Freshwater whitefishes [coregonins] (genus Coregonus, subfamily Coregoninae, family Salmonidae), usually referred to as Reinanken, Riedling or Körpfling in Austria, have a significant economic value and are intensively fished. However, intensive fishing, environmental change, and multiple long-term introductions of alien coregonins have considerably deteriorated the genetic and phenotypic integrity of several native species.  At the same time, coregonins represent one of the most taxonomically complex groups among freshwater fishes in Europe; opinions on its phylogeny, taxonomic content, and infra- and intraspecific structure are diametrically opposite. It is still a question to know how many native species (under what scientific names) and ecological varieties still exist and what are the features to properly define them. Some may be extinc, some on the edge of extinction. A revision of the knowledge on the historical vs. modern diversity of Coregonus in Austria (in the context of all pre-Alpine lakes) is urgently needed!