North American conservation and fisheries authorities generally do not cite the Montana grayling as a subspecies but a distinct population segment of the Arctic grayling Thymallus arcticus.[9][11][12]
Description
The Montana Arctic grayling has a large, sail-like dorsal (back) fin and colorful body markings. The grayling comes in a wide array of colors. Their dorsal fins are typically fringed in red and dotted with large iridescent red, aqua, or purple spots and markings. These colorful markings are most dramatic on large grayling. Graylings' backs are usually dark. Their sides can be black, silver, gold, or blue. A band of gold forms a border between their sides and white bellies, which are in sharp contrast to their pelvic fins striated with iridescent orange, red, or pink. The sides of the body and head can be freckled with black spots. A black slash lies on each side of the lower jaw. The iris of their eyes is often gold in color. Only their adipose, caudal (tail), pectoral, and anal fins are without much color; typically dull and gray.
Range
Native and introduced range of Arctic grayling, Thymallus arcticus in U.S.
The historic native range of the fluvial form of Montana Arctic grayling encompasses the mainstem and tributaries of the upper Missouri river as far downstream as the Great Falls. This range was isolated from the northern populations of Arctic grayling in Canada in the post glaciation period from southern populations in Montana and Michigan. The Michigan grayling (T. a. tricolor) is now extinct.[14] During the 1804-1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition, the explorers did not encounter the Montana grayling until they reached the Beaverhead river, a secondary tributary of the Missouri. They described the grayling as "white trout".[14] In 1915, U.S. Bureau of Fisheries biologist, W.C. Kendall described the Montana grayling as "abundant" in the Madison, Firehole and Gibbon rivers in Yellowstone National Park.[15] These Missouri river headwaters represent the southern extent of the historic range in Wyoming.
The introduction of non-native brook, brown and rainbow trout into the upper Missouri river basin which began in the 1890s initiated a severe decline in fluvial grayling populations and range. In Howard Back's 1938 work The Waters of Yellowstone with Rod and Fly, he lamented that he was unable to find any grayling in the Madison river.[16] By the 1950s, the only grayling in the park were lacustrine forms introduced into Grebe lake.[17]
The native range of the adfluvial form was restricted to the Red Rock Lakes at the headwaters of the Beaverhead river and several small mountain lakes in the Big Hole River drainage.
The current range of fluvial Montana grayling is restricted to approximately 80 miles (130km) of the Big Hole river between Melrose, Wisdom and Jackson, Montana. The highest concentrations of grayling are in the Wisdom, Montana reach of the Big Hole river.[12] This represents approximately four percent of the grayling's original native range. In the early 20th century fishery agencies began introduction of Arctic grayling in suitable lake environments in the state. Most of these introductions were from fluvial stocks that originated in Montana, however some introductions came from Arctic grayling populations in Alaska or Canada.
Grebe Lake grayling
In 1921, U.S. Fish Commission personnel stocked Grebe Lake, at that time fishless, with a lacustrine form of the Montana arctic grayling. The original stocks came from Georgetown Lake near Anaconda, Montana. In an effort to re-establish grayling in western states, over 72 million grayling eggs were harvested from Grebe Lake between 1931 and 1956 and distributed to hatcheries. Most lake dwelling grayling in the west today can be genetically traced to the Grebe Lake stocks.[17][18] Grebe Lake was closed to fishing until 1944 because of the fish culture operations at the lake.
Life cycle
Fluvial Montana grayling spend their entire life cycle in riverine environments. They make seasonal migrations within the river system for spawning, feeding and overwintering. Migrations of up to 50 miles (80km) have been documented. Grayling inhabit cold, freestone streams having low to intermediate gradients. Adult fluvial grayling prefer pool habitats. In Montana, they spawn from late April to mid-May by depositing adhesive eggs over sand and gravel without excavating a redd. Eggs mature and hatch within a few weeks. Juvenile grayling are weak swimmers and prefer rearing habitat along stream margins that serve as velocity refuges, back-waters in side channels, or waters adjacent to beaver dams. Grayling in Montana typically reach maturity in their third or fourth year of life, and seldom live beyond six years. grayling, including juveniles are opportunistic feeders and routinely feed on larval, pupal and adult forms of aquatic insects (typically caddisflies, stoneflies, mayflies and aquatic diptera). They also consume adult forms of terrestrial insects (typically ants, beetles, grasshoppers and crickets) that fall into the water. Other prey include crayfish, shrimp, and other crustaceans. The aggressive feeding behavior of grayling is linked to their pattern of habitat selection whereby they often reside in deep pools with little large woody debris that allow for efficient and opportunistic feeding by this visual predator.
