Aurora trout: Difference between revisions
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The '''aurora trout''', ''Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis'', is a variant or [[subspecies]] of the [[brook trout]] native to two lakes in the [[Temagami]] District of [[Ontario]], Canada. The existence of the fish was brought to the attention of the angling world by four American anglers who were taken by Archie King of [[Latchford, Ontario]] [[Canada]] into [[Ontario]]'s [[Lady Evelyn River]] System in 1923. Recognising the fish as different or unique, the anglers took a specimen back to the [[Carnegie Museum of Natural History|Carnegie Museum]] in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]] in the [[United States]], where Dr. [[Arthur W. Henn]] was asked to identify the fish. He wrote about the fish in 1925 wherein he and Rinckenbach identified it as a distinct species, ''Salvelinus timagamiensis'' but, since a seminal re-examination of the material by Sale in 1967, [[Taxonomy|taxonomists]] now agree the fish is, in a fact, at most a subspecies of the brook trout, named ''Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis''. Genetic data have not so far supported its taxonomic distinction.<ref name=RSA>[http://www.brooktrout.ca/aurora-trout.pdf ''Recovery Strategy for the Aurora trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis'') in Canada''] Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, July 2006.</ref> |
The '''aurora trout''', ''Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis'', is a variant or [[subspecies]] of the [[brook trout]] native to two lakes in the [[Temagami]] District of [[Ontario]], Canada. The existence of the fish was brought to the attention of the angling world by four American anglers who were taken by Archie King of [[Latchford, Ontario]] [[Canada]] into [[Ontario]]'s [[Lady Evelyn River]] System in 1923. Recognising the fish as different or unique, the anglers took a specimen back to the [[Carnegie Museum of Natural History|Carnegie Museum]] in [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]] in the [[United States]], where Dr. [[Arthur W. Henn]] was asked to identify the fish. He wrote about the fish in 1925 wherein he and Rinckenbach identified it as a distinct species, ''Salvelinus timagamiensis'' but, since a seminal re-examination of the material by Sale in 1967, [[Taxonomy|taxonomists]] now agree the fish is, in a fact, at most a subspecies of the brook trout, named ''Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis''. Genetic data have not so far supported its taxonomic distinction.<ref name=RSA>[http://www.brooktrout.ca/aurora-trout.pdf ''Recovery Strategy for the Aurora trout (''Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis'') in Canada''] Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, July 2006.</ref> |
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The aurora trout is distinguished from the brook trout by its unique coloration. Aurora trout are generally without spots, the colouration grading from a magenta hue on the back to a bright, nearly fluorescent orange along the belly, especially in [[Sexual maturity|mature]] males. The life history of the fish is essentially identical to that of the brook trout. Adults average about 0.5 to 1.5 kg, although individuals up to 4 kg are known. |
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The aurora trout occupied a very restricted range, probably occurring in only two lakes, Whitepine and Whirligig, and their inflowing streams. The subspecies was [[Local extinction|extirpated]] from the original lakes by the ravages of [[acid rain]] in the late 1950s, but was saved from [[extinction]] by Paul Graf, a [[hatchery]] manager at the [[Ministry of Natural Resources (Ontario)|Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources]]. He had brought a brood stock of the fish into the hatchery at [[Hill's Lake, Ontario|Hill's Lake]] near [[Charlton, Ontario]]. He sometimes feared the fish might have been taking up valuable space in the hatchery and, on several occasions, thought about getting rid of them, until they were found to have been extirpated from the wild. |
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Naturalised populations of aurora trout have been introduced into about a dozen lakes in [[northeastern Ontario]] as refugia. In the late 1980s, the original lakes were treated with [[lime (mineral)|lime]] to raise the [[pH]] to circumneutral conditions, and aurora trout were reintroduced. Natural [[reproduction]] of aurora trout has been documented in the original lakes since the reintroduction, but the pH in the lakes has since begun to decline again, presumably because of reservoirs of acidic particulate depositions in the watershed.{{fact|date=July 2010}} |
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==References== |
==References== |
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Revision as of 15:24, 17 November 2012
 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (July 2011) |
| Aurora trout | |
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| Subspecies: | S. f. timagamiensis
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| Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis (Henn, 1925)
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The aurora trout, Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis, is a variant or subspecies of the brook trout native to two lakes in the Temagami District of Ontario, Canada. The existence of the fish was brought to the attention of the angling world by four American anglers who were taken by Archie King of Latchford, Ontario Canada into Ontario's Lady Evelyn River System in 1923. Recognising the fish as different or unique, the anglers took a specimen back to the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh in the United States, where Dr. Arthur W. Henn was asked to identify the fish. He wrote about the fish in 1925 wherein he and Rinckenbach identified it as a distinct species, Salvelinus timagamiensis but, since a seminal re-examination of the material by Sale in 1967, taxonomists now agree the fish is, in a fact, at most a subspecies of the brook trout, named Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis. Genetic data have not so far supported its taxonomic distinction.[1]
References
- ^ Recovery Strategy for the Aurora trout (Salvelinus fontinalis timagamiensis) in Canada Species at Risk Act Recovery Strategy Series. Fisheries and Oceans Canada, July 2006.
External links
- The Aurora Trout ... a Species at Risk in Ontario Fisheries and Oceans Canada (2010-09-27)