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Salmo trutta

By Andrew Idema

Geographic Range

Brown trout are native to Europe. The species is found in Iceland and on the Northwest coast of Europe, along the Mediterranean and south to India. They have been introduced to appropriate streams all over the world.

Habitat

The species can live in a higher temperature than most other trouts, and this is probably why they were introduced to North America. They are a succesful and aggressive species who are permanent residents in most of the regions where they have been released.

  • Aquatic Biomes
  • rivers and streams

Physical Description

Adult browns are generally 13 to 16 inches (33-40.6 cm) in length, although old individuals can reach a much larger size. Their bodies are olive brown or green shading to a yellowish white on the belly. The sides of the fish have beautiful red spots surrounded by a pale halo.

Reproduction

When brown trout spawn, the male and female are not monogamous. These trout mate every year, and they are not likely to have the same mate year after year. Occasionally, large males take over a bed already occupied by a smaller, less aggressive trout.

Brown trout mature at about 3 or 4 years of age. They spawn in the fall from October into December. When they spawn, they head into shallow headwater brooks of the river. The female scoops out a hollow on a gravel "redd" where she can lay her eggs. As she releases the eggs on the redd, the male simultaneously releases milt to fertilize them. The pair continues this process until all of the female's eggs are spent. The female then covers the fertilized eggs with sand or gravel for protection. The eggs are then left to develop and hatch the following spring. Browns do not necessarily come back to the same gravel bed to spawn each year, but they come back to the same general area of the river.

  • Average number of offspring
    8000
    AnAge

Female brown trout invest nutrients in yolk for eggs, but do not provide any care after the eggs are laid. Male brown trout provide no investment in offspring after fertilization.

  • Parental Investment
  • pre-fertilization
    • provisioning

Lifespan / Longevity

Behavior

When brown trout spawn, the male and female are not monogamous. These trout mate every year, and they are not likely to have the same mate year after year. Occasionally, large males take over a bed already occupied by a smaller, less aggressive trout. After spawning, browns move rapidly downstream to wintering areas. Populations are heavily dependent on redd density. The ideal redd site for brown trout to reproduce is characterized by small substrate particles averaging .5 inches (1.2 cm) in diameter, a water velocity of 7 inches (18 cm)/second, and a depth of about one foot (30 cm). Brown trout are most active in the early morning and evening and when the water temperatures are near 55 degrees Fahrenheit (13°C). During the day, or times when they are not feeding, large browns seek refuge in slow water with ample cover. The most common types of cover are overhang, submerged logs or vegetation, or deep water. They will not move from these sites except to feed and will return when they are finished.

Communication and Perception

Food Habits

Smaller brown trout feed primarily on insects. The most important insects vary with the season but the bulk of them are mayflies, caddisflies, midges or terrestrial insects. Browns in smaller streams are also dependent on food washed from the banks. Small browns select an area for feeding in a drift and do not move from it until a predator is introduced. This foraging site is characterized by a good view of the drift near refuge sites such as deep water or complex structure. Small browns never feed immediately upstream of a larger fish. Large browns' diets are more diverse than that of younger browns. Smaller trout account for 80% of the large brown's diet. The remaining diet consists of large aquatic insects such as Hexagania and Brown Drake (Ephemera simulans) mayflies and larger species of caddisflies (Trichoptera), crustaceans, snails, amphibians, and food washed from the bank. Also, the feeding habits of large browns is primarily nocturnal. They eat whatever is in the immediate area, preferably about 4 inches from the stream's floor in riffles, pools, or eddies. In contrast to young browns, large brown trout do not sit and wait for food, they hunt it actively.

  • Animal Foods
  • fish
  • insects
  • terrestrial non-insect arthropods
  • aquatic crustaceans
  • zooplankton

Economic Importance for Humans

Economic Importance for Humans: Positive

The main economic benefit of brown trout is the sport of fishing for the species. Many people pursue the sport fishing and some flyfish for browns. Many fisherman donate money to conservation groups to keep the sport alive. Also, browns make a delicious meal.