Adfluvial forms of Montana grayling feed and overwinter in lake environments and migrate up suitable tributary streams to spawn.
In March, 2006, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service established a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances between the USFWS and several non-Federal entities whereby non-Federal property owners who voluntarily agree to manage their lands or waters to remove threats to species at risk of becoming threatened or endangered receive assurances against additional regulatory requirements should that species be subsequently listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The goal of the agreement was to secure and enhance a population of fluvial Arctic grayling (Thymallus arcticus) within the upper reaches of their historic range in the Big Hole River drainage.[19] Parties to the agreement included "participating landowners" in the Big Hole river drainage, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and US Department of AgricultureNatural Resources Conservation Service.
Endangered Species Act Status Assessment
On August 19, 2014, the US Fish and Wildlife Service announced that after years of status review, restoration, and pending listing decisions, the Montana Arctic grayling did not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act due to effective conservation and partnerships. This marks a landmark decision and success story sparked in the early 1990s with the Arctic Grayling Recovery Program and Big Hole Watershed Committee and precipitated by the expansive Conservation Candidate Agreement with Assurances (CCAA). For more than 20 years ranchers, conservation groups, agencies and others worked together. Many individuals dedicated their careers or a large part of their time and energy to the benefit of the Big Hole River and its grayling. The Arctic grayling were the genesis of the Big Hole Watershed Committee in 1995 and central to its mission.
Reintroduction efforts
A Montana fluvial Arctic grayling brood program was developed to preserve the genetic integrity of Montana fluvial grayling and to provide a source of grayling for reintroduction efforts. Three fluvial brood stock populations are located at the Yellowstone River Trout Hatchery, Axolotl Chain of Lakes, and Green Hollow II Reservoir. Reintroduction efforts were initiated in 1997 in the upper Ruby River and expanded to the North and South forks of the Sun River in 1999, the lower Beaverhead River in 1999, and the Missouri River headwaters near Three Forks, Montana in 2000. Since 2002 reintroduction efforts have been focused on the upper Ruby River. In 2008 reintroductions occurred in the upper Ruby River and the North Fork of the Sun River with remote site incubators used to introduce grayling fry into the restoration reach.[11] An environmental DNA assay using 5 liters (1.3U.S.gal) of streamwater has been developed to identify grayling with high specificity against other native and non-native salmonids in Montana.[20]
↑ "Thymallus arcticus pop 2". NatureServe Explorer An online encyclopedia of life. 7.1. NatureServe. Retrieved 7 May 2023.
↑ Milner, J. W. 1874 Notes on the grayling of North America. United States Commission of Fish and Fisheries, Report of the Commissioner Pt 2 (for 1872-73): 729-742.
↑ "Montana Field Guide Arctic Grayling - Thymallus arcticus". Montana Natural Heritage Program and Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Retrieved 2014-03-13. Species of Concern are native taxa that are at-risk due to declining population trends, threats to their habitats, restricted distribution, and/or other factors. Designation as a Montana Species of Concern or Potential Species of Concern is based on the Montana Status Rank, and is not a statutory or regulatory classification. Rather, these designations provide information that helps resource managers make proactive decisions regarding species conservation and data collection priorities.
1 2 Behnke, Robert J.; Tomelleri, Joseph R. (illustrator) (2002). "Arctic Grayling Thymallus arcticus". Trout and Salmon of North America. The Free Press. pp.327–331. ISBN0-7432-2220-2.
↑ Schullery, Paul; Varley, John D. (1998). Yellowstone Fishes—Ecology, History, and Angling in the Park. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN0-8117-2777-7.
The Big Hole River is a tributary of the Jefferson River, approximately 153 miles (246 km) long, in Beaverhead County, in southwestern Montana, United States. It is the last habitat in the contiguous United States for native fluvial Arctic grayling and is a historically popular destination for fly fishing, especially for trout.
Thymallus or graylings is a genus of freshwater salmonid ray-finned fish and the only genus within the subfamily Thymallinae. Although all Thymallus species can be generically called graylings, without specific qualification the term "grayling" typically refers to the type species Thymallus thymallus, the European grayling.
Thymallus thymallus, the grayling or European grayling, is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. It is the only species of the genus Thymallus native to Europe, where it is widespread from the United Kingdom and France to the Ural Mountains in Russia, and Balkans on the south-east, but does not occur in the southern parts of the continent. It was introduced to Morocco in 1948, but it does not appear to have become established there.
