Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout

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Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout
Snakecutt.jpg
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Salmoniformes
Family: Salmonidae
Genus: Oncorhynchus
Species:
Subspecies:
O. c. behnkei
Trinomial name
Oncorhynchus clarkii behnkei
Montgomery, 1995

The Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat trout is a form of the cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii) that is considered either as a separate subspecies O. c. behnkei, or as a variety of the Yellowstone cutthroat trout (O. c. bouvieri). [1] [2] The fish takes its common name from its original habitat, the Snake River of southern Idaho and western Wyoming, and from its unusual pattern of hundreds of small spots that cover most of its body, differing from the larger-spotted Yellowstone cutthroat pattern. Genetically, it cannot be distinguished from the Yellowstone cutthroat trout, [3] [1] and before the construction of dams, no physical barriers were between the ranges of the two subspecies in the Snake River drainage. [3]

Contents

The subspecies was scientifically named in 1995 in a popular book by columnist M. R. Montgomery, to honor the fisheries research of Dr. Robert J. Behnke, who had presented its (unnamed) description in 1992. [4] [3]

Hybrids

While fine-spotted x rainbow trout crosses are observed in the South Fork of the Snake River in Idaho, they are infrequently encountered and appear to be hatchery hybrids. Conversely, Yellowstone x rainbow crosses are common; the "cutbows" of Yellowstone Park in the Lamar River drainage are natural hybrids.

Diet

In addition to their natural aversion to cross-breeding with other trout, fine-spotted cutthroats are unusual in their pursuit of a vertebrate diet, mainly other fish, but occasionally including small mammals. While the fine-spotted cutthroats can be very selective feeders during a major hatch of aquatic invertebrates, they are not as focused as rainbow or brown trout, and can be diverted with small terrestrial imitations. In addition, when no obvious hatch occurs, anglers can be very successful with large streamer flies that imitate small fish.

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert J. Behnke</span>

Dr. Robert J. Behnke was an American fisheries biologist and conservationist who was recognized as a world authority on the classification of salmonid fishes. He was popularly known as "Dr. Trout" or "The Trout Doctor". His seminal work, Trout and Salmon of North America, was published in 2002. He wrote a regular column for Trout Magazine, the quarterly publication of Trout Unlimited. He was a fisheries biologist with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Colorado Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit and a professor at Colorado State University in the 1970s. He became a Professor Emeritus at the Department of Fishery and Wildlife Biology at Colorado State University.

References

  1. 1 2 "Oncorhynchus clarkii behnkei". U.S. Geological Survey NAS - Nonindigenous Aquatic Species. Retrieved 2013-11-10.
  2. "Oncorhynchus clarki behnkei". Integrated Taxonomic Information System . Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  3. 1 2 3 Behnke R (2002) Trout and Salmon of North America p. 175. The Free Press, New York, NY. (Simon & Schuster, electronic version 2010)
  4. "Robert "Bob" Behnke - "The Trout Doctor"". Colorado State University. October 17, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-08.

Further reading