Animal Diversity Web

Ge­o­graphic Range

Cis­coes (Core­gonus artedi) are con­fined to the Nearc­tic re­gion. These fish are dis­trib­uted through­out Canada and the north­ern United States. Lo­cal­i­ties in­clude the St. Lawrence Sea­way and the Great Lakes. In a north-south di­rec­tion, cis­coes range from the upper Mis­sis­sippi drainage in the United States to the North­west Ter­ri­to­ries and Al­berta in Canada. Cis­coes occur through­out the Great Lakes. In Michi­gan, most in­land lake pop­u­la­tions occur in the south­ern por­tion of the state, from Oak­land County, south to Cass County. Lake Su­pe­rior is the only lake where cis­coes are abun­dant; low pop­u­la­tions are char­ac­ter­is­tic of lakes Erie, Michi­gan, On­tario, and Huron. There are many Core­gonus species, and of all of them, cis­coes occur most often in shal­low wa­ters and shoals. In Wis­con­sin, pop­u­la­tions tend to be con­cen­trated in north­ern wa­ters. Spe­cific Wis­con­sin lo­cal­i­ties in­clude the Mis­sis­sippi River, Lake Michi­gan, and Lake Su­pe­rior drainage basins. Cis­coes are com­mon in Wis­con­sin’s north­ern in­land lakes but are rare in Madi­son-area lakes. ("Dis­tri­b­u­tion and abun­dance of the lake her­ring (Core­gonus artedi) in Michi­gan", 1995; "Lake Her­ring, Core­gonus artedi", 2014; Becker, 1983; Luna, 2014; Todd and Smith, 2011)

• Biogeographic Regions
• nearctic
  • native

Habi­tat

Cis­coes occur in pelagic, cold-wa­ter Great Lakes and in­land lake en­vi­ron­ments. Dur­ing the win­ter months, they move into shal­low coastal wa­ters to spawn, but then re­turn to deeper wa­ters in the spring. Cis­coes are rarely found in wa­ters above 17 to 18ºC. They can live in lakes with sur­face areas rang­ing from 20 to 19,000 acres, but are mostly found in lakes with an av­er­age sur­face area of 100 acres and depths of at least 10 m. Cisco-rich lakes tend to be olig­otrophic. ("Dis­tri­b­u­tion and abun­dance of the lake her­ring (Core­gonus artedi) in Michi­gan", 1995; "Lake Her­ring, Core­gonus artedi", 2014; Becker, 1983; Wells, 1968)

• Habitat Regions
• freshwater

• Aquatic Biomes
• pelagic
• lakes and ponds

• Range depth

  27 to 46 m

  88.58 to 150.92 ft

Phys­i­cal De­scrip­tion

Cis­coes have an av­er­age length of 267 mm; they are elon­gated, nearly round in cross sec­tion. They are sil­very in color and are usu­ally rec­og­nized by their 44 to 52 gill rak­ers. Their dor­sal fins have around 9 to 11 rays and their scales are mod­er­ately sized. The lower jaw is ei­ther shorter than, or the same length as the upper jaw, and two flaps exist be­tween the nos­trils. Iden­ti­fy­ing cis­coes can be dif­fi­cult due to the sev­eral mor­pho­log­i­cally sim­i­lar species within the Core­gonus genus; while ge­net­i­cally dis­tinct, the six cur­rently rec­og­nized Core­gonus species ex­hibit fewer dif­fer­ences from one an­other than is typ­i­cally re­quired to dis­tin­guish sep­a­rate taxa. ("Dis­tri­b­u­tion and abun­dance of the lake her­ring (Core­gonus artedi) in Michi­gan", 1995; "Lake Her­ring, Core­gonus artedi", 2014; Bai­ley, et al., 2004; Becker, 1983; Koelz, 1929)

• Other Physical Features
• ectothermic
• bilateral symmetry

• Range mass

  3.4 (high) kg

  7.49 (high) lb

• Range length

  17 to 40 cm

  6.69 to 15.75 in

De­vel­op­ment

Since cis­coes spawn in the win­ter, their eggs de­velop slowly and typ­i­cally hatch in the spring as sur­face ice be­gins to thaw. Cisco fry usu­ally live in shal­low bays until they are around one month old, and usu­ally ma­ture within 1 to 4 years. ("Lake Her­ring, Core­gonus artedi", 2014; Becker, 1983)

Re­pro­duc­tion

Cis­coes ag­gre­gate for spawn­ing as tem­per­a­tures de­crease in the fall. Males typ­i­cally ar­rive at the spawn­ing grounds be­fore fe­males and are also the first ones to leave. ("Lake Her­ring, Core­gonus artedi", 2014)