The cutthroat trout(Oncorhynchus clarkii) is a fish species of the family Salmonidae native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean, Rocky Mountains, and Great Basin in North America. As a member of the genus Oncorhynchus, it is one of the Pacific trout, a group that includes the widely distributed rainbow trout. Cutthroat trout are popular gamefish, especially among anglers who enjoy fly fishing. The common name "cutthroat" refers to the distinctive red coloration on the underside of the lower jaw. The specific name clarkii was given to honor explorer William Clark, coleader of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
The Arctic grayling is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. T. arcticus is widespread throughout the Arctic and Pacific drainages in Canada, Alaska, and Siberia, as well as the upper Missouri River drainage in Montana. In the U.S. state of Arizona, an introduced population is found in the Lee Valley and other lakes in the White Mountains. They were also stocked at Toppings Lake by the Teton Range and in lakes in the high Uinta Mountains in Utah, as well as alpine lakes of the Boulder Mountains (Idaho) in central Idaho.
Thymallus yaluensis is a putative species of freshwater fish, a grayling in the salmon family Salmonidae. It is endemic to the upper Yalu River in Korea, on the Chinese border.
The Yellowstone cutthroat trout is a subspecies of the cutthroat trout. It is a freshwater fish in the salmon family. Native only to a few U.S. states, their original range was upstream of Shoshone Falls on the Snake River and tributaries in Wyoming, also across the Continental Divide in Yellowstone Lake and in the Yellowstone River as well as its tributaries downstream to the Tongue River in Montana. The species is also found in Idaho, Utah and Nevada.
The pallid sturgeon is an endangered species of ray-finned fish, endemic to the waters of the Missouri and lower Mississippi river basins of the United States. It may have even reached the St. Croix River before colonization.
The Manistee River, seldom referred to as the Big Manistee River, runs 190 miles (310 km) through the northwestern Lower Peninsula of Michigan; it now passes through the contemporary villages of Sharon, Smithville, and Mesick, entering Lake Michigan at Manistee. It is considered, like the nearby Au Sable River, to be one of the best trout fisheries east of the Rockies. The Manistee River is also being considered for restoration of Arctic grayling, which have been extirpated from the State of Michigan since 1936.
The westslope cutthroat trout, also known as the black-spotted trout, common cutthroat trout and red-throated trout is a subspecies of the cutthroat trout and is a freshwater fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. The cutthroat is the Montana state fish. This subspecies is a species of concern in its Montana and British Columbia ranges and is considered threatened in its native range in Alberta.
The Gibbon River flows east of the Continental Divide in Yellowstone National Park, in northwestern Wyoming, the Northwestern United States. Along with the Firehole River, it is a major tributary of the Madison River, which itself is a tributary of the Missouri River.
Angling in Yellowstone National Park is a major reason many visitors come to the park each year and since it was created in 1872, the park has drawn anglers from around the world to fish its waters. In 2006, over 50,000 park fishing permits were issued to visitors. The park contains hundreds of miles of accessible, high-quality trout rivers containing wild trout populations—over 200 creeks, streams and rivers are fishable. There are 45 fishable lakes and several large lakes are easily accessible to visitors. Additionally, the park's remote sections provide anglers ample opportunity to visit rivers, streams, creeks and lakes that receive little angling pressure. With the exception of one specially designated drainage, all the park's waters are restricted to artificial lures and fly fishing. The Madison, Firehole and a section of the Gibbon rivers are restricted to fly fishing only.
Montana is one of the eight Mountain States, located in the north of the region known as the Western United States. It borders North Dakota and South Dakota to the east. Wyoming is to the south, Idaho is to the west and southwest, and the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan are to the north, making it the only state to border three Canadian provinces.
Grebe Lake is a 156 acres (0.63 km2) backcountry lake in Yellowstone National Park most noted for its population of Arctic grayling. Grebe Lake comprises the headwaters of the Gibbon River. Grebe Lake is located approximately 3.1 miles (5.0 km) north of the Norris-Canyon section of the Grand Loop Road. The trail to the lake passes through mostly level Lodgepole Pine forest and open meadows. The lake was named by J.P. Iddings, a geologist with the Arnold Hague geologic surveys. There are four backcountry campsites located on the lake.
The Regional designations of Montana vary widely within the U.S state of Montana. The state is a large geographical area that is split by the Continental Divide, resulting in watersheds draining into the Pacific Ocean, Gulf of Mexico and Hudson's Bay. The state is approximately 545 miles (877 km) east to west along the Canada–United States border and 320 miles (510 km) north to south. The fourth largest state in land area, it has been divided up in official and unofficial ways into a variety of regions. Additionally, Montana is part of a number of larger federal government administrative regions.
Thymallus baicalensis, also known as the Baikal black grayling, is a Siberian freshwater fish species in the salmon family Salmonidae.
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