Brook trout ³

A smaller species of char despite the name. One of Colorados big 4 salmonids they inhabit alpine streams and lakes rarely being seen or caught at lower elevations. Are very common in small streams and beaver ponds in the alpine and can live in some of the smallest of gulches. Characterized by their stunning colors red and black on the bellies with olive sides and red spots with blue halos. They are fall spawners. They have out competed native cutthroat because of that reason. They outcompete cutthroat in many of the alpine streams they live in, even further isolating our cutthroat.. Their relatively large heads compared to their body allow them to become top predators in the small streams they inhabit frequently overpopulating them. They are the most common trout in our alpine environment. They rarely reach sizes of over 20 inches in Colorado with a 14 inch one being a big one. They are native to Appalachia and the east coast. And have been introduced to colorado for sporting and fishing.

Sources and Credits

1. (c) gcmorath, all rights reserved, uploaded by gcmorath
2. (c) Marrabbio2, some rights reserved (GFDL), http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Salvelinus_fontinalis_-_marrabbio2.jpg
3. Adapted by gcmorath from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvelinus_fontinalis

More Info

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