Brook trout
| Brook trout | |
|---|---|
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Salmoniformes |
| Family: | Salmonidae |
| Genus: | Salvelinus |
| Species: | S. fontinalis |
| Binomial name | |
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Salvelinus fontinalis (Mitchill, 1814) |
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| Subspecies | |
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S. f. agassizii (Garman, 1885)† |
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| Synonyms | |
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previous scientific names
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S. f. agassizii (Garman, 1885)†
S. f. timagamiensis Henn & Rinckenbach, 1925
The brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) is a species of freshwater fish in the salmon family Salmonidae. It is native to Eastern North America in the United States and Canada, but has been introduced elsewhere in North America and to other continents. In parts of its range, it is also known as the eastern brook trout, speckled trout, brook charr, squaretail, or mud trout, among others. A potamodromous population in Lake Superior is known as coaster trout or, simply, as coasters. The brook trout is the state fish of nine states: Michigan, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia, and the Provincial Fish of Nova Scotia in Canada.
The brook trout was first scientifically described as Salmo fontinalis by the naturalist Samuel Latham Mitchill in 1814. The specific epithet "fontinalis" comes from the Latin for "of a spring or fountain", in reference to the clear, cold streams and ponds in its native habitat. The species was later moved to the char genus Salvelinus. Though commonly called a trout, the brook trout is thus actually one of the chars, which in North America also include the lake trout, bull trout, Dolly Varden, and the Arctic char.
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Wikipedia