Brook trout subdivisions
For the cutthroat junkie, there are enough subspecies to feed the habit for quite some time. Brookies, though, tend to be lumped together--or so it seems to me.
Behnke's 2002 book, though, notes several divergent strains. And the folks trying to restore these fish to Great Smoky Mountains National Park state unequivocally that a 1993 study "provided conclusive evidence that Southern Appalachian brook trout are genetically distinct at the subspecies level from the northern populations."
Any thoughts? How should these fish be classfied on this website (or elsewhere)?
At a minimum, if you are going to add a brook trout to your life list, I'd suggest keeping a careful record of where and when you caught it. The taxonomy among salmonids is notoriously fluid.
See:
http://www.flyfishingforbrooktrout.com/grsm_sams_creek_restoration_view%...
and
http://afsjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1577/1548-8659(1993)122%3C0533%3AGDAHBS%3E2.3.CO%3B2
Location, not subdivision?
Hmmm...interesting. I don't have that problem with brookies where I live since none of them are native in the west. I guess if I were to keep track of them for my "life list," I'd definitely be looking for one in it's native habitat. So, for me, even though I've caught countless brookies, none of them have been in their native habitat. So I'll wait until I can find them where they're "supposed to be" before I add them.
I wonder if much time/effort has been put into tracking down subspecies?
It is accepted, here on the
It is accepted, here on the east coast, that there are two strains of native brook trout, but the differences are pheontypic. The difference in average size of the two may not be a genotypic trait, but rather a characteristic of habitat, with the SABT being the smaller of the two.
The brook trout also have seperate genetic strains based on watersheds. I believe WV has six distinct genetic strains.
If you would like to coordinate a trip to the east coast, I would be happy to host everyone. I have caught brookies from New York to North Carolina and I could put everyone on both the northern and southern strains - in their native waters.
Chris
Chris, Very generous offer!
Chris, Very generous offer! I'll take you up on it some day. I've traveled to the east coast a couple of times, but never fished there. I'd love to fish some of the historic waters of the east.
Hey, I just realized that it's nice to have Gary on the west coast, Chris on the east and Anders/me in the Rocky Mountain region. That makes for a nice range because I'm clueless about brookies and anything dealing with ocean fish or anadromous species.
Brook Trout division
Like Scott the brook trout thing has not been a problem live here in Washington as all of the populations are introduced. I do eventually plan on traveling to the east coast to fish for brookies in their native waters through. Taxonomic lines do seem to get pretty muddy with char. Personally I really like the idea of recognizing the two forms of brook trout native to the eastern US. I really wouldn't be suprised if within the next decade or two, when the scientific community that decides such things can finally agree with each other that brookies with be recognized as to seperate subspecies.
A similar thing has already happened on the west coast with Dolly Varden, where a Northern and Southern subspecies are now recoginized. Although the southern form has not been given an official subspecies name yet (the scientists are still squabling about that one), Salvelinus malma lordi has been suggested. Southern form stretches from Washington to the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, while the Northern ranges from the Alaska Peninsula northward. It sounds like similar agruements are starting to arise with bull trout to as there is genetic evidence show similar levels of divergence between coastal and interior populations.
http://rparticle.web-p.cisti.nrc.ca/rparticle/AbstractTemplateServlet?calyLang=eng&journal=cjfas&volume=63&year=2006&issue=5&msno=f06-026
Quickly as I am heading out
Quickly as I am heading out the door to do more exploring this weekend:
Don't forget about the coasters, lakers, bluebacks, and Labradors...and yes, they're all on my life list!
Chris