Yellowfin cutthroat trout facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Yellowfin cutthroat trout |
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| A 1907 illustration by David Starr Jordan | |
| Conservation status | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Salmoniformes |
| Family: | Salmonidae |
| Genus: | Oncorhynchus |
| Species: | |
| Subspecies: |
O. c. macdonaldi
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| Trinomial name | |
| Oncorhynchus clarkii macdonaldi Jordan & Fisher, 1891
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The yellowfin cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarkii macdonaldi) was a special kind of cutthroat trout, a freshwater fish found in North America. Sadly, this beautiful fish is now extinct, meaning it no longer exists anywhere on Earth. It was known for its bright yellow fins.
Where Did It Live?
Long, long ago, after the last Ice Age ended, huge rocks and clay blocked a small river that fed into the Arkansas River in Colorado. This blockage created two beautiful lakes, which settlers later called the "Twin Lakes".
These lakes were home to small greenback cutthroat trout. But in the mid-1880s, people started talking about much bigger trout. These fish could weigh up to 10 pounds (5 kg) and had bright yellow fins.
How Was It Discovered?
In July 1889, a professor named David Starr Jordan and G. R. Fisher visited Twin Lakes. They wrote about their discoveries in a science paper in 1891. They found both the greenback trout and what they believed was a brand new type of fish: the "yellowfin cutthroat."
Professor Jordan and Evermann described the fish in 1890. They said it was "silvery olive" with a "broad lemon yellow shade along the sides." Its lower fins were "bright golden yellow," and it had a "deep red dash on each side of the throat." They named this new subspecies macdonaldi after the US Fish Commissioner, Marshall McDonald.
Later, another fish expert, Robert J. Behnke, looked at Jordan's fish samples again. He agreed that the yellowfin trout and the greenback trout from Twin Lakes were indeed different types of cutthroat trout.
Why Did It Disappear?
Until about 1903, both greenback and yellowfin cutthroat trout lived together in Twin Lakes. They stayed separate, even when they were breeding or finding food.
However, the yellowfin cutthroat trout disappeared soon after rainbow trout were brought into Twin Lakes. The greenback trout bred with the rainbow trout, creating new fish called cutbows. But the yellowfin trout completely vanished. This is why the yellowfin cutthroat trout is now extinct.
