Zander? Namaycush? Fario? What? Here’s a quick rundown of Swiss fish names and their American English equivalents.
Regenbogenforelle (Oncorhynchus mykiss) - Rainbow Trout
Bachforelle or Fario (Salmo trutta fario) – Brown Trout
Bachsaibling (Salvelinus fontinalis) – Brook Trout
Namaycush (Salvelinus namaycush) - Lake Trout
Seesaibling (Salvelinus alpinus) – Arctic Char
Egli (Perca fluviatilis) – European Perch, very similar to Yellow Perch
Hecht or Esox (Esox lucius) - Northern Pike
Schwarzbarsch or Forellenbarsch (Micropterus salmoides) - Largemouth Bass
Sonnenbarsch (Lepomis macrochirus) - Sunfish, Bluegill
Zander (Sander lucioperca) – Practically indistinguishable from a Walleye
Felchen (Coregoninae Coregonus) - a type of Whitefish
Trüsche (Lota lota) – Burbot
Aal (Anguilla anguilla) - European Eel
Karpfe (Cyprinus carpio) - Carp
Äsche (Thymallus thymallus) - European Grayling
There’s more fish that don’t really have an American equivalent, such as the Wels, a giant european catfish reaching hundreds of pounds (and yes, it is possible to catch them in Switzerland!) or the Alet, which is most likely some sort of chub, and you’ll see them in most rivers and catch them occasionally while fishing for trout. In some cases (like Carp) I’ve not listed all the relevant subspecies because I don’t fish for carp and don’t really know what the sportfisher relevant subspecies are.
Here is also a great downloadable image of Swiss fish species provided by the WWF.
