Rio Grande cutthroat trout
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| Rio Grande cutthroat trout | |
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| Rio Grande cutthroat trout from the Conejos watershed in southern Colorado. | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Salmoniformes |
| Family: | Salmonidae |
| Genus: | Oncorhynchus |
| Species: | O. clarki |
| Subspecies: | O. c. virginalis |
| Trinomial name | |
| Oncorhynchus clarki virginalis |
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The Rio Grande cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki virginalis), a member of the family Salmonidae is found in New Mexico and southern Colorado in tributaries of the Rio Grande. It one of 14 subspecies of cutthroat trout native to the western United States, and is the state fish of New Mexico.
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[edit] Life history
Rio Grande cutthroat trout typically spawn between the middle of May and the middle of June. Males are sexually mature at age 2; females at age 3. They live on average of five years, but in rare cases, cutthroat trout survive into their teens. Rio Grande cutthroat feed opportunistically on aquatic and terrestrial insects that fall into the water.
The Rio grande Cutthroat Trout evolved in New Mexico as a member of a native fish assemblage that included longnose dace, Rio Grande chub and Rio Grande sucker.
[edit] Conservation
Rio Grande cutthroats currently live on 150 miles of stream in the Santa Fe National Forest, which is only 15% of their historical range. According to U.S. Wildlife Service, thirteen core populations remain in the world. These are the key to the survival of the species. Four of the thirteen core populations are located in the Santa Fe National Forest.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Oncorhynchus clarki" in FishBase. April 2006 version.
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