Omul
species of fish
The omul, Coregonus migratorius, also known as Baikal omul (Russian: байкальский омуль), is a whitefish species of the salmon family endemic to Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia. It is considered a delicacy and is the object of one of the largest commercial fisheries on Lake Baikal.
The omul originated from Arctic whitefish that entered Lake Baikal via river systems roughly 20,000 years ago during the last glaciation. Adaptation to local conditions led to several ecological and morphological forms. Three main groups are recognized: the Pelagic omul, coastal omul, and benthic deepwater omul. The pelagic omul inhabits open water, spawns mainly in the Selenga River, and undertakes the longest migrations. The Coastal-pelagic Omul are common in North Baikal, feeding in nearshore waters and ascending to surface layers at night. The Benthic-deepwater Omul are associated with small-river populations and found in deeper slope habitats.
Taxonomy
The omul has traditionally been regarded as a subspecies of the Arctic cisco Coregonus autumnalis. However, recent genetic studies have shown it actually belongs to the circumpolar Coregonus lavaretus-clupeaformis complex of lake whitefishes, which also has other members in Lake Baikal, and it is now considered its own species within Coregonus.
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The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q82572. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference.
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This entry incorporates text from “Omul” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.