MARINE LIFE
Vertebrates
Fish
There were many forms of fish living in the Champlain Sea, many of which can still be found today. The marine environment in which they lived is comparable to that of the southern coast of Labrador. For example, the capelin (Mallotus villosus (Mueller)), a fish that inhabits cold saline conditions, can today be found in seas of the North Atlantic, North Pacific and Arctic oceans.
Shown above, are fossils of capelin found in Champlain Sea sediments.
Below is an image of the present-day capelin.
Other fish species of the Champlain Sea include:
The lake cisco (Coregonus artedii Le Sueur)
The lake charr (Salvelinus namaycush (Walbaum))
The rainbow smelt (Osmerus mordax (Mitchell))
The longnose sucker (Catostomus catostomus (Forster))
The Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua Linnaeus)
The Atlantic tomcod (Microgadus tomcod (Walbaum))
The spoonhead sculpin (Cottus ricei (Nelson))
The deepwater sculpin (Myxocephalus thompsoni (Girard))
The lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus Linnaeus),
The threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus)
