{{Short description|Extinct species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | name = Gravenche | image = Coregonushiemalis.jpg | status = EX | status_system = IUCN3.1 |status_ref=<ref name=iucnredlist>{{cite iucn|author=Freyhof, J.|year=2024|title=''Coregonus hiemalis''|article-number=e.T135671A137249060|doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2024-2.RLTS.T135671A137249060.en|access-date=26 April 2025}}</ref> | taxon = Coregonus hiemalis | authority = Jurine, 1825 | extinct = early 1900s }} The '''gravenche''' ('''''Coregonus hiemalis'''''), also known as the '''Lake Geneva whitefish''' or the '''little fera''', is a presumably extinct freshwater fish from Lake Geneva in Switzerland and France.
== Description == The gravenche was a species of freshwater whitefish (Coregoninae) that reached a length between {{convert|25|and|32 |cm|in}}.<ref name=MK/><ref name=plonge>Christian Trépey: [http://www.plongee-passion.ch/Faune/Fera.htm Corégone (Féra - Palée)] www.plongee-passion.ch {{in lang|fr}}</ref>
The status of the gravenche is disputed because there are no specimens in museums. While Emile Dottrens described it as subspecies of the common whitefish ''Coregonus lavaretus'' in 1958, other experts like Maurice Kottelat regarded it as a full species endemic to Lake Geneva.<ref name=MK>Maurice Kottelat: ''European Freshwater Fisches. An heuristic checklist of the freshwater fishes of Europe (exclusive of former USSR), with an introduction for non - systematists and comments on nomenclature and conservation''; Biologia: Section Zoology vol. 52/5, Slovak Academic Press, Bratislava 1997, {{ISBN|80-85665-87-5}}</ref><ref name="Kottelat1">Kottelat, M. & Freyhof, J. (2007). Handbook of European Freshwater Fishes. Cornol & Berlin: Kottelat & Freyhof.</ref>
== Biology == The gravenche is a benthopelagic freshwater fish that swam in the water column near the lake bottom, feeding upon zooplankton. Spawning occurred in mid-December.<ref name="Kottelat1"/>
== Extinction ==
Together with the likewise extinct true fera (''Coregonus fera''), the gravenche was one of the most important species for fisheries in Lake Geneva in the late 19th century. In 1890 these two fishes made up 68% of all fish caught in the lake.<ref name=plonge/> Overfishing and eutrophication drove the gravenche to near extinction and it was last seen in the early 1900s.<ref name=iucnredlist/><ref>{{FishBase|Coregonus|hiemalis|year=2016}} Note: this source states that an introduced population of the gravenche, used for stockings, would still exist in the French Lake Aiguebette, in contrast to the IUCN account; this may represent confounding of information on different species.</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == *[https://web.archive.org/web/20010830023041/http://www.calacademy.org/research/ichthyology/catalog/fishcatmain.asp Catalog of Fishes Corregonus hiemalis]
{{Whitefish}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q1543946}}
Category:Coregonus Category:Fish described in 1825 Category:Freshwater fish of Europe Category:Lake fish Category:Lake Geneva Category:Cold water fish Category:Extinct animals of Europe Category:Fish extinctions since 1500 Category:Species made extinct by human activities