Sunapee trout

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Sunapee trout
Conservation status
Vulnerable  (NatureServe)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Salmoniformes
Family:	Salmonidae
Genus:	Salvelinus
Species:	S. alpinus
Subspecies:	S. a. oquassa
Trinomial name
Salvelinus alpinus oquassa (Girard, 1854)[2]
Synonyms
Salvelinus oquassa Girard 1854 Salvelinus alpinus aureolus Bean, 1887

The Sunapee trout, also called blueback trout, Sunapee Golden trout, or Quebec red trout (Salvelinus alpinus oquassa), is a putative

.

Taxonomy

It was originally described as three separate species: S. oquassa, the blueback trout of Lake Oquassa in Maine (1854), S. aureolus the golden trout of Sunapee lake in New Hampshire (1888), and S. marstoni the Quebec red trout (1893).[3] DNA analysis done in the latter half of the twentieth century on museum specimens of the Sunapee lake strain of the Sunapee golden trout found that all lacustrine populations of Arctic char in north eastern North America have been isolated from each other for near equal amounts of time, indicating that there is no special, distinguishing characteristics between the Sunapee trout of New Hampshire and Vermont and the blueback trout of northern Maine.^[4]

Distribution and habitat

The Sunapee trout is often a foot long and is said to actually be silver in color. It is a distinct strain of Arctic char, having become trapped by changed drainage systems and climates in numerous lakes and ponds in

, the Arctic char, an extremely coldwater, anadromous fish, was still spawning in New England. After the climate changed sufficiently, anadromous Arctic char stopped spawning in New England, leaving several lacustrine populations of Arctic char cut off from the bulk of the species in deep, cold, clear lakes in Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Québec. The lake populations of Arctic char in Maine are termed "blueback trout," those in Québec are termed "Québec red trout," and the populations that used to exist in Vermont and New Hampshire along with the current population in Floods Pond, Maine, are termed Sunapee golden trout.

The Sunapee Lake strain of the Sunapee trout was discovered in 1977 when Kent Ball, of Idaho Fish and Game, discovered a char species living with brook trout in a mountain lake in Idaho. Analysis by Robert Benhke, Eric Wagner, and Steve Culver proved the species to be a presumably introduced population of Sunapee trout. Later research found reports of a trout egg trade between the Idaho and the New Hampshire Fish and Game departments.^[4] They are reportedly found in two Idaho bodies of water, Alice and Sawtooth Lakes.

Decline in New England

By the late 19th century, as the New Hampshire and Vermont lakes developed its own steady summer tourism, recreational

References

• Davis, Ed (Winter 1985). "The Red Trout:Profile of a Rare Gamefish during the 1930s in Quebec" (PDF). The American Fly Fisher. 12 (1). Manchester, VT: American Museum of Fly Fishing: 11–13. Retrieved 2014-11-19.

External links

• http://wiredfwcmaine.com/articles/big-reed-pond-restoration-plan-for-blueback-trout-maine-rotenone-esa-listing-images-atlanyci-char-articles-references-photographs-and-restoration-blueback-trout-salvelinus-alpinus-research-reference/
• http://www.in-fisherman.com/2012/10/29/rare-and-exotic-trout/

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