Scientific Name: Oncorhynchus clarkii pleruiticus
Habitat: drainages west of the continental divide (the Colorado River in WY, CO, UT, AZ, and NM)*, the Rocky Mountains
Diet: aquatic insects
Coloration: can vary from golden to gray to green on their backs and feature distinctive red, pink, or orange marks on the underside of the lower jaw**
Mating: occurs in shallow, gravely, freshwater streams from Feb. to May. The males court the females by nudging and quivering. The redd (prepared by the female) contains 1100-1700 eggs that are then fertilized. The baby trout hatch 6-7 weeks later.****
Fun Facts: The cutthroat trout was named in honor of William Clark (clarkii), who co-led the Lewis & Clark expedition (1804-06). A subspecies of the cutthroat trout, the greenback cutthroat trout, is the state fish of Colorado. It was declared the state fish in 1994.***
Sources:
*http://wildlife.state.co.us/Research/Aquatic/CutthroatTrout/CutthroatTrout.htm#ColoradoRiver
**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cutthroat_trout
***http://statesymbolsusa.org/Colorado/fish_greenback_cut.html
****http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/angling/game_fish/cutthroat.phtml
I know it's not a rainbow trout, but this photo shows that the river holds a rainbow anyway.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine growing that big simply by eating insects? It's a pretty fish, but ewww. ;)
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