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Salmonid Natural History

Species and History

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Salmonid Species and HistoryO The family Salmonidae consists of a variety of salmon and

trout species in several phylogenetic branches.O The Pacific salmon, rainbow trout, and cutthroat Trout are all

in the genus Oncorhynchus.

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Relationships the Salmonids

From Smith and Stearly 1989

graylings

Salmonidae

taimenlenoks

Atlantic salmon

Brachymystax

Hucho

Thymallus

brown troutSalmo

Onchoryhnchus rainbow trout

cutthroat trout

Pacific salmon

Adriatic trout

Salvelinus

Arctic charDolly Varden

bull trout

Pacific Salmon

chars

bold represents fish of the Pacific Northwest

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Relationships within Oncorhynchus

Consensus tree; Conservation Biology, Volume 8, No. 3, Sept 1994

Mexican golden troutOncorhyhchus rainbow trout

Pacific salmon

Apache troutGila trout

cutthroat troutclarki

gilaegilae apache

gilae gilae

Golden trout

Rainbow troutmykiss

chrysogaster

irideus

aguabonita

Masu

ChinookCoho

SockeyePink

Chum

masou

tsawytscha

kisutch

keta

gorbuscha

nerka

mykiss

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Pacific Salmon Relationships

FREEING THE ELWHAColonization by Pacific Salmon

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Glacial Lake Elwha

Salmon Colonization of the Elwha river watershed

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After the IceBut, as the glaciers receeded and the lake drained,

new land was exposed and forests began to reclaim the valleys.

While ice filled the strait, salmon and other fish could not migrate into the Elwha Valley.

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California golden trout

Columbia redband trout

Coastal Rainbow trout

Rio Yaqui trout

chrysogaster

Mayo trout

irideus

gairdnerii

aguabonita

newberrii Great Basin redband trout

Beardslee trout

nelsoni San Pedro Mártir trout

irideus f. beardsleei

Little Kern River golden troutf. whitei

Mykiss

Rainbow trout

Golden trout

Mexican golden trout

Rio Piaxtla trout

Rio San Lorenzo trout

Relationships of the Rainbow trout (mykiss)

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Rainbow Trout Colonization and Evolution

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Trout of Mexico

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Relationships of the Cutthroat trout (clarki)

cutthroat trout

Westslope

Lahotan

Coastal

Bonneville

Rio Grande

Yellowstone

Colorado River

Greenback

Paiute

Alvord

Crescenti

Clarki clarki

f. crescentii

alvordensis

seleniris

henshawi

lewisi

Lower Snake river spp.

utah

bouvieriUpper Snake river spp.

pleuriticus

stomias

virginalis

macdonald Yellowfin

Bold indicates major subspecies, non-bold is a minor subspecies, talics indicates now extinct, small font indicates not likely a true subspecies, but rather a form

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Cutthroat Trout Colonization and Evolution

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How do fish cross mountain ranges?As the climate warms, trout can survive in the lower rivers

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Beardslee and Crescenti Cutthroat Trout in Lake Crescent

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Seasonal Runs

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OncohynchusRainbow

Pacific

Salmon

Cutthroat trout

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This project was made possible in part by a grant from

Washington’s National Park Fund.