Chapter 5. Yellowstone cutthroat trout

Abstract

The Yellowstone cutthroat trout is more abundant and inhabits a greater geographical range than does any other nonanadronnous subspecies of cutthroat trout (Varley and Gresswell 1988). The Yellowstone cutthroat trout was indigenous to the Snake River upstream from Shoshone Falls, Idaho, and the Yellowstone River above the Tongue River, Montana (Behnke 1992). Although there are some disagreements concerning the evolutionary history of cutthroat trout and various cutthroat trout subspecies (Behnke 1992; Stearley 1992; Stearley and Smith 1993), the most recent incursion of Yellowstone cutthroat trout into the Yellowstone River drainage is apparently related to the retreat of glacial ice approximately 12,000 years ago (Richmond and Pierce 1972). Individual populations of the Yellowstone subspecies have evolved numerous life history characteristics in response to the diverse environments in which they have been isolated since the last glacial retreat; human activities, however, have resulted in a substantial reduction in the historical distribution of this subspecies.

Parent Publication

• Conservation assessment for inland cutthroat trout

Citation

Gresswell, Robert E. 1995. Chapter 5. Yellowstone cutthroat trout. In: Young, Michael K., tech. ed. Conservation assessment for inland cutthroat trout. General Technical Report RM-256. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station. p. 36-54