Critically Endangered
Apache trout
Oncorhynchus apache
Apache trout is a salmonid in the family Salmonidae (order Salmoniformes) — Oncorhynchus apache, recorded as Critically Endangered.
Appearance
Apache trout are a yellowish-gold color with a golden belly and have medium-sized dark spots that are evenly spaced and that may extend below the lateral line and onto the dorsal and tail fins. The top of its head and back are dark olive in color, and it has the appearance of having a black stripe/mask through each of its eyes, due to two small black dots on either side of the pupil. There can be a throat mark below the lower jaw, ranging in color from yellow to gold.
The Apache trout measures in length from 6 to 24 in (15–61 cm), and weighs between 0.4 to 6 lb (0.2–2.7 kg). It rarely exceeds 10 in (25 cm), but can reach up to 16 in (40 cm) in its native, headwater streams.
Range and habitat
The Apache trout is the state fish of Arizona, and is one of only two species of trout native to that state, with the other being closely related the gila trout (O. G. Gilae). It natively lives in clear, cool streams in the White Mountains that flow through coniferous forests and marshes, but has been introduced into several lakes in the area. The Apache trout is native to the upper Salt River watershed (Black and White rivers) and the upper Little Colorado River watershed.
Ongoing conservation efforts by the White Mountain Apache Tribe have helped to preserve the subspecies.
Pins are Wikidata “endemic to” fields. Orange dots, when present, are GBIF occurrence tiles — survey bias included.
Diet
The Apache trout spawns from March to the middle of June, and varies with elevations. The Apache trout eats both terrestrial and aquatic insects, such as Trichoptera and Diptera.
In lakes, they also eat small fishes and zooplankton.
In crisis
It is closely related to Gila trout and is one of the critically endangered Pacific trouts. Recovery and management efforts for Apache trout have been ongoing since the 1940s. Apache trout are raised in federal and state hatcheries, and reared fish have been used to assist with recovery and to maintain populations for sport fishing in certain streams and reservoirs.
While the IUCN considers the Apache trout to be critically endangered, it has been delisted under the Endangered Species Act. Once the Endangered Species Act of 1969 was passed, they became one of the first species listed under it.
Apache trout is Critically Endangered on this catalog because that is the IUCN category stored on Wikidata. Confirm the official criteria and any later count on iucnredlist.org.
Sources
Written for this catalog from the English Wikipedia article on Apache trout, Wikidata item Q617184. Family and order context is original field-guide writing about the group, not a copied assessment of this one species. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA. Not an IUCN assessment. Counts, when quoted, can change — confirm them on the recovery programme and on iucnredlist.org.
