Tiger trout
Encyclopedia
Brown trout
The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
(Salmo trutta) and the brook trout
Brook trout
The brook trout, Salvelinus fontinalis, is a species of fish in the salmon family of order Salmoniformes. In many parts of its range, it is known as the speckled trout or squaretail. A potamodromous population in Lake Superior are known as coaster trout or, simply, as coasters...
(Salvelinus fontinalis). The name derives from the pronounced vermiculations, evoking the stripes of a tiger
Tiger
The tiger is the largest cat species, reaching a total body length of up to and weighing up to . Their most recognizable feature is a pattern of dark vertical stripes on reddish-orange fur with lighter underparts...
. It is a rare phenomenon in the wild, with the brook trout having 84 chromosome
Chromosome
A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and protein found in cells. It is a single piece of coiled DNA containing many genes, regulatory elements and other nucleotide sequences. Chromosomes also contain DNA-bound proteins, which serve to package the DNA and control its functions.Chromosomes...
s and the brown trout 80. Records show instances as far back as 1944.
Artificial production
Tiger trout can be produced reliably in hatcheriesFish hatchery
A fish hatchery is a "place for artificial breeding, hatching and rearing through the early life stages of animals, finfish and shellfish in particular". Hatcheries produce larval and juvenile fish primarily to support the aquaculture industry where they are transferred to on-growing systems...
. This is done by fertilizing brown trout eggs
Egg (biology)
An egg is an organic vessel in which an embryo first begins to develop. In most birds, reptiles, insects, molluscs, fish, and monotremes, an egg is the zygote, resulting from fertilization of the ovum, which is expelled from the body and permitted to develop outside the body until the developing...
with brook trout milt
Milt
Milt is the seminal fluid of fish, mollusks, and certain other water-dwelling animals who reproduce by spraying this fluid, which contains the sperm, onto roe .-Milt as food:...
and heat shocking them, which causes creation of an extra set of chromosomes and increases survival from 5% to 85%. Tiger trout have been reported to grow faster than natural species, though this assessment is not universal, and they have been widely stocked
Fish stocking
Fish stocking is the practice of raising fish in a hatchery and releasing them into a river, lake, or the ocean to supplement existing populations, or to create a population where none exists...
for sport fishing.
Tiger trout are known to be highly piscivorous
Piscivore
A piscivore is a carnivorous animal which eats primarily fish. Piscivory was the diet of early tetrapods , insectivory came next, then in time reptiles added herbivory....
(fish-eating), and are a good control against rough fish
Rough fish
Rough fish is a term used by U.S. state agencies and U.S. anglers to describe fish that are less desirable to sport anglers within a limited region. The term usually refers to larger fish species that are not commonly eaten, are too rare to be commonly encountered, or are not sought after by...
populations. This makes tigers popular with many fish stocking programs, such as with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is part of the Utah Department of Natural Resources for the state of Utah in the United States. The mission of the Division of Wildlife Resources is to serve the people of Utah as trustee and guardian of the state's wildlife, and to ensure its future and...
. Their own population numbers can be tightly controlled as well, since they are sterile.
Many states have had stocking programs for tiger trout. Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
discontinued its program in the late 1970s. Tigers were exclusively stocked in the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
. After the stocking program was discontinued, a 20-pound-plus world-record tiger was caught in the Great Lakes.
Wild tiger trout
Wisconsin currently has no stocking program for tigers, but the hybrids show up naturally in the state's small streams. Given that water quality is the best it has been in 20 years, the brook trout population has boomed in recent years. Thus, more wayward male brook trout have been found around brown trout reddSpawn (biology)
Spawn refers to the eggs and sperm released or deposited, usually into water, by aquatic animals. As a verb, spawn refers to the process of releasing the eggs and sperm, also called spawning...
s, perhaps accounting for the hybrids.
External links
- http://www.utahfishinginfo.com/utahfish/tigertrout.php
- http://www.thejump.net/id/tiger-trout.htm
- http://www.fieldandstream.com/fieldstream/photogallery/article/0,13355,1604024,00.html