Dolly Varden trout

Dolly Varden trout
Adult female
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Salmoniformes
Family:	Salmonidae
Genus:	Salvelinus
Species:	S. malma
Subspecies:	see text
Binomial name
Salvelinus malma (Walbaum, 1792)
Synonyms
including current subspecies Salmo malma Walbaum, 1792 Salvelinus alpinus malma (Walbaum, 1792) Salvelinus malma malma (Walbaum, 1792) Salmo spectabilis Girard, 1856 Salvelinus malma spectabilis (Girard, 1856) Salvelinus spectabilis (Girard, 1856) Salmo bairdii Suckley, 1861 Salvelinus bairdii (Suckley, 1861) Salmo parkei Suckley, 1861 Salvelinus parkei (Suckley, 1861) Salmo parkii Suckley, 1861 Salmo lordii Günther, 1866 Fario lordii (Günther, 1866) Salmo tudes (Cope, 1873) Salvelinus malma tudes (Cope, 1873) Salvelinus miyabei (Oshima, 1938) Salvelinus malma miyabei (Oshima, 1938) Salvelinus namaycush (non Walbaum, 1792) Salmo fariopsis (non Kner, 1870) Salvelinus malma krascheninnikova (non Taranetz, 1933)

The Dolly Varden trout (Salvelinus malma) is a species of salmonid native to cold-water tributaries of the Pacific Ocean in Asia and North America. It is in the genus Salvelinus of true chars, which includes 51 recognized species, the most prominent being the brook, lake and bull trout, as well as Arctic char. Although many populations are semi-anadromous, fluvial and lacustrine populations occur throughout its range. It is considered by taxonomists as part of the Salvelinus alpinus or Arctic char complex, as many populations of bull trout, Dolly Varden trout and Arctic char overlap.

The scientific name of the Dolly Varden is Salvelinus malma. The species was originally named by German naturalist and taxonomist Johann Julius Walbaum in 1792 based on type specimens from the Kamchatka Peninsula in Siberia. The name malma was based on the local Russian colloquial name for the fish. The Dolly Varden trout is considered part of the S. alpinus or Arctic char complex.

For most of the 19th and 20th centuries, the Dolly Varden trout (S. malma) and the bull trout (S. confluentus) were considered the same species. Additionally, the Arctic char (S. alpinus) along with the bull trout have ranges that overlap and are remarkably similar in appearance, thus complicating identification. In 1978, inland forms of the Dolly Varden trout were reclassified as Salvelinus confluentus, retaining the common name bull trout. It appears that the first recorded use of the Dolly Varden name for fish referred to S. confluentus, now commonly known as the bull trout. This was likely due to overlapping ranges and similar appearances among members of the two species.

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Wikipedia