Species: Oncorhynchus clarkii
Cutthroat Trout
Species
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Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
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This technical report produced for the Puget Sound Nearshore Partnership on Valued Ecosystem Components (VEC) summarizes existing knowledge of salmon use of nearshore habitats in order to help protect and restore these habitats.
Download a November 2012 assessment of monitoring of viable salmonid population (VSP) criteria.
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Actinopterygii
Order
Salmoniformes
Family
Salmonidae
Genus
Oncorhynchus
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
truite fardée
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Fishes - Bony Fishes - Salmon and Trouts
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Actinopterygii - Salmoniformes - Salmonidae - Oncorhynchus - , thus making that name available.
Ecology and Life History
Habitat Type Description
Freshwater
Migration
true - false - true - In the Blackfoot River drainage, Montana, radio-tagged westslope cutthroat trout moved 3-72 km (mean 31 km) to access spawning tributaries (Schmetterling 2001).
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Opportunistic. Inland cutthroats feed primarily on insects (aquatic and terrestrial); often feeds in and especially downstream from riffle areas; some large individuals feed mostly on fishes; also eats zooplankton and crustaceans. Coastal cutthroats feed in salt water on crustaceans and fishes; in streams, they eat aquatic insects and crustaceans, also frogs, earthworms, fishes, fish eggs, salamanders, etc.
Reproduction Comments
Inland populations spawn March-early July, depending on location and conditions; coastal populations usually spawn February-May (Moyle 1976, Scott and Crossman 1973). Eggs hatch in 6-8 weeks. Females are sexually mature at 3-4 years, males at 2-3 years (Sigler et al. 1983). Females spawn up to five times during their lifetime. See Stearley (1992) for a discussion of the historical ecology and life history evolution of Pacific salmons and trouts (ONCORHYNCHUS).
Ecology Comments
In streams, cutthroats defend feeding territories. Population densities are regulated mostly by stream size and morphology, overwintering habitat, stream productivity, and summer cover for predator avoidance (New Mexico, Sublette et al. 1990).
Length
99
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G4
Global Status Last Reviewed
2003-03-12
Global Status Last Changed
1996-09-25
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=S4&CA.BC=S4&CA.MB=SE&CA.QC=SE&CA.SK=SE&US.AK=S4&US.AZ=SE&US.AR=SE&US.CA=SNR&US.CO=S4&US.ID=S4&US.MD=SE&US.MT=SNR&US.NN=SE&US.NV=S4&US.NM=S2&US.ND=SE&US.OR=S4&US.UT=S3&US.WA=S4&US.WY=S2" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
Anadromous forms: Pacific Coast drainages from Eel River, California, north to Prince William Sound, Alaska, generally not more than 160 km inland; non-migrating fish also occur through this range. Allopatric inland forms: Rocky Mountains in Hudson Bay basin, Mississippi River basin, Great Basin (including Lahontan, Bonneville, and Alvord basins), and Pacific basin from southern Alberta south through California to the Rio Grande drainage, New Mexico, and east to Colorado and Montana (Lee et al. 1980, Page and Burr 1991). The greatest abundance of pure interior cutthroat trout occurs in Yellowstone Lake and the Yellowstone River drainage above the falls in Yellowstone National Park (Behnke 1992). Widely stocked in and out of the original range. Established in Laurentian lakes, Quebec. However, rarely has become naturalized much beyond the original distribution (Behnke 1992). Occurrence in high elevation headwater lakes is due primarily to introductions (formerly excluded by falls) (Behnke 1992). Locally common (Page and Burr 1991).