This is one of the smallest whitefish inhabiting lakes of the Baltic watershed, in Karelia and in the area of Murmansk, in the Volga upstream lakes, and westward till Denmark. The distribution of the species in the Pskov-PeipsiLake is uneven. Its main habitat is the PeipsiLake, where it can be commonly found and formerly was one of the main commercial fish. Since 1991, the commercial fishing of cisco is forbidden. Species inhabiting the Tyoploye and PskovLakes are far between. Its length does not exceed 30-40 cm, and the standing weight record is about 1200 gr – though usually it is much lower. Certain morphs mature having barely reached 8 cm in length and 4-4.5 gr of weight. This is a slim and agile fish with a green back and silver sides and belly. In certain lakes, ciscos are golden pink. As its mouth is upward, it mainly feeds on plankton. Together with smelt and bleak, the cisco consumes a considerable share of the lacustrine plankton.
The species is red-listed in Russia and internationally.
/ * The photos at lake.peipsi.org are cross-posted from commons.wikimedia.org and are used for familiarization purposes only. No commercial use of the photos is allowed. For more information about to use the photos see the originals on commons.wikimedia.org. /
