 | | Description: | Trout is the common name given to a number of species of freshwater fishes belonging to the salmon family, Salmonidae.
Trout are usually found in cool, clear streams and lakes, and are distributed naturally throughout North America, northern Asia and Europe. Several species of trout were introduced to Australia and New Zealand by amateur fishing enthusiasts in the 19th century, contributing to the displacement of native freshwater fish to some extent.
Trout have no spines on the fins, and all of them have a small adipose (fatty) fin along the back, near the tail. There are many species, and even more populations that are isolated from each other and morphologically different.
The trout found in the eastern United States are a good example of this. The brook trout, the aurora trout and the (extinct) silver trout all have physical characteristics and colourations that distinguish them, yet genetic analysis shows that they are one species, Salvelinus fontinalis.
Lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush), like Brook trout, actually belongs to the char genus. It inhabits many of the larger lakes in North America and lives much longer than Rainbow trout which has an average maximum life span of 7 years. Lake trout can live many decades and can grow to more than 60 pounds (27 kg).
Most trout are restricted to fresh water, but many, like the steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) – which is the same species as the landlocked rainbow trout – spend their adult life in the ocean and then return to spawn in the streams in which they were hatched. This is called anadromous reproduction and is more often seen in salmon. Brook trout, Brown trout, Cutthroat trout, Bull trout, and Arctic char also have populations that run to salt water. |
|
Subscribe this RSS
