Rainbow Trout
Oncorhynchus mykiss
Least ConcernFast Facts
About
The rainbow trout is a handsome freshwater fish of the salmon family, named for the broad, iridescent pink-and-violet band running along its silvery flanks. A prized sport and food fish, it has been introduced far beyond its native North American range.
It thrives in cool, clean, well-oxygenated rivers and lakes and is extensively farmed around the world.
Behaviour
Rainbow trout are active, visual hunters, taking insects from the surface and chasing prey through the water column. Some populations, known as steelhead, migrate to the sea and return to fresh water to spawn, much like salmon.
They spawn in gravel-bedded streams, where the female digs a shallow nest called a 'redd' to hold her eggs.
Did you know?
- Sea-going rainbow trout, called steelhead, grow far larger than river-bound fish
- They are one of the most widely farmed fish species in the world
- The vivid rainbow stripe becomes brightest in breeding males
- Trout have excellent colour vision, aiding them in spotting insect prey
Distribution
Native to cold rivers of western North America and eastern Asia; widely introduced worldwide
