The Arctic grayling is a game fish that is mostly found in Alaska. It is a cold water fish that is unable to exist except in the northern latitudes of North America and Eurasia. The Arctic grayling is only fully mature after its sixth year, and they normally grow between 12 to 20 inches. The largest one every caught was 27 inches long. The average grayling can live nine years, but the oldest living grayling they know of lived for 11 years.

Grayling are elegantly formed and more graceful than trout. They have a large dorsal fin, their abdomen is bluish-white and the pectoral fins are olive brown with a bluish tint at the ends. Arctic grayling also have a small mouth and an elongated trout-like appearance.

Grayling spawn in fresh water streams in April or May and do not have nests for their eggs. Their eggs are much smaller than those of a trout and are adhesive which means they can stick to the river gravel. The female grayling, which can range in length from 11 to 13 inches long, will produce an average of 4,700 eggs per fish. These eggs will hatch within 23 days at a water temperature of 45 degrees.

These fish are heavily distributed in all clear water drainages north of the Brooks Range, along the western Arctic slope, throughout all interior Alaska drainages, and as far south as the drainages of Cook Inlet. They are found all over Alaska except on the Seward Peninsula, the Aleutian Chain, Nunivak Island and St. Lawrence Island.

The food that these fish eat consists largely of insects such as the larvae of stone-flies, diptera, caddis-f lies and terrestrial species like mosquitoes which accidentally fall in the water. They also feed on the newly hatched fry of other fish and even on shrews.

Rose Lynn Fitka