E-Fauna BC: Electronic Atlas of the Wildlife of British Columbia

This species has more than 40 gill rakers and a terminal mouth. When the mouth is closed, the tip of the lower jaw projects slightly beyond the tip of the upper jaw. The tips of the pelvic fins are dark in the BC population. For further information see McPhail (2008).

Although the cisco is widespread across the northern Great Plains, only one population is known from B.C. (Maxhamish Lake). This lake, and its fishes, has been studied and the cisco population appears to be healthy.

North America: widely distributed in Canada and northern USA in St. Lawrence-Great Lakes, Arctic, and upper Mississippi River basins from Quebec to Northwest Territories and Alberta and south to northern Ohio, Illinois and Minnesota. Rare in Great Lakes. Said to be conspecific with Coregonus autumnalis and Coregonus autumnalis pollan based on electrophoresis studies. Belongs to Coregonus artedi complex.