The Char are a lake-dwelling salmonid fish of genus Salvelinus, native to the Alps, Scandinavia, Scotland and Northern European Russia. Sometimes its forms found in the lakes of Siberia and Far East are described as separate species. Char mainly live in lakes, an exception is that it may sometimes be found in rivers. Two forms of char occur in Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega: red (also known as ludoga char) and gray (or ridge char). The red char is a large fish, that weights from 5 to 7 kg, its coloring is darker (the back is dark green, sometimes shimmering with bluish tinge, it is lighter along the flanks, its belly and throat are orange), with plenty of white spots, paired fins are yellow, unpaired fins are gray. Front rays of pectoral, pelvic and anal fins and lower rays of caudal fin are milky white. Char prefers shallows. Gray char lives at the depth of about 70 to 150 m, its coloring is lighter, it is gray without orange spots, still the white color of rays on its fins is clearly visible. Its average weight normally doesn’t exceed 2 kg, rarely it reaches 4 or 5 kg. In deep water bodies the population of char divides into several forms with different diets: small forms feeding on plankton are often light-colored, bigger ones with darker coloring are predators.