The McCloud River redband trout, or O. mykiss calisulat, is newly identified as its own distinct subspecies of rainbow trout in a study from the University of California, Davis. It is the first newly identified subspecies of Pacific trout since 2008 and the youngest rainbow trout subspecies by more than 100 years.
, published in the journal Zootaxa, notes that fish biologists have suspected the McCloud River redband trout was its own subspecies since at least the 1970s, but only newer genetics techniques 鈥 including genomewide DNA sequencing 鈥 allowed the 嘿嘿视频-led team to tease the puzzle apart and confirm it as a subspecies.
Northern California鈥檚 McCloud River originates from spring-fed streams near Mount Shasta before passing over a series of waterfalls, the McCloud Falls. The waterfalls are impassable to upstream movement of fishes and divide the Upper McCloud River from the Lower McCloud River.
The McCloud River redband trout is the only known native fish found in the Upper McCloud Basin.
鈥淚t鈥檚 persisted so long in isolation,鈥 said lead author Matthew 鈥淢ac鈥 Campbell, a research affiliate with the Department of Animal Science鈥檚 . 鈥淭hey鈥檝e survived in glacial refugia during the Pleistocene era and have been above those waterfalls for at least 10,000 years.鈥
鈥楤eautiful trout鈥
Rainbow trout subspecies are often named after male scientists. When considering a name to use, Campbell said this fish was clearly in the range of one tribe, the Winnemem Wintu.
鈥淭hey already had a name for the fish 鈥 a few thousand years before I did.鈥 鈥 Mac Campbell
鈥淭hey already had a name for the fish 鈥 a few thousand years before I did,鈥 Campbell said.
So, Campbell worked in consultation with the tribe to formally describe for western science the subspecies, O. mykiss calisulat. The McCloud River redband trout is known as 鈥渃ali sulat鈥 in the Winnemem Wintu language, with 鈥渃ali鈥 meaning good or beautiful and 鈥渟ulat鈥 the term for trout. The words were combined for its scientific name to follow formal scientific naming conventions.
What鈥檚 in a name?
O. mykiss calisulat populations are already supported by current fisheries management policies, so the new name doesn鈥檛 change its protective status. Naming it, however, acknowledges its inherent significance.
鈥淭his is a part of the history and heritage of California that鈥檚 often not recognized,鈥 said Amanda (鈥淢andi鈥) J. Finger, associate director of the Genomic Variation Laboratory at 嘿嘿视频. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the story of our state, . This fish deserved to be named.鈥
The study鈥檚 additional co-authors included Ensieh Habibi and Grace Auringer of 嘿嘿视频, Molly Stephens of the UC Merced Natural Reserve System, Jeff Rodzen of California Department of Fish and Wildlife, or CDFW, and Kevin Conway of Texas A&M University.
The study was funded through the CDFW.
Media Resources
Media Contacts:
- Matthew 鈥淢ac鈥 Campbell, 嘿嘿视频 Animal Science, maccampbell@ucdavis.edu
- Amanda J. Finger, 嘿嘿视频 Animal Science, ajfinger@ucdavis.edu
- Kat Kerlin, 嘿嘿视频 News and Media Relations, 530-750-9195, kekerlin@ucdavis.edu