Golden trout

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Golden trout
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Actinopterygii Order: Salmoniformes Family: Salmonidae Genus: Oncorhynchus Species: O. aguabonita
Binomial name
Oncorhynchus aguabonita (Jordan, 1892)

The golden trout (Oncorhynchus aguabonita), is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family (family Salmonidae) of order Salmoniformes. It is one of the trouts. These fish are commonly found at elevations of 10,000 feet (3,000 m) above sea level. Some evolutionary biologists consider the golden trout to be a subspecies of the rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. It is easy to understand, given the similarity of the golden trout to the redband trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss ssp.

The golden trout has brilliant gold sides wih a red horizontal band and 10 dark oval marks called "parr marks" their fins have white edges. A typical adult will be up to 14 inches in length and averages 1 pound in streams, up to 11 pounds in weight in lakes.^{[citation needed]} Preferred water temperature is between 58 and 62 Degrees Fahrenheit.^{[citation needed]} The brilliant colors of the Golden Trout disappear if they are stocked at altitudes lower than 6,000 feet. Unlike other trout the Golden's parr marks persist throuought their adult life.

The golden trout was designated as the state fish of California in 1947. Populations have been in steady decline for decades. As a result, the California department of fish and game [1] signed an agreement with federal agencies in September 2004 to work on restoring back country habitat. Conservationists have also been attempting to introduce golden trout to other bodies of water, such as Mohave Lake in Nevada/Arizona.

[edit] Chuck Yeager

In his second autobiographical book, "Press On", General Chuck Yeager describes his annual fishing trips to catch golden trout, a fish he considers to be one of the best game fish and best eating there is. He also comments of fishing for golden trout in his first autobiography, "Yeager".

[edit] References

• Oncorhynchus aguabonita (TSN 161987). Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Accessed on 24 January 2006.
• "Oncorhynchus aguabonita". FishBase. Ed. Ranier Froese and Daniel Pauly. 10 2005 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2005.