• Mating System
• polygynandrous (promiscuous)

Cis­coes usu­ally spawn in late No­vem­ber to mid-De­cem­ber in near-shore wa­ters that are around 5 to 6ºC. Spawn­ing rates tend to peak when tem­per­a­tures fall below 4ºC. Eggs are de­posited at night on top of rocky sub­strates. While spawn­ing, cis­coes can be seen jump­ing and splash­ing. (Becker, 1983)

• Key Reproductive Features
• seasonal breeding
• sexual

• Breeding interval

  Ciscoes breed once a year.

• Breeding season

  These fish breed in the winter, from late November to mid-December.

• Range time to hatching

  5 to 6 months

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (female)

  1 to 4 years

• Range age at sexual or reproductive maturity (male)

  1 to 4 years

After eggs are de­posited in near-shore en­vi­ron­ments, they are aban­doned by the par­ents. ("Lake Her­ring, Core­gonus artedi", 2014)

• Parental Investment
• no parental involvement

Lifes­pan/Longevity

Cis­coes have an av­er­age lifes­pan of 6 to 10 years, with a max­i­mum age of 13 years. In­ter­est­ingly, their scales may be used to es­ti­mate their age. ("Lake Her­ring, Core­gonus artedi", 2014; Scott and Cross­man, 1998)

• Range lifespan
  Status: wild

  13 (high) years

• Typical lifespan
  Status: wild

  6 to 10 years

Be­hav­ior

Cis­coes move con­stantly. These fish form schools dur­ing the day, but dis­perse dur­ing the night. Schools, which are usu­ally around 1 to 2.3 me­ters tall, tend to form well below the light thresh­old at which their pri­mary preda­tors, lake trout are able to de­tect prey. The stom­achs of cis­coes are usu­ally fuller dur­ing the day, like­wise, stom­ach full­ness in­creases with school size, sug­gest­ing school­ing aids in preda­tor pro­tec­tion as well as for­ag­ing. ("Lake Her­ring, Core­gonus artedi", 2014; Milne, et al., 2005)

• Key Behaviors
• natatorial
• diurnal
• nocturnal
• motile
• solitary
• social

Home Range

Cis­coes usu­ally live their en­tire life within a few kilo­me­ters of where they hatched, though in some cases, in­di­vid­u­als may travel about 81 km from where they hatched. (Becker, 1983; Smith and Van Oosten, 1940)

Com­mu­ni­ca­tion and Per­cep­tion

Very lit­tle is cur­rently known about the meth­ods of com­mu­ni­ca­tion used among cis­coes. How­ever, their so­cial na­ture and abil­ity to move as a school im­plies the use of in­traspe­cific com­mu­ni­ca­tion.

• Perception Channels
• tactile
• chemical

Food Habits

When the wa­ters they in­habit freeze over, cis­coes can per­form ver­ti­cal di­ur­nal move­ments to feed under the ice at night. As plank­ti­vores, they typ­i­cally feed on algae and small crus­taceans (Clado­cera, Cope­poda, and Mysis); in­fre­quently they feed on mol­lusks, in­sect lar­vae, and small fish. Young in­di­vid­u­als typ­i­cally need light in order to find their prey. Fry feed on algae and zoo­plank­ton, while adults tend to feed on crus­taceans and aquatic in­sects. ("Lake Her­ring, Core­gonus artedi", 2014)

• Primary Diet
• carnivore
  • piscivore
  • eats eggs
  • insectivore
  • eats non-insect arthropods
• herbivore
  • algivore
• planktivore

• Animal Foods
• eggs
• insects
• mollusks
• echinoderms
• other marine invertebrates
• zooplankton

• Plant Foods
• algae

Pre­da­tion

School­ing is the pri­mary means by which cis­coes avoid preda­tors like lake trout. Other preda­tors in­clude north­ern pike, yel­low perch, wall­eye, sea lam­prey, rain­bow trout, and bur­bot. ("Lake Her­ring, Core­gonus artedi", 2014; An­der­son and Smith, 1971)

• Known Predators

  • lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush)
  • northern pike (Esox lucius)
  • yellow perch (Perca flavescens)
  • walleye (Sander vitreus)
  • sea lamprey (Petromyzon marinus)
  • rainbow trout (Oncorynchus mykiss)
  • burbot (Lota lota)

