used in this summary report.
Suggested Citation:
B.C. Conservation Data Centre. 2024. Species Summary: Prosopium coulterii. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 16, 2026).