Brook Trout

🗺️ Habitat

Cold, clear mountain streams, spring-fed ponds, and small lakes. Requires water temperatures below 68°F (20°C) and high oxygen levels.

🔍 How to Identify Brook Trout

• 1Distinctive worm-like markings (vermiculations) on the back and dorsal fin
• 2Red spots with blue halos along the sides
• 3White and black edges on the lower fins (pectoral, pelvic, and anal)
• 4Orange-red to red belly in males during spawning season
• 5Square (not forked) tail, unlike most other trout

🍽️ Diet

Aquatic insects, terrestrial insects, worms, small fish, and amphibians

💡 Fun Facts About Brook Trout

• ★Brook trout can hybridize with lake trout to produce a hybrid called "splake"
• ★They are the state fish of New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia
• ★Brook trout spawn in autumn, unlike other trout that spawn in spring
• ★Their need for cold, clean water means brook trout populations signal pristine ecosystems
• ★Brook trout were the primary salmonid in eastern North America before brown and rainbow trout were introduced

🛡️ Conservation Status

Least Concern overall, but many native populations are threatened by habitat loss and climate change

🔗 Related Species