The McCloud River redband trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss stonei'') is one of three
redband trout
Redband trout are a group of three recognized subspecies of rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss''). They occur in three distinct regions in Pacific basin tributaries and endorheic basins in the western United States. The three subspecies are th ...
subspecies of the
rainbow trout in the family
Salmonidae
Salmonidae is a family of ray-finned fish that constitutes the only currently extant family in the order Salmoniformes . It includes salmon (both Atlantic and Pacific species), trout (both ocean-going and landlocked), chars, freshwater whitefis ...
.
The trout is native in small tributaries of the
McCloud River
The McCloud River is a longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 10, 2011 river that flows east of and parallel to the upper Sacramento River, in Siskiyou County and S ...
and
Pit River which are tributaries of California's
Sacramento River
The Sacramento River ( es, RÃo Sacramento) is the principal river of Northern California in the United States and is the largest river in California. Rising in the Klamath Mountains, the river flows south for before reaching the Sacramento†...
. Its historic range has declined significantly since it was first described in 1894. Remaining populations of genetically pure McCloud River redband trout are threatened by predation, habitat loss, competition with introduced trout species and by hybridization with hatchery rainbow trout
introduced to support
sport fishing
Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is professional fishing for profit (economics), profit; or subsistence fishing ...
.
Historic influence on hatchery rainbow trout
In 1877, the second California rainbow trout hatchery and the first federal fish hatchery in the
National Fish Hatchery System
The National Fish Hatchery System (NFHS) was established by the U.S. Congress in 1871 through the creation of a U.S. Commissioner for Fish and Fisheries. This system of fish hatcheries is now administered by the Fisheries Program of the U.S. Fis ...
, was established on Campbell Creek, a
McCloud River
The McCloud River is a longU.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 10, 2011 river that flows east of and parallel to the upper Sacramento River, in Siskiyou County and S ...
tributary. The McCloud River hatchery indiscriminately mixed coastal rainbow trout (''O. m. irideus'') eggs with the eggs of local McCloud River redband trout . Eggs from the McCloud hatchery were also provided to the
San Leandro
San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the sout ...
hatchery, thus making the origin and genetic history of hatchery-bred rainbow trout somewhat diverse and complex.
Rainbow trout eggs and fry from these two hatcheries were the original source of most artificially propagated rainbow trout in the world.
Notes
Oncorhynchus
Trout, McCloud
Trout, McCloud
Trout, McCloud
Pit River
Natural history of the California Coast Ranges
Natural history of the Central Valley (California)
Natural history of Shasta County, California
Natural history of Siskiyou County, California
Shasta-Trinity National Forest
Fauna without expected TNC conservation status
{{Salmoniformes-stub