Char are closely related to salmon, although they are technically a member of the trout family. Like salmon, arctic char can live in fresh and salt water during different periods of their life cycle. Also like salmon, some char populations live only in fresh water and don't migrate in order to spawn (reproduce). Arctic char do not grow as large as most salmon, and while salmon die after spawning once, arctic char can live to reproduce multiple times.
Arctic char have circumpolar distribution (see map below). In the Northwest Territories they live along the coast near large rivers and around the many arctic islands off the coast of the mainland. Arctic char can also be found in Great Bear Lake.
Char living in saltwater usually are silver in color, while fish living in fresh water develop deep red coloring on their sides and stomachs. When char leave the salty ocean to migrate upstream for spawning, they turn the same color as the fish that live in fresh water year round.
Char mainly eat other small fish, crustaceans, and insects. They can live for more than twenty years!
