Species: Salvelinus fontinalis
Brook Trout
Species
Show on Lists
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Actinopterygii
Order
Salmoniformes
Family
Salmonidae
Genus
Salvelinus
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
omble de fontaine
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Fishes - Bony Fishes - Salmon and Trouts
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Actinopterygii - Salmoniformes - Salmonidae - Salvelinus - >
Ecology and Life History
Habitat Type Description
Freshwater
Migration
true - true - false - Movement can be extensive even within streams. For example, in the Kennebecasis River, New Brunswick, brook trout moved upstream 65-100 kilometers in spring after ice loss; summer movements were minimal; movements to spawning areas in fall were less than 10 kilometers, then the fish moved back downstream to wintering areas in the lower to middle reaches of the river (Curry et al. 2002).
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
true
Food Comments
Feeds opportunistically on various invertebrate and vertebrate animals, including primarily terrestrial and aquatic insects and planktonic crustaceans. In estuarine and marine habitats, the diet includes various fishes and crustaceans (see Collette and Klein-McPhee 2002).
Reproduction Comments
Spawning occurs in late summer (in north) or fall (October-November in many areas). Eggs hatch in 47 days at 10 C, in 165 days at 2.8 C. In Ontario, alevin emergence occurred over a 71-day period, coinciding with the spring thaw and an episodic pH depression (Snucins et al. 1992). Sexually mature in 2-3 years (also reported as first year for males, 2nd year for females). Only small percentages of returning migrants actually spawn; post-spawning mortality generally is low (Stearley 1992). In dense, small-stream populations, few live more than 3 years, whereas some live 9-10 years in large rivers and lakes in the northern part of the range (Behnke 2002).
Ecology Comments
Adults in streams may defend small feeding territories that extend several body lengths in diameter (Grant et al. 1989). In experimental stream communities, Resetarits 1991 found that brook trout negatively affected both growth and survival of the salamander GYRINOPHILUS PORPHYRITICUS; the presence of GYRINOPHILUS had no affect on relative condition or fecundity of SALVELINUS. SALVELINUS and GYRINOPHILUS affected the growth of the two-lined salamander EURYCEA and the crayfish CAMBARUS BARTONII. SALVELINUS caused CAMBARUS and EURYCEA to alter their activity levels and habitat; EURYCEA and CAMBARUS were able to avoid predation by SALVELINUS and GYRINOPHILUS but at a significant cost to growth.
Length
40
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
2008-02-20
Global Status Last Changed
1996-09-12
Other Status
PS
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
<img src="http://www.natureserve.org/explorer/servlet/GetMapGif?CA.AB=SE&CA.BC=SE&CA.LB=S5&CA.MB=S4&CA.NB=S4&CA.NF=S5&CA.NT=__&CA.NS=S4&CA.NU=SNR&CA.ON=S5&CA.PE=S5&CA.QC=S4&CA.SK=SE&US.AK=SE&US.AZ=SE&US.AR=SE&US.CA=SE&US.CO=SE&US.CT=S5&US.DE=SE&US.GA=S5&US.ID=SE&US.IL=SE&US.IN=S2&US.IA=S3&US.KY=SE&US.ME=S5&US.MD=S3&US.MA=S4&US.MI=S4&US.MN=SNR&US.MT=SE&US.NN=SE&US.NE=SE&US.NV=SE&US.NH=S5&US.NJ=S3&US.NM=SE&US.NY=S5&US.NC=S5&US.ND=SE&US.OH=S2&US.OR=SE&US.PA=S5&US.RI=S5&US.SC=S2&US.SD=SE&US.TN=S3&US.UT=SE&US.VT=S5&US.VA=S4&US.WA=SE&US.WV=S5&US.WI=S5&US.WY=SE" alt="Conservation Status Map" style="width: 475px; height: auto;" />
Global Range
This species is native to most of eastern Canada and the northeastern United States, from Newfoundland to the southwestern side of Hudson Bay, and south in the Atlantic, Great Lakes, and Mississippi River basins to Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, Wisconsin, Lake Michigan (but not Illinois streams), Chagrin River (Lake Erie drainage) in northeastern Ohio, northern New Jersey, New England, and southward in the Atlantic and Mississippi basins of the Appalachian Mountains to northern Georgia (Smith 1979, Trautman 1981, Becker 1983, Cooper 1983, Smith 1985, Etnier and Starnes 1993, Jenkins and Burkhead 1994, Menhinick 2001, Behnke 2002, Hartel et al. 2002, Moyle 2002, Bailey et al. 2004). Sea-run populations at least formerly extended from the Atlantic provinces of Canada to Long Island, New York (Scott and Crossman 1973), including Hudson Bay (Behnke 2002). Brook trout have been introduced in most of the lower peninsula of Michigan, western North America, and temperate regions in many other parts of the world.