By Justin Herrell

Wildlife 5th Period

Rainbow Trout

The rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) Kingdom:AnimaliaPhylum:ChordataClass:ActinopterygiiSubclass:NeopterygiiInfraclass:TeleosteiOrder:SalmoniformesFamily:SalmonidaeGenus:OncorhynchusSpecies:O. mykiss

Classification

Rainbow trout like to inhabit cold headwaters, creeks, rivers, cool lakes, estuaries, and oceans. Some genetic strains of rainbow trout will live in up to all of these habitats in their lives if available. Good trout stream habitat is complex with riffles and pools, submerged wood, boulders, undercut banks, and aquatic vegetation.

Habitat

Rainbow trout eat a wide variety of food including crayfish, terrestrial insects, such as grasshoppers and ants, and bottom-dwelling aquatic invertebrates, such as crustaceans, plankton, snails, and leeches, as well as small fish and fish eggs are also eaten by rainbow trout.

Food Web

Rainbow trout live in the cool waters of the Northern Hemisphere but have been introduced throughout the world.

Population/World Wide Distribution

Egg, alevin, fry, fingerling, adult, spawning adult.

Average full grown adult size is 20" to 30" and weighs usually up to 8 lbs

There are two types of rainbow trout, the freshwater river rainbow trout and the anadramous rainbow trout.

Anatomy/Life Cycle Etc.

The rainbow trout are native to the drainages of the Pacific Coast from Mexico to Alaska as well as the eastern coast of Asia. This is their original, natural range.

Origin (History)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiSQAB4iKrY

Humans farm rainbow trout to eat as well as fish for them for sport.

Hey you guys! Guess how much the largest rainbow trout ever recorded weighed!

Human Relationships

The largest rainbow trout on record weighed 57 lbs (25.8 kg) and was estimated to be 11 years old.

The rainbow trout is placed among the top five sport fishes in North America, and it is considered by many to be the most important game fish west of the Rocky Mountains.

Their verage life span in the wild is 4 to 6 years

Fun Facts

Rainbow trout are in the news sometimes for community fish releases and stocking of ponds and lakes.

In the News

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rainbow_trout

http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/rainbow-trout/

http://bss.sfsu.edu/holzman/courses/fall01%20projects/rainbow%20trout.htm

http://www.nwrc.usgs.gov/wdb/pub/hsi/hsi-060.pdf

http://www.fisheyesoup.com/article_details/491.html

Works Consulted