A taxonomic revision of ten whitefish species from the lakes Lucerne, Sarnen, Sempach and Zug, Switzerland, with descriptions of seven new species (Teleostei, Coregonidae)

Abstract

The taxonomy of the endemic whitefish of the lakes of the Reuss River system (Lucerne, Sarnen, Zug) and Lake Sempach, Switzerland, is reviewed and revised. Lake Lucerne harbours five species. Coregonus intermundia sp. nov. and C. suspensus sp. nov., are described. Coregonus nobilis Haack, 1882, C. suidteri Fatio, 1885, and C. zugensis Nüsslin, 1882, are redescribed. Genetic studies have shown that C. suidteri and C. zugensis are composed of several distinct species endemic to different lakes. The names C. suidteri and C. zugensis are restricted to the species of lakes Sempach and Zug, respectively. The whitefish populations previously referred to as C. suidteri and C. zugensis from Lake Lucerne are described as C. litoralis sp. nov. and C. muelleri sp. nov., respectively. Furthermore, the whitefish from Lake Zug that were previously referred to as C. suidteri are described as C. supersum sp. nov. A holotype is designated for C. supersum that was previously one of two syntypes of C. zugensis. The other syntype is retained for C. zugensis. Coregonus obliterus sp. nov. is described from Lake Zug, and C. obliterus and C. zugensis from Lake Zug are extinct. Finally, we describe C. sarnensis sp. nov. from lakes Sarnen and Alpnach. Coregonus suidteri from Lake Sempach shows strong signals of introgression from deliberately translocated non-native whitefish species, which questions if the extant population still carries a genetic legacy from the original species and thus may need to be considered extinct. Coregonus suspensus is genetically partially of allochthonous origin, closely related to the radiation of Lake Constance. It is therefore compared to all known and described species of Lake Constance: C. wartmanni Bloch, 1784, C. macrophthalmus Nüsslin, 1882, C. arenicolus Kottelat,1997, and C. gutturosus Gmelin, 1818.