Greenback Cutthroat Trout
Oncorhynchus clarkii stomias
Greenback cutthroat trout 2
The greenback cutthroat trout is Colorados state fish and easily the most rare fish on this list. Historically has occupied the rivers east of the continental divide. In south platte and north platte river basins and in parts of Arkansas river basin. Just over 15 years this subspecies was thought to be extinct. But through genetic testing the Colorado parks and Wildlife found a remaining genetically pure population of less than 200 fish in a small creek near Colorado Springs. Since then the situation has been very carefully managed and they have been stocked in some streams and a lake as reintroduction sites. Thankfully for the species these projects have gone very well. And some have gotten to the point where you are allowed to fish these places with very restrictive regulations though. The most common lake to go see these rare fish is Zimmerman lake as it has been a very successful reintroduction site. Theres is still only a handful of places to encounter these fish not only in the state but in the world as they only exist in Colorado. The Colorado parks and wildlife is continuing to reintroduce these fish back into their historical range right now they occupy less than %1 but we hope that number goes up as efforts to continue. The fish has been delisted from endangered and is threatened now. They can grow up to 20+ inches in the right conditions but a fish like that hasn’t existed in Colorado in a long time. They are also considered one of most beautiful of all trout. They are very hard to distinguish from the other native species so if you think you’ve run into one make sure to check with the CPW and do some online research to make sure it’s a greenback. But again very hard to determine without genetic testing or unless the CPW has designated the water a pure greenback cutthroat water. And is most likely not greenback if not stead by CPW
Sources and Credits
- (c) gcmorath, all rights reserved, uploaded by gcmorath
- Adapted by gcmorath from a work by (c) Wikipedia, some rights reserved (CC BY-SA), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oncorhynchus_clarkii_stomias
