Cutthraot color variations

[slough foot]

I have seen distinct color variations in cutthroat that I have caught over the years. I would appreciate comments on this.

The Frank Cutt 1.jpgThe Frank Cutt 2.jpgThe Bob Cutt 1.jpg
YNP Cutt 2.jpgThe Bob Cutt 2.jpg

[Byron Zuehlsdorff]

I am far from an expert, but I think I read once tnat habitat and genetics have a lot to do with it. I do know there are several strains(?) or species, if you will, of the cutthroat trout. I'm sure there are more people on this site that are MUCH more knowledgable that me.

[Sasha]

Genetics, habitat, water chemistry, diet, stress, spawning….. These are some of the things that can attribute to fish coloration.

[Dave E]

Beautiful, aren't they?

If you'd like, take a look at this album ( http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/album.php?albumid=40 ), you'll find about a half dozen shots ( questionable quality ) of Lahontan's, which are more common in my home range. This helps to demonstrate the variations within a strain, even in a single body of water. They range in color from silver bullets to darkly colored individuals.

Best, Dave

[slough foot]

This is the most beautiful fish I have ever caught. I think it's a steelhead par. It was released and should live a long life.

Steelhead Par.jpg

[Preston Singletary]

There are a number of cutthroat subspecies (Dr. Robert Behnke recognizes fourteen), all of them exhibit consistent differences in coloration and spotting patterns. In addition, cutthroat colors (like those of most other fish) can vary due to environmental factors and, of course, sexual maturity. All are memers of the genus Oncorhynchus and the species clarki. The most widespread of the various subspecies are the coastal cutthroat (O. c. clarki) and the westslope (west slope of the Rocky Mountains that is, though they also occur on the eastern slopes of the Cascades) cutthroat (O. c. lewisi).

The coastal cutthroat is probably the original cutthroat, from which the other subspecies evolved, its native range is along the Pacific coast from northern California's Eel River to Prince William Sound in Alaska. The coastal cutthroat can, when the opportunity offers, drop downstream to salt water and take up a semi-andromous lifestyle, feeding along the beaches during the late spring and summer and returning to its home river to spawn in the late summer and fall. These sea-run cutthroat offer some of the finest fly fishing available to anglers along the beaches of Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia as well as in the rivers during their fall migration. Where direct access to saltwater is not available, coastal cutthroat thrive in streams and lakes. A coastal cutthroat from a tannin stained lake in the Cascade foothills will be heavily spotted and dark and hardly recognizable as the same subspecies as a bright and silvery sea-run cutthroat fresh from the salt.

It would be impossible to say whether that fish is a steelhead parr (two r's, by the way) or a resident rainbow parr since residence or anadromy represent a choice available to both. The difference between a steelhead and a resident rainbow (at least where access to saltwater is available) is a lifestyle choice, usually dependent on environmental factors; genetically they are identical.