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is present in North America in both the anadromous (seagoing) and the nonanadromous (freshwater resident) forms. It is distributed throughout the polar regions and is the most northerly distributed of char and its closely related cousin, the Dolly Varden (Salvelinus malma Walbaum). It was only in the 1980s that taxonomists established the relationship between these species in North America. This relationship, however, is still under consideration by some scientists.
There are some external characteristics which can be used to differentiate between Arctic char and Dolly Varden. Arctic char generally have a shorter head and snout, a trait particularly evident in spawning males. The tail of an Arctic char has a slightly deeper fork than that of a Dolly Varden, and the base of the Arctic char's tail is narrower. |
