Salvelinus leucomaenis, the whitespotted char, is an East Asian trout in the genus Salvelinus, called iwana in Japanese and kundzha (кунджа) in Russian. Both landlocked and ocean-run forms occur. The landlocked form typically grows up to 35cm (14inches), and prefers low-temperature streams. The seagoing fish typically grows to 70cm (30inches) long. The largest reported specimen was 120cm (50inches) long and the oldest was nine years old.[1]
Iwana is widely fished in Japan. Apart from Hokkaido in Japan, the species is found in northeast Korea and in Russia in Sakhalin, Kuril Islands and Kamchatka.[2]
The kirikuchi char (Salvelinus leucomaenis japonicus or Salvelinus japonicus) is usually considered a subspecies of S. leucomaenis. Two other subspecies are also listed, S. l. imbrius and S. l. pluvius.[3]