Native Trout of the Contiguous Western States

This series of articles focuses on the non-anadromous forms of trout, char, grayling, and whitefish native to the contiguous western United States.

These fish are all salmonids — members of the family Salmonidae, whose name literally means “salmon-like." Like salmon, they are migratory cold-water fish that spawn in the gravel beds of freshwater streams. They are also mid-level carnivores: carnivores that may prey upon other carnivores, yet can themselves fall prey to apex predators.

Salmonids of the West

Trout － Genus Oncorhynchus

• Cutthroat trout (species group)

  • Coastal cutthroat trout － O. clarkii

  • Lahontan cutthroat trout － O. henshawi － covers 6 subspecies

  • Rocky Mountain cutthroat trout － O. virginalis － covers 9 subspecies

  • Westslope cutthroat trout － O. lewisi － covers 9 subspecies

• Gila and Apache trout (species group)

  • Gila trout － O. gilae

  • Apache trout － O. apache

• Golden trout － O. aguabonita

  • California golden trout － O. a. aguabonita

  • Little Kern golden trout － O. a. whitei

  • Kern River rainbow trout (or Kern River golden trout) － O. a. gilberti

• Rainbow trout － O. mykiss

  • Coastal rainbow trout － O. m. irideus

  • Eagle Lake trout － O. m. aquilarum

  • Redband trout － Interior or inland forms of rainbow trout

    • Columbia River redband trout － O. m. gairdneri

    • Great Basin redband trout － O. m. newberrii

    • Sacramento River redband trout － O. m. stonei

Char － Genus Salvelinus

• Bull trout － S. confluentus

• Dolly Varden － S. malma － covers 2 subspecies

Grayling － Genus Thymallus

• Arctic grayling － T. arcticus

Whitefish － Genus Prosopium

• Mountain whitefish － P. williamsoni

Relationship to Regional Guides

While regional fly fishing guides such as Nevada Native Trout and California Native Trout introduce native species within a state context, this series provides information on select native fish species of the contiguous western United States.

Common and Scientific Names

Common and scientific names used in this series generally follow the American Fisheries Society’s Common and Scientific Names of Fishes of the United States, Canada, and Mexico (8th Edition, 2022) at the species level. Where subspecies are relevant, common and scientific names used in fisheries and conservation literature — including those recognized by NatureServe — are included for clarity.

The classification of western trout continues to evolve as scientific research advances. Readers may encounter alternative treatments in other sources.

Conservation Status

Conservation status information for species, subspecies, and regional populations, when available, is sourced from NatureServe. In some cases, status has been inferred from that of related populations.

Additional Reading

• Native Trout of California and Native Trout of Nevada by Kurt Zeilenga (Trout Adventures)

• Native Trout Fly Fishing (nativetroutflyfishing.com) by Gary Marston

• What Are Western Native Trout and Char by Western Native Trout Initiative

• Oregon Native Fish Status Report by Oregon Division of Fish and Wildlife

• Fish Species of Special Concern in California by Peter M. Moyle, et al.

• Trout and Salmon of North America by Robert Behnke