Economic Importance for Humans: Negative

When introduced outside their native range, brown trout compete with and prey upon native trout and other fish and amphibian species. Introduction of brown trout has been associated with declines in native brook trout in the eastern U.S. and frog species in the west. In some locations, brown trout may act as a prey base for parasitic sea lampreys (Petromyzon marinus). This may increase lamprey pressure on other native species. Introductions of brown trout may also bring fish diseases that can attack native species as well.

Conservation Status

Brown trout are an abundant and widespread species, and so are not considered in need of special conservation efforts to preserve the species as a whole. Since they are a popular game fish, they are often protected by local fishing regulations.

Other Comments

Some brown trout have been reported to reach weights of up to thirty pounds (13.6 kg) and lengths of three feet (91 cm).

Contributors

Andrew Idema (author), University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.

Glossary

Australian

Living in Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, New Guinea and associated islands.

World Map

Ethiopian

living in sub-Saharan Africa (south of 30 degrees north) and Madagascar.

World Map

Nearctic

living in the Nearctic biogeographic province, the northern part of the New World. This includes Greenland, the Canadian Arctic islands, and all of the North American as far south as the highlands of central Mexico.

World Map

Neotropical

living in the southern part of the New World. In other words, Central and South America.

World Map

Palearctic

living in the northern part of the Old World. In otherwords, Europe and Asia and northern Africa.

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bilateral symmetry

having body symmetry such that the animal can be divided in one plane into two mirror-image halves. Animals with bilateral symmetry have dorsal and ventral sides, as well as anterior and posterior ends. Synapomorphy of the Bilateria.

carnivore

an animal that mainly eats meat

chemical

uses smells or other chemicals to communicate

cosmopolitan

having a worldwide distribution. Found on all continents (except maybe Antarctica) and in all biogeographic provinces; or in all the major oceans (Atlantic, Indian, and Pacific.

crepuscular

active at dawn and dusk

ecotourism

humans benefit economically by promoting tourism that focuses on the appreciation of natural areas or animals. Ecotourism implies that there are existing programs that profit from the appreciation of natural areas or animals.

ectothermic

animals which must use heat acquired from the environment and behavioral adaptations to regulate body temperature

external fertilization

fertilization takes place outside the female's body

fertilization

union of egg and spermatozoan

food

A substance that provides both nutrients and energy to a living thing.

freshwater

mainly lives in water that is not salty.

heterothermic

having a body temperature that fluctuates with that of the immediate environment; having no mechanism or a poorly developed mechanism for regulating internal body temperature.

insectivore

An animal that eats mainly insects or spiders.

introduced

referring to animal species that have been transported to and established populations in regions outside of their natural range, usually through human action.

migratory

makes seasonal movements between breeding and wintering grounds

motile

having the capacity to move from one place to another.

natatorial

specialized for swimming

native range

the area in which the animal is naturally found, the region in which it is endemic.

oriental

found in the oriental region of the world. In other words, India and southeast Asia.

World Map

oviparous

reproduction in which eggs are released by the female; development of offspring occurs outside the mother's body.

piscivore

an animal that mainly eats fish

polygynandrous

the kind of polygamy in which a female pairs with several males, each of which also pairs with several different females.

seasonal breeding

breeding is confined to a particular season

semelparous

offspring are all produced in a single group (litter, clutch, etc.), after which the parent usually dies. Semelparous organisms often only live through a single season/year (or other periodic change in conditions) but may live for many seasons. In both cases reproduction occurs as a single investment of energy in offspring, with no future chance for investment in reproduction.

sexual

reproduction that includes combining the genetic contribution of two individuals, a male and a female

solitary

lives alone

tactile

uses touch to communicate

temperate

that region of the Earth between 23.5 degrees North and 60 degrees North (between the Tropic of Cancer and the Arctic Circle) and between 23.5 degrees South and 60 degrees South (between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Circle).

visual

uses sight to communicate

zooplankton

animal constituent of plankton; mainly small crustaceans and fish larvae. (Compare to phytoplankton.)

References

Eddy, Samuel. Northern Fishes, Minneapolis, University of Minnesota Press, 1974.

Lanham, Url. The Fishes, New York, Columbia University Press, 1962.

Smith, C. Lavelt. Fish Watching, Ithaca, Comstock Publishing associates, 1994.

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