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BC Conservation Data Centre: Species Summary


Coregonus autumnalis
Arctic Cisco

 
Scientific Name: Coregonus autumnalis (Pallas, 1776)
English Name: Arctic Cisco
 
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
Species Group: Vertebrate Animal
Species Code: F-COAU
Kingdom Phylum Class Order Family
Animalia Craniata Actinopterygii Salmoniformes Salmonidae
   
Conservation Status / Legal Designation
Global Status: G5 (Nov 2011)
Provincial Status: S1S2 (May 2019)
BC List: Red
Provincial FRPA list:   
Provincial Wildlife Act:
COSEWIC Status:
SARA Schedule:
General Status Canada: 3 - Sensitive (2005)
   
Ecology & Life History
General Description:
Global Reproduction Comments: Spawns late September or early October in Mackenzie River system. Eggs presumably hatch in spring. Sexually mature in 5-7 years in some rivers, 9-10 in others. Adults apparently do not spawn every year (Morrow 1980, Scott and Crossman 1973).
Migration Characteristics:
(Global / Provincial)		 
    Nonmigrant:
    Local Migrant:
    Distant Migrant:
    Within Borders Migrant: 		N /
Y /
Y /
na /
Global Migration Comments: Upstream spawning migration occurs in summer, may cover as much as 1000 km. In the Peel River, migration occurred in mid-July, with a small movement upstream of mature males also in mid-September; in the Red River, major movements of mature males and females occurred in both late July and early to mid-September; migrations in other river systems occurred in late August and early September; nonanadromous forms may occur in the Liard River (Dillinger et al. 1992). Adults migrate downstream to sea (in October in Mackenzie River system) after spawning (Scott and Crossman 1973, Morrow 1980).
Habitats:
(Type / Subtype / Dependence)
Global Habitat Comments: Habitat includes large rivers, lakes, and brackish water; species is represented by landlocked and anadromous forms (Page and Burr 2011). populations leave the sea or estuary in spring and summer, ascend freshwater rivers to spawn, return to sea after spawning. Summer feeding habitat includes nearshore waters of the Beaufort Sea. Overwintering occurs in refugia in the deltas of the Mackenzie and Colville rivers. Young probably descend rivers to estuaries after hatching. Spawning occurs over gravel in fairly swift water; eggs are broadcast and abandoned.
Food Habits: Invertivore: Adult, Immature
Piscivore: Adult, Immature
Global Food Habits Comments: Eats mysids, copepods, amphipods, isopods, chironomids and other insects, and various small fishes such as young sculpins, smelt, and whitefish (Morrow 1980, Scott and Crossman 1973).
Global Phenology:
Provincial Phenology:
(1st half of month/
2nd half of month)
Colonial Breeder: N
Length(cm)/width(cm)/Weight(g): 64/ /
Elevation (m) (min / max): Global: 
Provincial: 
   
 
Distribution
Endemic: N
Global Range Comment: Anadromous populations occur in Arctic coastal waters and in estuaries and rivers draining into Arctic Ocean in Russia, Siberia, Alaska, and Canada. North America: Arctic basin from Murchison River, Northwest Territories, to Point Barrow, Alaska; ascends Mackenzie River to northern British Columbia (Page and Burr 2011). Spawning of Canadian and Alaskan populations is known to occur only in the Mackenzie River system (Morales et al. 1993). Landlocked populations occur in Lake Baikal and some Irish loughs (Lee et al. 1980).
 
Authors / Contributors
Global Information Author: Hammerson, G.
Last Updated: Nov 04, 2011
Provincial Information Author:
Last Updated:
   
References and Related Literature
Dillinger, R. E., Jr., T. P. Birt, and J. M. Green. 1992. Arctic cisco, COREGONUS AUTUMNALIS, distribution, migration and spawning in the Mackenzie River. Can. Field-Nat. 106:175-180.
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.
Lindsey, C. C., and C. S. Woods, eds. 1970. Biology of coregonid fishes. University of Manitoba Press, Winnepeg.
Morales, J. C., et al. 1993. Allozyme analysis of population structure in arctic cisco (Coregonus autumnalis) from the Beaufort Sea. Copeia 1993:863-867.
Morrow, J.E. 1980. The freshwater fishes of Alaska. Alaska Northwest Publishing Company, Anchorage, AK. 248 pp.
Nelson, J. S. 1984. Fishes of the world. Second edition. John Wiley & Sons, New York. xv + 523 pp.
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.
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.
Scott, W. B., and E. J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Bulletin 184. 966 pp.
 

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. 2011. Species Summary: Coregonus autumnalis. B.C. Minist. of Environment. Available: https://a100.gov.bc.ca/pub/eswp/ (accessed Jun 5, 2026).