It was previously considered a subspecies of the Arctic grayling, Thymallus arcticus baicalensis, but currently one of several distinct Siberian and East Asian grayling species, the closest of which are Thymallys nikolskyi, T. svetovidovi, T. brevicephalus and T. brevirostris. The distinction of these taxa is supported by the phylogeny of their mitochondrial DNA lineages. T. baicalensis is also characterized by a distinct dorsal-fin colouration pattern.[1][2]
The Baikal grayling can grow up to a length 38 cm and 1.2 kg weight. It mainly moves along stony bottoms at shallow depths, feeding on caddisfly and stonefly larvae, amphipod crustaceans and fish eggs.[3]
References
^ abWeiss, S. J., D. V. Gonçalves, G. Secci-Petretto, G. K. Englmaier, A. Gomes-Dos-Santos, G. P. J. Denys, H. Persat, A. Antonov, C. Hahn, E. B. Taylor and E. Froufe (2021) Global systematic diversity, range distributions, conservation and taxonomic assessments of graylings (Teleostei: Salmonidae; Thymallus spp.). Organisms Diversity & Evolution: published online on 25 Nov. 2020.