Ecosys­tem Roles

As a main source of prey for lake trout, yel­low perch, wall­eye, and north­ern pike, cis­coes play a key role in the Great Lakes ecosys­tem. How­ever, be­tween 1930 and 1960, over-ex­ploita­tion, pol­lu­tion, and com­pe­ti­tion with non-na­tive species like rain­bow smelt dec­i­mated their pop­u­la­tions. As the num­ber of rain­bow smelt climb in in­land lakes, the pop­u­la­tion of cis­coes plum­met and dis­ap­pear com­pletely in areas where rain­bow smelt eat their fry and fin­ger­lings. Great Lake pop­u­la­tions, along with na­tive preda­tor-prey re­la­tion­ships have yet to re­bound. Around 1963, lake trout were nearly wiped out of the area once cisco pop­u­la­tions began their most sig­nif­i­cant col­lapse. From 1943 to 1963, lake trout pop­u­la­tions de­clined from around four mil­lion pounds to close to zero, while pop­u­la­tions of cis­coes de­clined from 19 mil­lion pounds in 1943 to around six mil­lion pounds in 1963. ("Lake Her­ring", 2014; "Lake Her­ring, Core­gonus artedi", 2014; An­der­son and Smith, 1971; Gun­der­son, 2004)

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Pos­i­tive

His­tor­i­cally, cis­coes are one of the most com­mer­cially im­por­tant fish in the Great Lakes; in the 1940s, cisco fish­eries were pro­duc­ing around 19 mil­lion pounds an­nu­ally. (Gun­der­son, 2004)

• Positive Impacts
• food

Eco­nomic Im­por­tance for Hu­mans: Neg­a­tive

There are no known neg­a­tive im­pacts of cis­coes on hu­mans.

Con­ser­va­tion Sta­tus

Se­vere over-ex­ploita­tion of cis­coes from 1930 to 1960, as well as com­pe­ti­tion with in­va­sive rain­bow trout, re­sulted in dra­matic pop­u­la­tion de­clines. Other po­ten­tial com­peti­tors in­clude alewives and bloaters. How­ever, rain­bow trout pop­u­la­tions col­lapsed in the 1970s, and since that time, cis­coes have been slowly re­bound­ing. The great­est cur­rent threat to cisco pop­u­la­tions in the Great Lakes is eu­troph­i­ca­tion. This causes oxy­gen de­ple­tion in lower lake strata, forc­ing cis­coes into shal­lower, warmer parts of the water col­umn. These higher tem­per­a­tures, par­tic­u­larly dur­ing the sum­mer months, cause large num­bers of the fish to die. Be­cause cis­coes are so sen­si­tive to tem­per­a­ture fluc­tu­a­tions, their re­sponses to eu­troph­i­ca­tion are thought to be a good in­di­ca­tor of the ad­verse ef­fects of global warm­ing. In the 1950s, cisco eggs were in­ca­pable of hatch­ing in the lower Green Bay due to the in­cred­i­bly low dis­solved oxy­gen lev­els (2 mg/L). Cur­rently, cisco egg sur­vival in the Green Bay is around 65%, with a dis­solved oxy­gen level of 11.2 mg/L. These lev­els are well above the dis­solved oxy­gen needed for cisco eggs to hatch. The St. Mary's River, which runs from On­tario to Michi­gan, cur­rently ex­hibits dis­solved oxy­gen lev­els of 12.7 mg/L, with an egg sur­vival rate of 64%. Re­cently, the Michi­gan De­part­ment of Nat­ural Re­sources has im­ple­mented a cisco re­cov­ery plan for Lake Huron. Since over­fish­ing is no longer a prob­lem, it is thought that com­pe­ti­tion with rain­bow smelt and alewives has kept cisco pop­u­la­tions low. One of the mo­ti­va­tions for restor­ing cisco pop­u­la­tions is to con­trol alewife pop­u­la­tions. Alewives pre­date on the fry of fish like the eco­nom­i­cally im­por­tant lake trout, and it is thought that more abun­dant cisco pop­u­la­tions will help com­bat this. (Luna, 2014; "Strat­egy and Op­tions for Pro­mot­ing the Re­ha­bil­i­ta­tion of Cisco in Lake Huron", 2007; An­der­son and Smith, 1971; Becker, 1983; Maden­jian, et al., 2011)

• IUCN Red List

  Lower Risk - Least Concern

• US Federal List

  No special status

• CITES

  No special status

• State of Michigan List

  Endangered

Con­trib­u­tors

Lucas Joel (au­thor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor, Jeff Scha­ef­fer (ed­i­tor), Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan-Ann Arbor, Leila Si­cil­iano Mar­tina (ed­i­tor), An­i­mal Di­ver­sity Web Staff.

