Species: Salvelinus fontinalis

Brook Trout

Species

Fishes

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Invasive species: fishes

Encyclopedia of Puget Sound

Classification

Kingdom

Animalia

Phylum

Craniata

Class

Actinopterygii

Order

Salmoniformes

Family

Salmonidae

Genus

Salvelinus

NatureServe

Source:
ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103972

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

Conservation Status

NatureServe Global Status Rank

Global Status Last Reviewed

2008-02-20

Global Status Last Changed

1996-09-12

Other Status

Distribution

Conservation Status Map

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.

ELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.103972