Rainbow Trout
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Rainbow Trout
| Rainbow trout |
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| Conservation status |
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Secure |
| Scientific classification |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia
| | Phylum: | Chordata
| | Class: | Actinopterygii
| | Order: | Salmoniformes
| | Family: | Salmonidae
| | Genus: | Oncorhynchus
| | Species: | O. mykiss
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| Binomial name |
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Oncorhynchus mykiss
Walbaum, 1792 |
The rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is a species of salmonid native to tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America as well as much of the central, western, eastern, and especially the northern portions of the United States. The ocean going (anadromous) form (including those returning for spawning) are known as steelhead, or ocean trout (Australia and United States). The species has been introduced for food or sport to at least 45 countries, and every continent except Antarctica. In some of these locations, such as Southern Europe, Australia and South America, they have had very serious negative impacts on upland native fish species, either by eating them, outcompeting them, transmitting contagious diseases, or hybridization with closely related species and subspecies that are native to western North America.
The species was originally named by Johann Julius Walbaum in 1792 based on type specimens from Kamchatka. Richardson named a specimen of this species Salmo gairdneri in 1836, and in 1855, W. P. Gibbons found a population and named it Salmo iridia, later corrected to Salmo irideus, however these names became deprecated once it was determined that Walbaum's type description was conspecific and therefore had precedence (see e.g. Behnke, 1966). More recently, DNA studies showed rainbow trout are genetically closer to Pacific salmon (Onchorhynchus species) than to brown trout (Salmo trutta) or Atlantic Salmon (Salmo salar), so the genus was changed.
Unlike the species' former name's epithet iridia (Latin: rainbow), the specific epithet mykiss derives from the local Kamchatkan name 'mykizha'; all of Walbaum's species names were based on Kamchatkan local names.
Life cycle
Like salmon, steelhead are anadromous: they return to their original hatching ground to spawn. Steelhead rejuvenate after spawning, so they may return to the oceans to start the anadromous cycle once again. The steelhead smolts (immature or young fish) usually remain in the river for about a year before heading to sea, whereas salmon typically return to the seas as smolts. Different populations of steelheads migrate upriver at different times of the year. "Summer-run steelhead" migrate between May and October, before their reproductive organs are fully mature. They mature in freshwater before spawning in the spring. "Winter-run steelhead" mature fully in the ocean before migrating, between November and April, and spawn shortly after returning. Similar to Atlantic salmon, but unlike their Pacific Oncorhynchus kin, steelhead are iteroparous and may make several spawning trips between fresh and salt water. The maximum recorded life-span for a rainbow trout is 11 years. Salmon is often sold as a replacement because they taste similar.
Diet
Rainbow trout are predators with a varied diet, and will eat nearly anything they can grab, in contrast to the legendary, selective image people often have of the fish's dietary habits. Rainbows are not quite as piscivorous or aggressive as the brown trout or lake trout (char). When young, insects make up a large portion of the diet, smaller fish (up to 1/3 of their length), along with crayfish and other crustaceans make up the remainder. As they grow, though, the proportion of fish increases in most all populations. Some lake dwelling lines may become planktonic feeders. While in flowing waters populated with salmon, trout will eat salmon eggs, alvein, fry, smolt and even salmon carcasses.
