Aurora trout

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Aurora trout
Scientific classification Red Pencil Icon.png
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Salmoniformes
Family: Salmonidae
Genus: Salvelinus
Species:
Subspecies:
S. f. timagamiensis
Trinomial name
Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis
Henn & Rinckenbach, 1925

The aurora trout, Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis, is a variant or subspecies of the brook trout native to two lakes in the Temagami District of Ontario, Canada. The existence of the fish was brought to the attention of the angling world by four American anglers who were taken by Archie King of Latchford, Ontario, into Ontario's Lady Evelyn River system in 1923. Recognizing the fish as different or unique, the anglers took a specimen back to the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh, in the United States, where Dr. Arthur W. Henn was asked to identify the fish. He wrote about the fish in 1925 wherein he and Rinckenbach identified it as a distinct species, Salvelinus timagamiensis, but since a seminal re-examination of the material by Sale in 1967, taxonomists now agree the fish is, in a fact, at most a subspecies of the brook trout, named Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis. Genetic data has not yet supported its taxonomic distinction. [1]

The aurora trout is distinguished from the brook trout by its unique coloration. Aurora trout are generally without spots, the colouration grading from a magenta hue on the back to a bright, nearly fluorescent orange along the belly, especially in mature males. The life history of the fish is essentially identical to that of the brook trout. Adults average about 0.5 to 1.5 kg, although individuals up to 4 kg are known.

The aurora trout occupied a very restricted range, probably occurring in only two lakes, Whitepine and Whirligig, and their inflowing streams. The subspecies was extirpated from the original lakes by the ravages of acid rain in the late 1950s, but was saved from extinction by Paul Graf, a hatchery manager at the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. He had brought a brood stock of the fish into the hatchery at Hill's Lake near Charlton, Ontario. He sometimes feared the fish might have been taking up valuable space in the hatchery and, on several occasions, thought about getting rid of them, until they were found to have been extirpated from the wild. [ citation needed ]

Naturalised populations of aurora trout have been introduced into about a dozen lakes in northeastern Ontario as refugia. In the late 1980s, the original lakes were treated with lime to raise the pH to circumneutral conditions, and aurora trout were reintroduced. Natural reproduction of aurora trout has been documented in the original lakes since the reintroduction, but the pH in the lakes has since begun to decline again, presumably because of reservoirs of acidic particulate depositions in the watershed.[ citation needed ]

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Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera Oncorhynchus, Salmo and Salvelinus, all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word trout is also used as part of the name of some non-salmonid fish such as Cynoscion nebulosus, the spotted seatrout or speckled trout.

Lake trout Species of fish

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Brown trout Species of fish

The brown trout is a European species of salmonid fish that has been widely introduced into suitable environments globally. It includes purely freshwater populations, referred to as the riverine ecotype, Salmo trutta morpha fario, a lacustrine ecotype, S. trutta morpha lacustris, also called the lake trout, and anadromous forms known as the sea trout, S. trutta morpha trutta. The latter migrates to the oceans for much of its life and returns to fresh water only to spawn. Sea trout in Ireland and Britain have many regional names: sewin in Wales, finnock in Scotland, peal in the West Country, mort in North West England, and white trout in Ireland.

Bull trout Species of fish

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Rainbow trout Fresh-water species of fish

The rainbow trout is a trout and species of salmonid native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. The steelhead is an anadromous (sea-run) form of the coastal rainbow trout(O. m. irideus) or Columbia River redband trout (O. m. gairdneri) that usually returns to fresh water to spawn after living two to three years in the ocean. Freshwater forms that have been introduced into the Great Lakes and migrate into tributaries to spawn are also called steelhead.

Brook trout Species of fish

The brook trout is a species of freshwater fish in the char genus Salvelinus of the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere in North America, as well as to Iceland, Europe, and Asia. In parts of its range, it is also known as the eastern brook trout, speckled trout, brook charr, squaretail, or mud trout, among others. A potamodromous population in Lake Superior, as well as an anadromous population in Maine, is known as coaster trout or, simply, as coasters. The brook trout is the state fish of nine U.S. states: Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia, and the Provincial Fish of Nova Scotia in Canada.

Cutthroat trout Species of fish

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.

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Sea trout Form of brown trout

Sea trout is the common name usually applied to anadromous forms of brown trout, and is often referred to as Salmo trutta morpha trutta. Other names for anadromous brown trout are sewin (Wales), peel or peal, mort, finnock (Scotland), white trout (Ireland) and salmon trout (culinary). The term sea trout is also used to describe other anadromous salmonids—coho salmon, brook trout, Arctic char, cutthroat trout and Dolly Varden. Even some non-salmonid species are also commonly known as sea trout—Northern pikeminnow and members of the weakfish family (Cynoscion).

Dolly Varden trout Species of fish

The Dolly Varden trout is a species of salmonid native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. It is in the genus Salvelinus of true chars, which includes 51 recognized species, the most prominent being the brook, lake and bull trout, as well as Arctic char. Although many populations are semi-anadromous, fluvial and lacustrine populations occur throughout its range. It is considered by taxonomists as part of the Salvelinus alpinus or Arctic char complex, as many populations of bull trout, Dolly Varden trout and Arctic char overlap.

<i>Salvelinus</i> Genus of fishes

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Allegheny National Fish Hatchery

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References

  1. Recovery Strategy for the Aurora trout (Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis) in Canada Archived 2012-03-04 at the Wayback Machine Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, July 2006.