Golden trout

Golden trout

Critically Imperiled  (NatureServe)
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Salmoniformes
Family: Salmonidae
Genus: Oncorhynchus
Species:
Subspecies:
O. m. aguabonita
Trinomial name
Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita
(Jordan, 1892)[1]
Kern River trout range map

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 (tributary to Golden Trout Creek), and the South Fork Kern River. The Golden trout is the official freshwater state fish of California since 1947.[2][3]

The California golden trout is closely related to two rainbow trout subspecies. The Little Kern golden trout (O. m. whitei), found in the Little Kern River basin, and the Kern River rainbow trout (O. m. gilberti), found in the Kern River system. Together, these three trout form what is sometimes referred to as the "golden trout complex".[4]

Golden trout from within the John Muir Wilderness
Golden trout caught in a high mountain lake of the Wind River Range
  1. ^ "Oncorhynchus mykiss aguabonita". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Retrieved 27 December 2013.
  2. ^ "California Golden Trout". Caltrout.org. 25 April 2017. Retrieved 21 March 2022.
  3. ^ "State Symbols".
  4. ^ Inland Fishes of California, Peter B. Moyle. p. 20