The Habitat of Rainbow Trout

Facts

• Rainbow trout is distinguishable from other stream and lake trout by their distinctive appearance, most notably the shimmery rainbow effect on their flanks, the black spots on their back and tail and the bright pink or red line that runs across their sides. The rainbow trout is a part of the salmon family, and are widespread in lakes, streams and rivers in the better part of North America, including northwest Mexico, northern Canada, Alaska, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. They are not usually found in parts in the central and southern United States. Rainbow trout is a predacious fish, eating insects, mosquito larvae, dragonflies, fish eggs, and smaller fish like minnows. They can reach a length of 16 inches, with their saltwater counterparts, the steelhead salmon reaching up to 30 inches. In the wild, they can live from three years to 11 years, reaching sexual maturity around two years of age.

Stream or River Dwelling

• Rainbow trout thrives well in shallow streams or rivers with moderately flowing water. They swim along the gravel bottom of the stream in search of food and in the springtime, a mate. Female rainbow trout lay their eggs in the gravel of the stream or riverbed, preferring pools of deeper water with a riffle or a suddenly fast-moving current. They turn their bodies sideways, beating the gravel with their tails and digging into the gravel at the bottom of the stream or river to deposit eggs. After spawning, the eggs fall in between the gravel and the nest is buried by the female.

Saltwater Dwelling

• Anadromous is a term for a fish that lives in salt water, but is able to survive in fresh water as well. Rainbow trout have the ability to thrive in the ocean and swim upriver to spawn as salmon do. In fact, the steelhead salmon and the rainbow trout are the same fish. The steelhead/rainbow gets much larger than a freshwater rainbow and does not have the same defined rainbow coloring; however, it is still the same fish. Saltwater steelhead/rainbows eat the same things as their freshwater counterparts, namely insects, crustaceans, mollusks and smaller fish. They are cannibalistic as there are no courtesies extended to smaller fish of their own kind.

Farms

• Farms are caged-off areas in deep, cold lakes where rainbow trout are raised for commercial use. The majority of rainbow trout in the grocer's fish section were farm raised. One of the largest farms is on Lake Huron. The rainbows start out in one place as "fingerlings," or baby rainbows. As they grow larger, the rainbow trout go from cage to cage until they achieve the perfect size for harvesting and marketing. A young rainbow trout is referred to as a "troutling," or with no pun intended, a "fry." Trout farm cages are crowded and not much fun for the rainbows. The trout farm diet consists of food made of fish meal, which is usually anchovy, fish oil, soybean meal, vitamins, minerals and plenty of beta-carotene. This diet promotes healthy, vibrantly colored rainbow trout relatively quickly for consumers.