Kern River rainbow trout

The Kern River rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss gilberti) is a localized subspecies of the rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), a variety of fish in the family Salmonidae. It is found in a short section of the main stem of the Kern River and several tributaries in the southern Sierra Nevada in California.[2] The Kern River rainbow trout is a "Species of Special Concern" in the state of California due to habitat loss and hybridization with other native and non-native trout in their range.[3]

Kern River rainbow trout

Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Salmoniformes
Family: Salmonidae
Genus: Oncorhynchus
Species:
O. mykiss
Subspecies:
O. m. gilberti
Trinomial name
Oncorhynchus mykiss gilberti
(Jordan, 1894)[1]
Kern River trout range map

The Kern River rainbow trout is one of three subspecies of O. mykiss that are all endemic to the Kern River basin, sharing the headwaters of the river with the Little Kern golden trout and golden trout. Some of the existing range of the Kern River rainbow trout lies within the California Golden Trout Wilderness.[4]

Distribution

Kern river rainbow trout are endemic to the Kern River and tributaries in Tulare County, California.[5] Its current range is drastically reduced from its historic range. Remnant populations live in the Kern river above Durrwood creek, in upper Ninemile, Rattlesnake and Osa creeks, and possibly in upper peppermint Creek. Kern river rainbows have been successfully introduced into the Kaweah-Kern river and Chagoopa creek. Its historic range in the main stem of the Kern River it probably extended downstream below where Isabella Dam is today and upstream in the South Fork of the Kern River as far as Onyx creek.[6][7] The subspecies has been extirpated in the Kern river from the Johnsondale bridge downstream. The Kern River trout hybridize with nonnative, introduced stocks of rainbow trout, and Behnke (2002) doubts that pure Kern River rainbow trout still exist in their historic range.[2] Recent genetic analyses however suggest that some un-hybridized populations still exist.[7][8]

Notes
  1. "Oncorhynchus mykiss gilberti". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 18 November 2013.
  2. Behnke, Robert J.; Tomelleri, Joseph R. (illustrator) (2002). Trout and Salmon of North America. The Free Press. pp. 104–114. ISBN 0743222202.
  3. "Fish Species of Special Concern". California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  4. "ECONOMIC VALUE OF GOLDEN TROUT FISHING IN THE GOLDEN TROUT WILDERNESS, CALIFORNIA" (PDF). caltrout.org. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
  5. "Salmon, Steelhead and Trout in California-Status of an Emblematic Fauna" (PDF). UC Davis Center for Watershed Sciences. Retrieved 2013-11-18.
  6. "California's Golden Treasure, Our State Fish" (PDF). caltrout.org. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
  7. "Kern River Rainbow Trout" (PDF). caltrout.org. Retrieved 2013-11-16.
  8. "Kern River Rainbow Trout (native)". California Department of Fish and Wildlife. Retrieved 2013-11-17.
  • Schreck, C.B.; Behnke, R.J. (1971). "Trouts of the Upper Kern River Basin, California, with Reference to Systematics and Evolution of Western North American Salmo". Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada, 1971, Vol. 28, 987-99. 28 (7): 987–998. doi:10.1139/f71-143.
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