Ref­er­ences

Michi­gan De­part­ment of Nat­ural Re­sources. Dis­tri­b­u­tion and abun­dance of the lake her­ring (Core­gonus artedi) in Michi­gan. 2014. Ann Arbor, MI: Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan Li­brary. 1995.

2014. "Lake Her­ring, Core­gonus artedi" (On-line). Michi­gan De­part­ment of Nat­ural Re­sources. Ac­cessed Oc­to­ber 28, 2013 at http://​www.​michigan.​gov/​dnr/​0,4570,7-153-10364_18958-45668--,00.​html.

2014. "Lake Her­ring" (On-line). Mon­terey Bay Aquar­ium Seafood Watch. Ac­cessed Oc­to­ber 28, 2013 at http://​www.​montereybayaquarium.​org/​cr/​seafoodwatch/​web/​sfw_​factsheet.​aspx?​fid=235.

Lake Huron Tech­ni­cal Com­mit­tee. Strat­egy and Op­tions for Pro­mot­ing the Re­ha­bil­i­ta­tion of Cisco in Lake Huron. 1. Ann Arbor, MI: Great Lakes Fish­ery Com­mis­sion. 2007.

An­der­son, E., L. Smith. 1971. Fac­tors af­fect­ing abun­dance of lake her­ring (Core­gonus artedi) in west­ern Lake Su­pe­rior. Trans­ac­tions of the Amer­i­can Fish­eries So­ci­ety, 100/4: 691-707.

Bai­ley, R., W. Latta, G. Smith. 2004. An atlas of Michi­gan fishes with keys and il­lus­tra­tions for their iden­ti­fi­ca­tion. Mis­cel­la­neous pub­li­ca­tions / Uni­ver­sity of Michi­gan, Mu­seum of Zo­ol­ogy, 192: 215.

Becker, G. 1983. Fishes of Wis­con­sin. Madi­son, WI: Uni­ver­sity of Wis­con­sin Press.

Gun­der­son, J. 2004. "Cisco: Also Known as Lake Her­ring" (On-line). Sea­Grant. Ac­cessed Oc­to­ber 28, 2013 at http://​www.​seagrant.​umn.​edu/​downloads/​factsheet_​cisco.​pdf.

Koelz, W. 1929. Core­go­nid fishes of the Great Lakes. US Bu­reau of Fish­eries, Part II: 297-643.

Luna, S. 2014. "Core­gonus artedi Lesueur, 1818" (On-line). Fish­Base. Ac­cessed Oc­to­ber 28, 2013 at http://​www.​fishbase.​org/​Summary/​SpeciesSummary.​php?​ID=235&​genusname=Coregonus&​speciesname=artedi&​AT=Coregonus+artedi&​lang=English.

Maden­jian, C., E. Ruther­ford, M. Blouin, B. Seder­berg, J. El­liott. 2011. Spawn­ing Habi­tat Un­suit­abil­ity: An Im­ped­i­ment to Cisco Re­ha­bil­i­ta­tion in Lake Michi­gan. North Amer­i­can Jour­nal of Fish­eries Man­age­ment, 31: 905-913.

Milne, S., B. Shuter, W. Sprules. 2005. The school­ing and for­ag­ing ecol­ogy of lake her­ring (Core­gonus artedi) in Lake Ope­ongo, On­tario, Canada. Cana­dian Jour­nal of Fish­eries and Aquatic Sci­ences, 62: 1210-1218.

Scott, W., E. Cross­man. 1998. Fresh­wa­ter fishes of Canada. Fish­eries Re­search Board of Canada, Ot­tawa, 184: 966.

Smith, O., J. Van Oosten. 1940. Tag­ging ex­per­i­ments with lake trout, white­fish, and other species of fish from Lake Michi­gan. Trans­ac­tions of the Amer­i­can Fish­eries So­ci­ety, 69: 63-84.

Todd, T., G. Smith. 2011. En­vi­ron­men­tal and Ge­netic Con­tri­bu­tions to Mor­pho­log­i­cal Dif­fer­en­ti­a­tion in Cis­coes (Core­go­ni­nae) of the Great Lakes. Cana­dian Jour­nal of Fish­eries and Aquatic Sci­ences, 39: 261-267.

Wells, L. 1968. Sea­sonal depth dis­tri­b­u­tion of fish in south­east­ern Lake Michi­gan. US Fish and Wildlife Ser­vice Fish­ery Bul­letin, 67/1: 1-15.