Translation of Swiss fish names

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.