The Kern River rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss gilberti'') is a localized subspecies of the rainbow trout (''Oncorhynchus mykiss''), a variety of fish in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

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 ...

. It is found in a short section of the main stem of the

Kern River The Kern River, previously Rio de San Felipe, later La Porciuncula, is an Endangered, Wild and Scenic river in the U.S. state of California, approximately long. It drains an area of the southern Sierra Nevada mountains northeast of Bakersfield ...

and several tributaries in the southern Sierra Nevada in

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The Kern River rainbow trout is a "Species of Special Concern" in the state of California due to habitat loss and hybridization with other native and non-native trout in their range. The Kern River rainbow trout is one of three subspecies of ''O. mykiss'' that are all endemic to the Kern River basin, sharing the headwaters of the river with the Little Kern golden trout and

golden trout The California golden trout (''Oncorhynchus aguabonita or Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita''), is a species of trout native to California. The golden trout is normally found in the Golden Trout Creek (tributary to the Kern River), Volcano Creek (t ...

. Some of the existing range of the Kern River rainbow trout lies within the California

Golden Trout Wilderness The Golden Trout Wilderness is a federally designated wilderness area in the Sierra Nevada, in Tulare County and Inyo County, California. It is located east of Porterville within Inyo National Forest and Sequoia National Forest. It is in siz ...

Distribution

Kern river rainbow trout are

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...

to the

and tributaries in

Tulare County, California Tulare County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 473,117. The county seat is Visalia. The county is named for Tulare Lake, once the largest freshwater lake west of the Great Lake ...

. Its current range is drastically reduced from its historic range. Remnant populations live in the Kern river above Durrwood creek, in upper Ninemile, Rattlesnake and Osa creeks, and possibly in upper peppermint Creek. Kern river rainbows have been successfully introduced into the Kaweah-Kern river and Chagoopa creek. Its historic range in the main stem of the Kern River it probably extended downstream below where Isabella Dam is today and upstream in the South Fork of the Kern River as far as Onyx creek. The subspecies has been

extirpated Local extinction, also known as extirpation, refers to a species (or other taxon) of plant or animal that ceases to exist in a chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinct ...

in the Kern river from the Johnsondale bridge downstream. The Kern River trout hybridize with nonnative, introduced stocks of rainbow trout, and Behnke (2002) doubts that pure Kern River rainbow trout still exist in their historic range. Recent genetic analyses however suggest that some un-hybridized populations still exist.

Notes

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q16983894 Oncorhynchus Trout, Kern River rainbow Trout, Kern River rainbow Trout, Kern River rainbow Trout, Kern River rainbow Kern River Natural history of Tulare County, California ~ Critically endangered fish Critically endangered fauna of California